Posts Tagged ‘ Dental Implants ’

Treatment Planning Dental Implants for the Fully Edentulous Patient

The fully edentulous patient represents a group of individuals who may be missing teeth, teeth and gums, or, teeth, gums and bone. Composite Defect: A denture is a prosthesis which can replace teeth, gums and / or bone. The tooth part is obvious. It is the “white” portion of the denture. The gum and bone […]

Smoking – Why Does It Reduce Implant Success?

It is generally well recognized that the skin of smokers appears prematurely aged when compared to nonsmokers. We all recognize higher rates of periodontal disease and lower rates of implant success in smokers. Oral bone and soft tissue grafts in smokers fail at alarming rates. What is the commonality in these adverse effects of smoking? […]

Dental Implants or Bridge Work- Making the Best Choice

When you need to replace a missing tooth, there are two general alternatives to consider: You can choose traditional bridgework, or select the newer option of dental implants. Both offer a solution that’s reliable, functional, and esthetically pleasing. However, there are a few important differences between the two systems. A fixed bridge is a dental […]

Dental Implants: Surgical & Prosthetic Perspective

If an implant is not placed in the right position or with the correct angulations, then the prosthesis will be compromised. Although this may seem like an obvious statement, it brings to light that an implant must be guided by the position of the final prosthesis. Any other method leaves room for complications and the […]

Surgical & Prosthetic Options to Enhance Implant Soft Tissue Aesthetics

Over the past 20 years, implant dentistry in this country has evolved from a strictly overdenture discipline to a multi-tooth and single-tooth replacement option. Indeed, it is more than an option; it has become the standard of care for replacement of missing teeth. Improved office-based bone grafting and bone preservation techniques have greatly expanded the […]

Third Molar Site Grafting

I recently attended a symposium on alveolar grafting and ridge preservation. One of the speakers, Thomas B. Dodson, DMD, presented an interesting paper dealing with the effects of mandibular third molar (M3) removal on the periodontal health of the adjacent second molar (M2). He also addressed weather additional surgical procedures at the time of removal […]

Alveolar Osteitis “Dry Socket” Prevention

Many exodontists ardently adhere to their method of prevention and treatment of AO without any sound scientific data to base their rationale upon. This is unfortunate, but most likely due to the paucity of well-controlled double blind studies in the occurrence, prevention, and treatment of AO. One method, which has been scientifically proven to decrease […]