This question comes up a lot. Many patients are told that they do not have enough bone left to have dental implants placed. Typically they had the teeth removed a while ago, they wore denture for long time, the bone melted away and all that is left now is an […] Read more »
Why is the Sinus Lift Needed?
The short answer to the title’s question is “because the lowering of the sinus floor was not prevented earlier”. The more detailed answer follows below. One very specific type of bone graft is the sinus lift. The maxilary sinus is located above the roots of the upper teeth from the […] Read more »
Why Some Patients Need Bone Graft or Sinus Lift?
In order for the dental implant to integrate with the bone(fuse, bond with the bone), it has to be surrounded by a layer of bone of at least 1.5 mm. Sometimes, some patients do not have enough thickness of the bone to ensure that the implant is completely surrounded by […] Read more »
How much do dentures REALLY cost on the long term?
Patients think that dentures are the cheaper treatment alternative when it comes to replacing missing teeth. It is partially true. On the short term they are the cheaper alternative compared with dental implants or dental bridges. But on the long term they are way more expensive than having dental implants […] Read more »
Implant parts for later?
Today, a patient brought up this question which I found very interesting and wise: “What happens if the implant company that made my implants is not going to be in business 20 years from now and I’ll need something fixed, but they won’t have the parts available?” This is a […] Read more »
Why settle with dentures when you can have dental implants?
In United States, approx. 55% of the adult population has one or more teeth missing. Out of the people with missing teeth, only approx. 15% of them seek treatment of the missing teeth. Out of those seeking treatment, approx. 80% of them get treatment with conventional dentistry(dentures, partial dentures, flippers, snap-on-smile, […] Read more »
How Comfortable is Invisalign?
How Comfortable is Invisalign? Very comfortable. And I am saying this from my personal experience. I am wearing Invisalign clear aligners myself at this point and I can state that they are very comfortable. Most of the time I am not even aware that they are in. When I take them […] Read more »
Psychologic and Other Side Effects of Missing Teeth
Nearly 50% of the adults in United States have missing teeth. As dentists we wonder how come in the richest country in the world, with all the financial and technology resources, we still have a lot of patients losing teeth. The two main clinical factors are gum disease and dental […] Read more »
What Toothpaste Should I Use ?
This question comes up often when doing the 6 months recall exam or exams for new patients. It could be quite confusing for a patient what toothpaste to use when there are so many products out there, each of them claiming to be the best. There are probably as many […] Read more »
Why Treat Gum Disease?
In United States, about 80% of the population has some sort of gum disease. If you think about, that means 4 out of 5 people have some sort of gum inflamation or infection, bad breath, mobile teeth, pus coming out through the gums, etc… One interesting characteristic of gum disease […] Read more »