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When a tooth is lost, many people consider dental implants as a tooth replacement option because the space left in their mouth isn’t exactly aesthetically pleasing. Who wants to walk around looking like they just lost a boxing match, right?

Aside from a person’s physical appearance, however, getting a tooth replaced is also very important to your oral health, and lacking a tooth can escalate into bigger problems than you could have anticipated the longer you wait.

Why Replace aMissing Tooth?

Teeth serve many purposes when it comes to the strength and functionality of your mouth. After all, teeth weren’t just put in your mouth for decoration. Teeth help you bite and chew your food, and they need to remain strong and intact to do that.

Now, if you’re thinking “It’s not like I can’t chew with one tooth gone,” you may want to rethink. Teeth also help keep your jawbone strong and prevent bone deterioration. If a tooth is lost and not replaced, the jawbone begins to weaken and deteriorate because of the stimulus and pressure of chewing keep the jawbone functioning and healthy. If there is no stimulus or pressure in a portion of the jaw because a tooth is missing, that area will weaken and, if left alone, lose function and lead to bone loss.

Having a missing tooth is like having a house with a broken foundation... if one part is missing the whole thing could very well collapse. With dental implants, you’re replacing the missing part of the foundation, keeping the jawbone strong and functional.

Of course, having all your teeth makes your smile look beautiful! An unsightly gap in your mouth may lead to you feeling self-conscious, making you hide your smile in family reunion photos or at your child’s birthday party. Dental implants can cure these confidence issues! With dental implants, you’ll not only be able to flash a dazzling smile to your friends and family, but eat, drink, smile, laugh, and be yourself without worrying about the tooth gap. Your social life and career prospects are saved!

The Dental Implant Procedure

Although replacing a missing tooth is a serious matter, the two-part procedure is pretty straight-forward.

In the first part of the procedure, a bone graft may be made if you’ve already experienced bone loss in the jawbone due to the missing tooth. A bone graft is when the dentist takes a little bit of healthy bone from one part of the jaw to replace what was lost in the damaged area. But don’t worry! This is typically done under oral sedation or general anaesthesia, so you won’t feel any discomfort. Once sufficient bone is available to accommodate the dental implant, the dentist installs a titanium screw in the jawbone. Part one of the procedure is complete!

Once your dental implant surgery is complete, you may receive a temporary crown to put on the implant that same day. If a bone graft was necessary, the jawbone may not be ready to bear the load of chewing right away and you’ll have to wait a few weeks for the surgical site to heal. During that time, the dental implant fuses to the jawbone to create a strong foundation for the implant crown.

When your dentist is satisfied that your dental implant is strong enough to withstand everyday chewing function, a permanent crown will be placed on top of your implant. Congratulations! You are now ready to enjoy your new smile!

Strong, Stronger, Dental Implant

If you’re beginning to think replacing your missing tooth is more necessary than you initially thought, then you are right. Dental implants are considered the gold standard of tooth replacement, with many benefits for the appearance, functionality, and health of your smile. If you feel like dental implants are the right solution for you, talk to your trusted dental implant dentist and get your smile back!

Periodontal Reconstruction - Dr. Victor Terranova discusses the  restoration of structure and function of the diseased periodontium.

Dr. Victor Terranova received his BA from Rutgers College of Rutgers University in New Jersey. He received his DMD from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1972 and his MS and PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Rochester in 1978. Specialty training in Periodontolgy was completed at the Eastman Dental Center of Strong Memorial Hospital, affiliated with the University of Rochester under the mentor of Dr. Helmut A. Zander in 1976.
After his training Dr. Terranova spent seven years as Senior Staff at the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Dental Research. Dr. Terranova is currently on the faculty of the California Implant institute. In 30 years of practice, Dr. Terranova has performed thousands of surgical procedures, including implant placement, periodontal surgery and grafts, sinus augmentation, and simple and complicated tooth extractions including 3rd molar extractions.

Periodontal disease was first treated back in the 1950’s and has undergone significant changes in the modality of treatment in the last 4-5 years.  During the 1950’s the main focus of treating periodontal disease was to eliminate  the ‘pyorrhea’ that was found in the patient’s mouth. Pyorrhea was the ‘man in the street’’ term for bleeding, pussy gums.

Since then various treatments have been proposed for treating adult periodontal disease and are used effectively. These include scaling and root planing and pocket elimination which has been the very foundation of treating periodontal disease. Getting rid of the periodontal pocket and making the tooth surface more accessible for the patient to clean.

Within the last 20 years however the methodology has changed. Instead of eliminating the periodontal pocket by cutting the gum tissue away, people have been more focused on rebuilding the periodontal apparatus in the mouth than the previous method of removing diseased gum tissue and  enlarging the tooth surfaces.

By this we mean periodontal reconstructive surgery - rebuilding  the patient’s periodontium ( the specialized tissues that both surround and support the teeth). This entails surgically opening the gums to expose the diseased root surfaces and the bone, then cleaning the inside of the soft tissue flap and reconstructing the ‘boney’ environment around the diseased teeth.

In doing this we are undertaking a process now termed ‘periodontal regeneration’. Periodontal regeneration  has been shown to a limited degree. We are now proposing to rebuild the bone structure around the teeth and then consequently place the gum tissue at it’s natural position in the mouth therefore re-establishing a periodontal situation that is disease free and appears natural.

By doing this we take bone graft and membrane for guided tissue regeneration and we supplement this with Platelete Rich Plasma  derived from the  patient in conjunction with  the patient’s own mesenchymal stem cells. PRP technology is a highly effective technique used in bone and soft tissue regeneration that yields quicker results and also reduces the discomfort due to improved and faster healing.

This process of using PRP and Stem Cells allows for:

Better healing

Accelerated healing

Using bone graft material from patient or from tissue bank

In this way the patient’s entire periodontal well being  is rebuilt as we slowly  supply the patient with a disease free periodontium.

Advantages of this technique after the procedure is that:

The process  involves minimum post-op discomfort to the patient

There is increased bone around the teeth

There is more stability around the teeth

A more natural environment is created that the patient can clean and maintain.

If you are worried about periodontal disease or have been told by your dentist that you need to be referred to a periodontist and you would like to have a consultation with Dr. Victor Terranova, then please call us on 718-499-2375.

Our website is www.dentistparkslope.com and http://www.austindentalplusny.com our you can read about periodontal reconstruction here at http://www.dentistparkslope.com/periodontist-park-slope-brooklyn.php and  http://www.dentistparkslope.com/periodontist-brooklyn.php where you can learn about what we perform at Jim Sarji's office, Advanced Gentle Dentistry of Park Slope where I am the periodontist. Our practice is located in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The practice focuses on all forms of general and cosmetic dentistry. We also offer dental implants, dental crowns, porcelain veneers The practice is located in the heart of Brooklyn and has a number of hygienists offering dental cleanings from Monday to Saturday.