Seniors Benefit from Working with an Implant Dentist

As an implant dentist, we have the privilege of working with local seniors. It's a lot of fun to work with seniors of retirement age as they go about planning for their future. Thinking about things like where to travel and go on the vacation, what classes to audit, what hobbies to take up or even what to do with the family house, more and more seniors are taking the time to also think about their appearance and the things that they are ready to change. One of those things is often their teeth. If you are a senior that is tired of wearing ill-fitting dentures or having the restrictions that come from tooth loss, we encourage you to visit our dental office to learn more about your options. There is no need to allow age or tooth loss to restrict your happiness.  With our help, you can have a smile that you are proud of.

How an Implant Dentist Can Help You

When you visit our dental office we will begin by conducting a physical examination and taking x-rays. One of the things that we will be looking for is the density of your jawbone. It is important for you to have enough density to support the implant that needs to be placed. Think of it as a screw going into a piece of wood. If the screw is longer than the wood it will not be secure. If your jaw is not dense enough the implant will not be as secure as it needs to be either. The challenge is that after you lose a tooth you can experience  resorption to the point that 25% of your jawbone density can be lost within the first year alone. This creates a situation where many seniors can not get dental implants without first having a bone grafting procedure. If this is the case in your situation, we will let you know and make a recommendation regarding which steps you should take next.

As an implant dentist, we can also discuss other options with you. For example, you may not have enough bone density to support a long traditional dental implant but you could have enough density to support a shorter and wider implant. Also, if you have suffered complete tooth loss you may benefit from implant supported dentures. These are the types of solutions that we can discuss with you during your consultation and examination. Remember that our goal is to provide you with a natural-looking set of replacement teeth that is going to function at optimal levels. We are confident that dental implants are the best way to achieve this goal and will work with you to identify the exact solution and exact procedure that is going to work best for your health and for your appearance.

The Result

By using dental implants to replace your missing teeth we can give you a full set of highly functional teeth that look absolutely amazing. Our patients find that they are able to enjoy life more than when wearing dentures. This is because dental implants don't come out. They are surgically placed and will remain secure in your mouth regardless of what you are doing or what you are eating. As a senior you can replace your teeth with implants and live life without restrictions. This a far superior way to enjoy your retirement years

The Science Behind LANAP Laser Dentistry

LANAP laser dentistry is a procedure that is being used, and has been newly introduced, to structure the laser-assisted treatment of periodontal disease. The surgical laser procedure is designed for the treatment of periodontitis through regeneration rather than through simple reception. The LANAP laser dentistry procedure is a protocol that deals with the inflammation, the infectious process, the occlusion, the tooth mobility, and the osseous components of periodontal disease. It is important to understand that the LANAP laser dentistry protocols are a key achievement in laser dentistry. We know that approximately 80% of Americans suffer from some form of periodontal disease, from the extremely mild to the very severe - 97% of those have moderate to severe periodontitis and do not get the treatment they need.

In order to properly understand how LANAP laser dentistry is an effective therapy, it is important to first understand what periodontal disease is. Periodontal disease, at its core, is when the teeth separate from the gums allowing pockets to exist under the gum line. These pockets can quickly become infected with bacteria and lead to tooth loss, degeneration of the bone, and other serious problems.  Often times the first symptom of a periodontal disease is bleeding of gums. Well over 90% of Americans will experience bleeding gums at some point during their life. It is important to note that if you have consistent bleeding gums you need to get inspected for gingivitis or the even more serious periodontal disease. The good news is that with the LANAP laser dentistry tools, we have an effective therapy to help treat periodontal disease.

Typically we find that the LANAP protocol using LANAP laser dentistry is a procedure that can be completed in two visits, although it has been known to be done in one appointment. On average each of these visits last roughly two hours and you will need to see the dentist for a one-hour post-operative appointment for an evaluation after about a week.   The procedure itself works by targeting a specific wavelength of laser light at the disease infected pockets, under the gum line, where the tooth has separated from the gum. This helps to address the underlying connectivity issues as well as the disease or infection.  Since the laser is extremely selective and pinpointed at the diseased tissue, the underlying connective tissue which connects the tooth and gums is allowed to heal and regenerate rather than having them affected, allowing for a much more rapid recovery.  Simultaneously, by removing the diseased tissue with a laser, healthy tissue has more room to grow and this works well for the re-connection and regeneration of the healthy tissue.

One of the things to understand about LANAP laser dentistry is that during the first year after the procedure typically no work will be done to disturb the periodontal tissue. In fact, we will only be treating caries and working on temporization.  If a patient requires restoration type dental work, we will do this before having the LANAP laser dentistry protocols implemented since very few patients want to wait a year for restorative dentistry.

The good news about this procedure is that it is far more comfortable than traditional methods of treating gum disease.  For this reason, many of our patients prefer laser dentistry.  To learn more about this procedure, call and schedule a consultation.