50 27th Street West Suite D Billings, Montana 59102

Opening Hours : Monday to Friday 8am to 5 pm |
  Contact : 406-655-7970

All Posts Tagged: Dental Implants Billings MT

Calming Dental Fears

There are certain procedures that sound terrible, scary even, in the world of oral care.  Terms such as “surgery”, or “gum grafting” alone can conjure up horrific images. These types of  fear prevent too many people from visiting the periodontist on a regular basis. But consider these symptoms: you are eating some ice cream and the freezing cold of the ice cream hurts your teeth or its pain can occur when drinking coffee or tea, even brushing and flossing your teeth can cause pain in the tooth or near the gum line. When there is pain, there is a problem.  These symptoms could imply any number of oral maladies, periodontal disease being one of the most prevalent. However gum recession is often the cause of such discomfort, even for people who are dedicated to maintaining their oral health.

Problems Arise

Even with the best care, gum tissue problems can arise for one inescapable reason: we get older. As we age our gum tissue thins and breaks down.   Daily wear and tear causes the gum tissue recede back from the teeth.  The problem with receding gums is that the enamel layer does not extend beneath the gum line. The covering on the tooth below the gums is called cementum, and cementum is not as hard or as protective as enamel, and because it’s not as effective protecting the tooth, the tooth becomes sensitive to food and drink

Healthy Mouth

If you can see gum tissue recession or are experiencing sensitivity you may benefit from a procedure called gum grafting.  These procedures establish new gum tissue stopping the recession and adding to the tissue covering the root.  There are many options to treat gum recession that did not exist in years past.  Many small grafts are still done with your own tissue.  When indicated processed allografts can be used for more complex situations.  The fears due to the horror stories of the past are just that: a thing of the past.

Remember, everyone’s gums recede with age.  Grafting procédures protect your teeth, and keep your mouth healthy and comfortable. If you are experiencing symptoms or believe you have problems with gum recession, call your periodontist and schedule a consultation.  Contact Healthy Gums Montana for all of your periodontal needs!

Read More
Dentures vs Dental Implants Billings MT

Dentures vs Dental Implant

There are a multitude of reasons why people need dentures and dental implants.  Age, oral disease, injury, etc. all play a part.  Thanks to modern technology, there are more choices for people today.

Typically, conventional dentures are used after all teeth are removed from the mouth.  When the teeth are removed there can be significant scarring to the gums, so an immediate denture will be put into place until these areas are healed.

When the conventional denture can be worn it may take weeks or months before the patient has any comfort, because the muscles in the mouth are learning to participate with the new set of teeth.  An obvious drawback to this is that the conventional denture comes loose. They are made to be removed from the mouth, so they may come loose or shift in the mouth.

The dental implant feels more permanent in the mouth, like a new set of permanent teeth. Dental implants look and function like real teeth.  A dental implant is also much more stable, because the implant doesn’t rely on a messy adhesives to stick to the gums.

Dentures vs Dental Implant Billings MT

Dental implants  look like screws or cylinders.  They are placed into  the jaw bone that used to hold the roots of the missing natural teeth.   The implants over time will bond with the bone and form stable anchors for crowns or bridges

While these implants bond with the bones in the jaw, a patient is provided a temporary restoration to go over the implant sites.  When the sites have healed and are making a strong anchor in the jaw, a final restoration can be screwed onto the implants.

With the implants in place, your smile will be restored, you will have the confidence to do the things that may hold back someone who wears a conventional denture.  It’s literally like a new set of teeth in your mouth.  Needing dentures doesn’t have to be the end of your confident smile.

If you have any interest in the dental implant be sure to speak with your periodontist specialist at Healthy Gums Montana about the procedure and how it would work for y

Read More
dental implants billings mt

A Bright White Smile is A Confident Smile

When most people view the Best Celebrity Smile List and see Vanessa Hudgens with her delightful demeanor, they think white, straight teeth. A bright-white healthy smile is a confident smile.  Cosmetically the white smile is important in our society. There is a good reason for that, a bright smile is a sign of good oral health.

According to WebMD.com, tooth enamel changes as we get older. Our teeth get fine lines and cracks as we age and what we eat can get into the crevices and stain our smile.

Research from Melbourne University’s Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre states that sugary drinks and sweets are harmful to teeth because of their chemical composition. Sugar can destroy teeth when its fermented by bacteria that produces acid that leads to decay.

Snacking throughout the day makes it difficult for our mouth to be rid of food debris. When food debris builds on the teeth and in the mouth, plaque spreads.

Plaque isn’t the only thing that we need to worry about when it comes too discoloration of our teeth. Simple everyday drinks like coffee, tea and wine can stain our teeth.
Coffee, tea and wine have pigments that attach to the enamel of the tooth.  Tea causes more discoloration than coffee. Red wine may be great for your health, but not so much for your teeth. Red wine is acidic and its color can stain your teeth. As we age, discoloration of our teeth increases.

The enamel on our teeth thins with age and it reveals the softer inner layer beneath called Dentin.  Dentin naturally yellows as we age. The added discoloration from what we eat and drink only compounds the issue.

So what can you do to keep your teeth whiter as you age?

  • Brush your teeth right after you have any food that may discolor your teeth.
  • If you can’t brush your teeth, at least rinse your mouth with water after drinking coffee, tea or wine.
  • Use a straw so that the discoloring liquids bypass your teeth.
  • Some tooth discoloration can be removed with regular dental cleanings. Schedule regular teeth cleaning appointments with your dentist.

If you’re infectious smile is no longer white, contact Periodontal Specialists of Montana today!

Read More
Dental Implants Billings MT

What Are the Advantages of Dental Implants?

The goal of dentistry is to help patients care for and maintain their teeth. Compared to previous generations we have made great strides in this regard. Adults today have only a fraction of the restorations and missing teeth of previous generations. Yet despite our best efforts teeth can still be lost to trauma, wear & tear, the slow onslaught of chronic disease and poor anatomy. Ultimately most of us will have to deal with replacing some missing teeth in our lifetime. The options to replace teeth are removable restorations, restorations attached to natural teeth, and dental implants.

Over the last 20 years, dental implants have moved to the mainstream of dental treatment. Yet many patients are unsure about the advantages of implants over other restorations. When having to decide between options for replacing missing teeth, patients have to weigh the risks and benefits of each. While each individual situation must be judged on the specifics, below is a list of advantages implant provide that apply to most people.

Better nutrition:
In our appearance centered culture we often overlook the obvious. The primary function of teeth is to help you extract nutrition from the food you eat. Dentures can restore only 20% of chewing efficiency.  Simply put, sliding dentures make chewing difficult. Consequently denture patients select foods that are softer that tend to be low in fiber and high in sugar & salt. Dental implants function like your own teeth. They can restore up to 80% of the chewing efficiency of natural teeth allowing you to eat your favorite foods and have a healthier diet.

Improved appearance.
When teeth are lost, bone support for the lower face is lost as well. This loss of support is what gives people a “denture look” when they lose their teeth. Dental implants look and feel like your own teeth. Dental implant restorations can be design to recreate the support for the soft tissues lost with tooth extraction. Dental implants can give you back your smile and help you feel better about yourself.

Improved speech& comfort.
With poor-fitting dentures, the teeth can slip within the mouth causing you to mumble or slur your words. Implants fuse to the bone and become part of you.   Because they are fixed in place, implants eliminate the discomfort of loose removable dentures allowing you to speak without the worry that teeth might slip.

Improved oral health.
In addition to providing artificial surfaces upon which bacterial can grow, dentures cover the soft tissue of the mouth preventing the normal flushing of bacteria and yeast organisms. The increases in these microorganisms can lead to inflammation in the soft tissues. Further the physical irritation of the denture rubbing on the soft tissue can produce acute ulcers.   In rare cases this chronic irritation can contribute to the development of oral cancer.

Maintenance of your natural teeth.
Any time dental work is done on a tooth there is a risk of complications. Dental implants don’t require grinding down other teeth, as a tooth-supported bridge does. More of your natural teeth are left unaltered, improving long-term oral health. Individual implants also allow easier access between teeth, improving oral hygiene.

Convenience.
Removable dentures are just that; removable. Dental implants can eliminate the embarrassing inconvenience of removing dentures, as well as the need for messy adhesives to keep them in place.

How Successful Are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are the longest lasting dental restorative treatment available. Success rates vary, depending on where in the jaw the implants are placed.   Depending on location, dental implants have a success rate of up to 98%. With proper care (see previous posts), implants can last a lifetime.

 

Read More

Implant Treatment For Problems That Can Occur

Implant Treatment For Problems That Can Occur

Implant bone loss
Last months topic pertained to dental implants and what you can do to ensure your dental restorations serve you for the longest time.  Yet even with our best efforts a few implants will develop bone and soft tissue problems.  This month I will discuss treatment options for the problems that can arise.

Implant infection and bone loss:
Dental implant infections can happen but are not common.  The good news is rarely do these infections cause significant symptoms.   The other good news is just because you have bone loss on an implant does not mean it must be removed.  If the implant is stable and functional it can remain in place as long as the infection can be controlled.  However the minimal symptoms associated with these infections often permit patients to ignore the problem until there is a substantial amount of bone loss.

Treatment:
If there is only inflammation in the gum tissue with minimal one loss, nonsurgical approaches alone or in conjunction with topical antibiotics can often address the problem.     More commonly there is significant bone loss present around the implant.  These situations will require some form of surgery to remove foreign material, clean and decontaminate the surface of the implant.  Placing graft materials and/or growth factors to regenerate bone support is often included in these procedures.

Lasers
While effective, conventional surgery carries significant downsides such as post treatment pain and significant gum tissue recession.  While recession may not be an issue for implants in the molar areas that are not visible, it can be disastrous for implants in the front.  In areas where post surgical recession of the gum tissue cannot be tolerated surgery can be done with a Laser, which can preserve the gum tissue in most cases.  Laser based therapy, according to patient feedback, is significantly less painful and conventional surgical approaches.

Fortunately, more than 90 percent of dental implants will never experience bone loss problems.  Keeping you implants clean and having the bite checked periodically to protect from overload are the most important aspects of maintaining these type of restorations.   If problems arise early treatment is always best.  If the problem have progressed beyond the early stages fortunately there are good treatment options that can repair and maintain your implant restorations.

Read More

Dental Implants

Dental implants have been a boon to many patients. Not only do implants provide options to avoid loose and poorly fitting dentures, they can be used to provide crowns and bridges avoiding placing at risk the natural teeth that traditionally have been used to secure fixed dental work. Implants have truly revolutionized modern dentistry.

Dental Implants Billings MT

With all the good news about implants it is easy to overlook the few but important problems that can arise with this type of treatment. Implants can experience bone loss. This can happen for several reasons. First is inadequate home care.   Although implants cannot decay they still must be cleaned daily to the best of your ability. Bacterial accumulation around the base of the implant where it meets the gum tissue will cause inflammation and if left long enough can induce bone destruction. Therefore it is essential that you clean the implants daily. Each implant and restoration is unique so there is no cookbook approach to what works best. Certainly brushing is essential. Automated brushes can be more effective in some case but are not usually mandatory. Using some thicker forms of floss that can frame out and adapt to the implant surface. Some patients find that a thin yarn works very well.

Dental Implants Billings MT

Regardless of your efforts some bacterial will work into places your homecare cannot reach. Professional cleanings on a regular basis will be needed to address this problem and maintain health tissue around your implant. The frequency of such cleanings will be based on you previous history of periodontal disease problems. If you have a history of periodontal bone loss you need to be seen on a more frequent basis. If you have active periodontal disease on your natural teeth it is essentially guaranteed that your implants will lose bone as well.

Other health issues can affect the survival of your implants. First among these is smoking and other uses of tobacco. Tobacco use shortens the life of dental implants. Ideally you should quit before beginning the treatment process. If you have implants and are currently smoking quit or at the very least reduce your frequency of smoking dramatically. While you still with have the systemic smoking risks the topical effect on the gum tissue will be lessened.

Poor management of systemic diseases, particularly diabetes, can make bone loss more likely around your implants. High blood sugar depresses your immune system function allowing more aggressive bacterial to grow around your implants. Following your doctors recommendations to keep blood sugars under control will help limit any damage.

Excessive bite forces can induce bone loss around implants. Unlike natural teeth, implants do not move, they are fixed into the jawbone.   Great care is taken during the construction of your dental restorations to minimize the risk of too much force being placed on the implants. However as time goes forwards your teeth can shift and wear, you may have other restorations placed the shift the bite slightly and in younger patients some delay facial growth can result in the implants coming und increasing bite forces. This happens slowly so it is not very noticeable to you. After a certain point the increased forces can begin to cause small fractures in the bone where it meets the implant. If not dealt with early this bone loss is progressive and can result in the loss of the implant.

To minimize these problems the bite on the implant should be checked at least once a year. It must be checked any time you have other dental work done.

Even with the best care, some problems may be unavoidable. We are just now reaching a time where a significant number of implants are in the range of 20+ years old. Most of these implants have reached this age with minimal problems. It does appear however that due to long term bone turnover some implants develop gum tissue problem for no apparent reason other than they have been in service for a long time. Fortunately most of these problems can be dealt with and rarely do they cause the implant to fail.

Checklists for implant care:

1) Avoidance. Be sure to check with your dentist that you do not have active periodontal disease before beginning implant treatment.

2) Quit smoking and other uses of tobacco. Keep other systemic disease such as diabetes well managed.

3) Once your implants are restored have your dentist check the bite, several times if needed, to assure the implant is not overloaded.

4) Be sure to do your best to clean your implants daily.

5) Remain faithful with your professional cleaning visits.

6) Ask to have the bite checked anytime you have new dental restorations placed.

7) If you have problems with your implants deal with it early. Small problems are easier and less expensive to fix.

Dental implants have been truly revolutionary. Yet no treatment is a panacea. Each therapy option brings with it a unique set of risks that if ignored can endanger the long-term success of your implants. Taking these simple steps can go a long was to assuring the comfortable functions of your implants for many years.

Read More