Standard Extractions

Despite the best efforts of you and your dentist, there are times when a tooth is so decayed or damaged that the only remedy is extracting it. You also may need to have fragile, diseased, or impacted teeth removed before a prosthesis can be fitted.

Wisdom Teeth Extractions

Although they’re called wisdom teeth, many people don’t see any wisdom in them. Often these teeth are troublemakers that decide to turn crooked, refuse to grow in completely, or become misshapen.

Also called third molars, wisdom teeth are the rearmost teeth on each side of your top and bottom jaws. Commonly, they arrive between ages 17 and 21.

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Implants

Tooth loss can have a profound effect on your health and well-being. Even though diseases leading to tooth loss are largely preventable, 46 percent of Americans ages 65 and older have lost six or more teeth, and 20 percent have lost all of their natural teeth due to decay or gum disease.

Research shows that it takes 20 well-placed teeth to preserve your normal chewing function. As the number of teeth decreases, the quality of a person’s diet drops. Missing teeth can also make speaking difficult and can make you self-conscious about your appearance. In addition, an empty space in the dental arch destabilizes the teeth that remain. The consequences can be tooth shifting, bone loss, and bite problems.

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Bone Grafting

Bone grafting is a safe and highly successful procedure that involves the “building up” or adding bone to the jaw by using your own natural bone from another location and/or by using donor, processed or synthetic bone materials. Often the new bone can be obtained from inside the mouth.

Bone grafts are often performed in the implant dentist’s office using local anesthesia to numb the areas that will be involved, sometimes along with intravenous sedation to remove anxiety.¹

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PreProsthetic Surgery

Pre-prosthetic surgery is that part of oral and maxillofacial surgery which restores oral function and facial form. This is concerned with surgical modification of the alveolar process and its surrounding structures to enable the fabrication of a well-fitting, comfortable, and esthetic dental prosthesis. The ultimate goal of pre-prosthetic surgery is to prepare a mouth to receive a dental prosthesis by redesigning and smoothening bony edges.²Read More…