Oral Health: Don't Ignore Your GumsOral Health: Don't Ignore Your Gums

About Me

Oral Health: Don't Ignore Your Gums

When you go to your dentist, you are likely concerned about cavities and the stains on your teeth. If you are like me, then you probably never thought much about your gums. Unfortunately, this caused me to form a serious gum recession condition. My dentist said that hard brushing practices, poor flossing techniques, and even the consumption of sugary foods led to the recession. After some deep scaling treatments, I was informed that I needed a gum graft procedure. The gums are extremely important to your health. They provide your teeth with the nutrients they need and they protect the sensitive dental roots. The gums even keep bacteria away from your jaw bone. Don't ignore your gums like I did. Read my blog and learn about proper oral care techniques. Prevention practices can easily save your gums from necessary restoration.

Treatments You May Need Before Dental Implant

4 November 2019
 Categories: Dentist, Blog

Getting a dental implant is one of the best ways to replace a natural tooth. In some cases, however, you might need some preparatory treatment before getting your implant. Below are some of the treatments the dentist may suggest for you before the implant proper.

Tooth Extraction

Dental implants are meant to replace teeth, but not every tooth that needs to be replaced is literally 'missing.' You may also need to replace a tooth that is cracked, split, eroded, impacted, or infected to the point that removal is better than preservation. In such a case, you will need to extract the damaged or diseased tooth before you can get the implant. In such a case, you may have to wait for some time for the extraction site to heal before you can get the implant.

Sinus Lift

Sinuses are cavities within the bone; you have two sinuses on each side of the face.  The maxillary sinus sits immediately above the jawbone. The sinus issue comes into consideration because you need adequate bone to insert the implant. If you have lost some jawbone, maybe due to bone disease, you might have inadequate jawbone because the sinus cavity also sits above the jawbone. A sinus lift surgery augments the thickness of the jawbone by decreasing the sinus cavity. That way, you end up with adequate bone for the implant.

Jawbone Graft

As mentioned above, you need adequate jawbone for the dental implant process. The jawbone doesn't just need to be of the right thickness; it also needs to be of the right density. If the jawbone is inadequate, the implant won't integrate firmly into your jawbone and it might even fail.

That is why your dentist will evaluate your jawbone before starting the implant process. The dentist may advise you to get a jawbone graft if the jawbone is inadequate. The source material can either be an artificial material, human bone, or animal bone (mostly from cows).

Ridge Expansion

Both the vertical and horizontal loss of jawbone can affect dental implant treatment. If the bone loss is horizontal, then you may need a ridge expansion treatment to increase the size of the remaining ridge. In this case, the remaining ridge is mechanically expanded and a bone graft may also be used to shore up the ridge. The implant may be placed at the same time as the expansion or you may have to wait for the graft treatment to heal and mature first.

For more information, contact a dental clinic like Milner Dentistry.