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Dentist Blog
Posts for tag: dental implants
Dental implants provide a comfortable, long-lasting option if you're missing one or more teeth. Your dentist, Dr. Todd Brower of Ottawa Smiles Dental in Holland, MI, helps his patients care for their smiles with a variety of dental services, including dental implants—read on to learn more!
How dental implants restore your smile
Tooth loss doesn't just affect your appearance, but can also increase your risk of developing oral health problems. Once you lose a tooth, the nearby teeth react by slowly drifting toward the gap. Unfortunately, this can change your bite and also make brushing and flossing more difficult, due to overlapping teeth.
Your jawbone may also begin to shrink after tooth loss, particularly if you've lost several teeth. This problem occurs because the tooth roots are no longer there to stimulate the bone. As the jawbone bone shrinks during a process called resorption, teeth may loosen and even fall out. Resorption can also contribute to sagging in the muscles of your lower face.
Dental implants help you avoid these problems by restoring missing teeth from the roots up. After treatment, your new tooth will consist of:
- The Implant: Dental implants are placed directly in your jawbone to replace your natural roots. These screw-like implants are made of titanium, a metal that naturally bonds to your bone. The bonding process takes about three to six months and is a crucial part of the implant process.
- The Abutment: The abutment connects the dental implant to your dental crown. It is added to the implant after bonding is complete. During your abutment appointment, your Holland dentist will make an impression of your mouth to ensure that your new crown fits perfectly.
- The Crown: Crowns are artificial teeth designed that fill the noticeable gaps in your smile. Since your crowns are firmly attached to your implants, they won't slip or slide when you eat and feel very much like your natural teeth.
Your new implants will exert constant pressure on your jawbone in order to prevent resorption, the shifting of teeth, and facial sagging. Due to this amazing stability, your implants could very well last you for a lifetime.
Interested? Contact us today!
Are you ready to restore missing teeth with dental implants? Call our Holland, MI, office today at (616) 399-3600 to schedule your appointment!
Dental implants provide a comfortable, long-lasting option if you're missing one or more teeth. Your dentist, Dr. Todd Brower of Ottawa 
Smiles Dental in Holland, MI, helps his patients care for their smiles with a variety of dental services, including dental implants—read on to learn more!
How dental implants restore your smile
Tooth loss doesn't just affect your appearance, but can also increase your risk of developing oral health problems. Once you lose a tooth, the nearby teeth react by slowly drifting toward the gap. Unfortunately, this can change your bite and also make brushing and flossing more difficult, due to overlapping teeth.
Your jawbone may also begin to shrink after tooth loss, particularly if you've lost several teeth. This problem occurs because the tooth roots are no longer there to stimulate the bone. As the jawbone bone shrinks during a process called resorption, teeth may loosen and even fall out. Resorption can also contribute to sagging in the muscles of your lower face.
Dental implants help you avoid these problems by restoring missing teeth from the roots up. After treatment, your new tooth will consist of:
- The Implant: Dental implants are placed directly in your jawbone to replace your natural roots. These screw-like implants are made of titanium, a metal that naturally bonds to your bone. The bonding process takes about three to six months and is a crucial part of the implant process.
- The Abutment: The abutment connects the dental implant to your dental crown. It is added to the implant after bonding is complete. During your abutment appointment, your Holland dentist will make an impression of your mouth to ensure that your new crown fits perfectly.
- The Crown: Crowns are artificial teeth designed that fill the noticeable gaps in your smile. Since your crowns are firmly attached to your implants, they won't slip or slide when you eat and feel very much like your natural teeth.
Your new implants will exert constant pressure on your jawbone in order to prevent resorption, the shifting of teeth, and facial sagging. Due to this amazing stability, your implants could very well last you for a lifetime.
Interested? Contact us today!
Are you ready to restore missing teeth with dental implants? Call our Holland, MI, office today at (616) 399-3600 to schedule your appointment!
One of the best and most successful tooth replacement choices available is the dental implant. No other restorative method is as similar in both form and function to a real tooth as an implant; and with a success rate of 95-plus percent after ten years, it’s one of the most durable.
But there can be extenuating circumstances that make obtaining an implant difficult or sometimes impossible. One possible problematic situation is the systemic disease diabetes.
Diabetes is a hormonal condition in which the body is unable to sufficiently regulate the amount of glucose (a basic sugar that provides energy to the body’s cells) within the blood stream. Normally, the pancreas produces the hormone insulin to reduce excess glucose. But diabetes interferes with this insulin production: if you have Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas has stopped producing insulin altogether; if you have the more common Type 2, the body doesn’t produce adequate insulin or it doesn’t respond sufficiently to the insulin produced.
Over time diabetes can affect other areas of health, especially wound healing. Because the condition gradually causes blood vessels to narrow and stiffen, the normal inflammatory response to disease or trauma can become prolonged. This in turn slows the rate of wound healing.
Slow wound healing can have a bearing on the recovery period just after implant surgery, especially the necessary integration process that takes place between the bone and the titanium metal implant that provides its signature strength. If that process is impeded by slow wound healing caused by diabetes, the risk increases dramatically for implant failure.
That’s the worst case scenario if you have diabetes, but only if your condition is out of control. If, however, you have your blood sugar levels well regulated through medication, diet and exercise, then your chances for implant success could easily be on par with someone without diabetes.
So if you’re diabetic and are considering dental implants for missing teeth, it’s important to discuss the possibility of obtaining them with both your dentist and the physician caring for your diabetes. With your overall healthcare team working together, there’s no reason why diabetes should stop you from enjoying this premiere restoration for missing teeth.
If you would like more information on obtaining dental implants, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Dental Implants & Diabetes.”
When a tooth has come loose but the gum tissue is still healthy and strong, your dentist may recommend dental implants. This is an in-.jpg)
demand restorative treatment available at Ottawa Smiles Dental in Holland, MI. Dental implants are most commonly used to replace unattractive gaps in the smile due to tooth loss. Learn more about the implantation procedure and its benefits.
The Science of Dental Implants
When a piece of titanium metal is added to healthy bone tissue, the bone will eventually grow over the metal and hold it firmly in place. That is the science behind how dental implants work. If the bone tissue in your mouth is healthy it will hold a dental implant made of titanium as securely as your other teeth are anchored.
Replacing Gaps
One of the great benefits of getting a dental implant is that it replaces and fills gaps in the smile. A large gap has a significant effect on how your smile looks and how you eat. It can also change the way that you pronounce words. A crown device is eventually fashioned to the top of the dental implant, which will serve as the visual replacement for your missing tooth. The crown can be shaped by your Holland, MI, dentist to perfectly fill the gap and to look just like the rest of your teeth.
Benefits of Closing Gaps
It is possible to live with a gap, but it is not preferable for a number of reasons. It interferes with your ability to digest food, talk, and feel relaxed when smiling in public. Food can get trapped in the gap, which could create a risk of gum disease. Once you have your dental implant you will have an easier time chewing all types of foods, speaking, and flashing your smile with comfort and confidence.
Call Ottawa Smiles Dental
The gaps in your smile will be history when you get dental implants at Ottawa Smiles Dental. Call the office at (616) 399-3600 today for a visit to see Dr. Todd Brower, a leading dentist in Holland, MI.
Teeth-replacing dental implants not only look life-like, they’re made to last. For one thing, the metals and dental materials used in them are impervious to bacterial infection.
But that doesn’t mean implants are impervious to failure. Implants depend on the bone and other natural mouth structures for support. If the bone becomes weakened due to disease, the implant could become unstable and ultimately fail.
Peri-implantitis, the condition that can lead to this kind of failure, is a major concern for implant longevity. It’s a type of periodontal (gum) disease triggered by plaque, a thin film of food particles that can build up quickly in the absence of adequate brushing and flossing. The gum tissues around the implant become infected and inflamed.
If the infection isn’t properly treated with renewed oral hygiene and clinical plaque removal, it could spread below the gum line and begin to damage the underlying gum tissues and bone. This could destroy the all-important connection between the titanium implant post and the bone. The implant could eventually loosen and become completely detached from the bone.
The key is early intervention before the bone becomes damaged. Besides plaque removal we may also need to apply antibiotics in some form to control the growth of disease-causing bacteria. If the disease has fairly advanced we may also need to consider surgical repair to strengthen the attachment between implant and bone.
You can help to avoid peri-implantitis altogether by practicing consistent daily brushing and flossing around all your teeth including the implant, and seeing your dentist at least twice a year for cleanings and checkups. And by all means see your dentist if you notice any signs of gum swelling, redness or bleeding. Staying on top of your gum health will help not only the natural tissues and remaining teeth in your mouth, it will help preserve your implants for decades to come.
If you would like more information on maintaining your dental implants, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation.
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