Did you know natural dental implants in Palm Beach Gardens are the closest to natural teeth? Thanks to advanced implant technology, this tooth-replacement option looks, feels, and functions like your original teeth. Let’s take a closer look at each part of a dental implant that plays a significant role in achieving the smile you’ve always wanted.
What Are the Different Parts of a Dental Implant?
Metal Screw or Fixture
The main part of a dental implant is a screw-shaped post made of high-grade titanium. The dentist surgically inserts this post into your jawbone in the area of tooth loss to substitute for the missing tooth’s root portion.Moreover, the metal post makes up around two-thirds of the implant’s structure. Moreover, it lies under the gums and in the jawbone. Once the dentist inserts the implant into the jaw, you won’t see it unless your dentist takes an x-ray of your mouth. Over time, the metal post fuses naturally with the bone through osseointegration.Since implant posts are permanent replacements for natural tooth roots, they restore your ability to chew food and pronounce words. Each time you bite down, the implant transfers forces to your jawbone. For this reason, it helps maintain bone mass and your natural facial structure. While other replacements, such as dentures, merely sit on top of your gums, dental implants become a part of the gums and bone.
Abutment
An abutment is a small metal connector that your dentist screws into the implant once you’ve fully healed from the surgery that fixes the implant post. Furthermore, the abutment is responsible for holding the dental prosthesis in place.
Dental Prosthesis
The dental prosthesis can be a dental crown, bridge, or denture. The dentist attaches this tooth-like structure to the abutment to replace one-third of your tooth’s anatomy. Consequently, it’s the only part of your dental implant you can see, mimicking the appearance of your natural teeth.
Considering Natural Dental Implants in Palm Beach Gardens?
At Prestige Periodontal & Implant Center, we’re committed to providing an exceptional dental experience using state-of-the-art technology in a clean, safe, and comfortable environment. Contact us today to make an appointment.
You should be excited if you’re about to get holistic implants in Palm Beach Gardens. Besides making you feel more confident about your smile, this tooth-replacement solution restores your chewing power and natural speech patterns, preserves your jawbone, maintains your facial structure, and keeps adjacent teeth stable. However, you should practice good dental implant care if you want to reap the full benefits of your new smile.
Caring for Your Dental Implants
Use a Nylon Toothbrush
You might need to switch toothbrushes after getting dental implants. It’s best to steer clear of hard-bristled ones that can scratch the surface of your dental restoration. You’ll want to use a nylon toothbrush because it features pliable bristles that allow you to clean your implants gently.
Don’t Use Abrasive Oral Hygiene Products
Some oral hygiene products are too abrasive for your new teeth. Likewise, using products with intense flavors, such as cinnamon or mint, can cause extreme discomfort in the mouth. Do yourself a favor by using sensitive cleaning toothpaste or mouthwash once you get your dental implants.
Floss at Least Once Every Day
Statistics show that only 16% of American adults floss daily. If you’re part of the 84% of people who aren’t flossing enough, you’ll want to change your ways now that you have dental implants. Moreover, flossing becomes more crucial than ever with your new artificial teeth because it prevents plaque and tartar from building up around your implants, causing various oral health issues. Be glad to know that you can find many types of flosses designed specifically for dental implants.If you always forget to take time out of your day to floss, consider setting a reminder on your phone, stashing floss in your purse or car, flossing while watching TV, and rewarding yourself for flossing.
Considering Holistic Implants in Palm Beach Gardens?
Peri-implantitis results from the bacterial buildup around soft and hard gum tissues surrounding a dental implant. Moreover, this condition causes gum inflammation that wreaks havoc on the bone that supports the implant. If left untreated, peri-implantitis can cause implant failure. Perhaps you’ve decided to replace your missing teeth with ceramic implants in Palm Beach Gardens. We’re here to help you steer clear of peri-implantitis.
Tips for Preventing Peri-Implantitis
Maintain Good Oral Hygiene
Practicing a solid oral hygiene routine significantly reduces your risk of peri-implantitis. Keep your natural teeth and dental implants clean by brushing them with fluoridated toothpaste at least twice a day and flossing once daily. Rinsing with an antibacterial mouthwash gives added benefits.However, you’ll want to use alcohol-free mouthwash to avoid various health problems alcohol may cause. It’s also best to chew sugar-free gum because it contributes to proper oral hygiene by reducing plaque, maintaining oral tissue health and tonicity, and promoting bone health.
Quit Smoking Cigarettes
Smoking cigarettes can have a detrimental effect on your gums. Tobacco’s sugars and irritants can irritate the gum tissue that holds the dental implants in place, leading to gum disease.Since smoking triggers a lack of oxygen in the bloodstream, the infected gums don’t heal. In addition, smoking harms the body’s immune system, further increasing the risk of experiencing oral health concerns. Unless you quit smoking, you’re twice as likely to develop gum problems than nonsmokers.
Schedule Regular Dental Appointments
Dental professionals recommend keeping up with your biannual dental visits, especially if you have dental implants. Your dentist will check your mouth and eliminate plaque and tartar through professional cleanings. Besides allowing your dentist to recommend preventive measures against peri-implantitis, regular dental appointments can allow them to catch issues early and treat them promptly.
Learn More About Ceramic Implants in Palm Beach Gardens!
While everyone knows what a dentist does, many people are unaware of what a natural periodontist in Palm Beach Gardens can do. While an experienced dentist can treat mild symptoms of gum disease, a periodontist would be the most suitable dental professional to manage cases with moderate to severe symptoms.Periodontists have three additional years of training beyond dental school. Moreover, they specialize in preventing, diagnosing, and treating periodontal disease and placing dental implants. It’s important to note that periodontal disease is a gum disease that causes considerable damage to the gum tissue and the underlying bone that supports the teeth. They perform various procedures, including scaling and root planing, laser gum surgery, flap surgery, and gum or bone grafts.
What Oral Health Issues Can a Periodontist Treat?
Gum Recession
Gum recession, a form of gum disease, occurs when the gum tissue pulls away from the teeth. Since this condition exposes the roots underneath, it makes teeth more susceptible to sensitivity, decay, and cavities. Age, poor oral health care, infection, or disease can lead to gum recession.A periodontist can correct gum recession by performing surgical procedures that help gums regrow, preventing infection and tooth loss.
Jawbone Loss
People with missing teeth often experience bone loss. A periodontist performs a bone graft to encourage bone regrowth and prevent further bone resorption and tooth loss.
Loose or Missing Teeth
Patients with periodontal disease often suffer from loose or missing teeth. A periodontist can restore smiles by installing tooth replacement solutions, including dental implants. Since dental implants act as artificial tooth roots, they restore stimulation to the jawbone, allowing it to maintain its shape.
Cosmetic Gum Surgery
Besides treating oral health issues from a medical standpoint, a periodontist can help patients unhappy with their smile’s overall appearance. For instance, they can perform crown lengthening procedures to fix a gummy smile.
Looking for a Natural Periodontist in Palm Beach Gardens?
At Prestige Periodontics, we don’t just treat teeth – we treat patients. If you’re looking to improve your oral health and overall well-being, contact us today to make an appointment.
Most people don’t realize the importance of oral health. However, any holistic dentist in Palm Beach Gardens will tell you that oral health offers clues about your overall health. For this reason, issues in your mouth can impact the rest of your body. If you want to protect yourself, it’s best to take a closer look at the connection between oral and general health.
The Connection Between the Mouth and Body
Did you know that your mouth teems with bacteria? Although oral bacteria are primarily harmless, disease-causing bacteria can enter your mouth and invade your digestive and respiratory tracts. Your body’s natural defenses can help keep bacteria under control. However, without regular brushing and flossing, bacteria can reach certain levels that might lead to tooth decay, gum disease, and other oral infections.In addition, medications can also increase bacterial levels if they cause side effects that reduce salivary flow. Saliva helps protect you from harmful bacteria that lead to illnesses and diseases by washing away food particles and neutralizing acids that these bacteria produce in your mouth. Furthermore, research suggests that oral bacteria and the inflammation associated with gum disease might contribute to some medical conditions. For instance, HIV/AIDS and diabetes can make oral health issues more severe because these diseases can reduce the body’s ability to resist infection.
Conditions Linked to Oral Health
Cardiovascular Disease
Studies show that clogged arteries, heart disease, and stroke might be connected to the inflammation and infections of periodontal disease.
Endocarditis
Endocarditis is an infection of the heart chamber’s valves or inner lining. This condition usually occurs when harmful bacteria from one part of the body, such as the mouth, enter the bloodstream and attach themselves to specific areas in the heart.
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an acute respiratory condition that can occur when oral bacteria get pulled into the lungs. Someone who has pneumonia has pus and fluid in their lungs’ alveoli. Since the alveoli are tiny sacs that fill with air when a person breathes, pneumonia makes breathing painful, limiting oxygen intake.
Looking for a Holistic Dentist in Palm Beach Gardens?
At Prestige Periodontics, we’re committed to helping you keep your mouth and body healthy. We don’t just treat teeth – we treat patients. Contact us today to make an appointment.
Did you know that approximately 120 million Americans are missing at least one tooth? It doesn’t matter if you’ve suffered tooth loss due to severe tooth decay, gum disease, or trauma. You’ll want to consider tooth replacement in Palm Beach Gardens to maintain your oral health. We’ve compiled the best reasons why you should replace your missing teeth.
Why Should I Replace Missing Teeth?
It Helps Maintain an Even Bite
Unless your entire upper and lower arch are full of teeth, you won’t be able to maintain an even bite. Tooth loss will not only leave gaps between your teeth, but it will also cause your remaining teeth to move toward the position of the lost tooth to fill in the gap. As your existing teeth shift out of their original positions, they cause significant changes to the way your upper arch meets the lower arch. Unfortunately, an uneven bite can lead to issues affecting the teeth and jaw. Alternatively, replacing missing teeth eliminates the gap and stops the rest of your teeth from shifting. Your bite will remain as it was before you lost a tooth.
It Helps Preserve Your Jawbone
Chewing stimulates your jawbone to maintain its volume and density. Losing a tooth signals your body to stop providing nourishment to the jawbone area that used to support your missing tooth. As a result, the body absorbs the bone tissue from the jawbone, leading to bone loss.Dental health experts confirm that bone resorption occurs around six months after tooth loss. Unless you use dental implants to replace missing teeth, bone deterioration continues until it changes the shape of your face. Dental implants act as artificial tooth roots that provide the stimulation your jawbone needs.
It Helps Improve Your Overall Health
If you’re missing all of your back teeth, you won’t be able to chew well. Unless you replace your missing teeth, this inability to chew certain foods can lead to nutrient deficiencies. With the right tooth replacement solution, you’ll be able to enjoy your favorite foods while getting the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy.Reasons-to-Replace- Missing-Teeth
Learn More About The Best Tooth Replacement Option in Palm Beach Gardens!
At Prestige Periodontics, we don’t just treat teeth. We treat patients. Contact us today to determine the tooth replacement option that suits you best.
Life is better with brand-new dentures in Palm Beach Gardens. These oral appliances are excellent at restoring smilesto patients who’ve lost their teeth due to injuries or illnesses. While artificial teeth are meant to help you with speaking, chewing, and other daily tasks, it takes some time to get used to wearing them. We’ve pulled together a few tips to help you adjust to your new smile faster.
How to Get Used to Eating With Your New Dentures
Start with Soft Foods at Home
Until you feel comfortable eating and drinking in public, you’ll want to learn how to chew without popping your new teeth out of place, scraping your gums, or biting your tongue. Eating soft foods, such as pudding and mashed potatoes, can help make this process easier for you. Unlike hard, crunchy, or chewy foods, soft foods won’t put the same amount of pressure on your gums. For this reason, maintaining a soft diet can help your tender gums heal and minimize discomfort.
Avoid Biting with Front Teeth
If you bite foods with your front teeth, your dentures will come unstuck in the back. Cut your food into bite-size pieces and bite down only with your side or back teeth.
Take Small Bites
Chewing requires you to move your jaw up and down and side to side. You’ll have to get accustomed to these motions while wearing new dentures. When you’re ready to move on to tougher foods, you’ll want to learn how to adjust the amount of pressure you use for chewing to avoid dislodging your dentures. Consequently, cutting food into smaller pieces helps you chew easily with your back teeth.
Steer Clear of Hard Foods
Biting down on hard, sticky, or crunchy foods will cause you to loosen your dentures as you chew. In addition, these foods can also chip or crack your new teeth. Do yourself a favor by kicking the habit of crunching ice or hard candies.
Need Help Adjusting to Your New Dentures in Palm Beach Gardens?
At Prestige Periodontics, we’ve built a practice that sets itself apart from the rest. Besides focusing on providing the highest standards of care, we use the most advanced technology in the industry. Contact us today to schedule your consultation.
Most people fail to realize the significant role gums play in oral health until they suffer from advanced periodontitis. While this disease may be very concerning, prompt treatment from a holistic periodontist in Palm Beach Gardens can help prevent further damage and restore your smile. If you’re well on your way to reclaiming your gum health, it’s best to look into the answers to the top questions asked about periodontitis.
Top Questions Asked About Periodontitis
Is Gum Disease the Same as Periodontal Disease?
Gum disease is just another name for periodontal disease. Both terms refer to the inflammation and infection of gum tissue due to oral bacteria from excessive plaque buildup.
What Are the Stages of Gum Disease?
Gum disease or periodontal disease comes in two main stages: gingivitis and periodontitis. Gingivitis is the early form of gum disease that results from plaque buildup on the surfaces of teeth. Although its symptoms may include red, puffy, tender, and bleeding gums, all teeth are firmly planted. Brushing twice a day, flossing once a day, and visiting the dentist at least twice a year can help prevent gingivitis.Untreated gingivitis progresses to a severe form of gum disease called periodontitis. The gums and the bone begin to pull away from the teeth during this stage, forming deep pockets that accumulate bacteria below the gum line. Unlike gingivitis, periodontitis can’t be reversed. However, a periodontist can help prevent further damage by thoroughly cleaning the pockets around the teeth.
How Does a Periodontist Treat Periodontitis?
A periodontist recommends a treatment plan based on your situation. Depending on the severity of your periodontitis, they may perform nonsurgical and surgical treatments to address the disease. Scaling and root planing are noninvasive procedures that eliminate bacteria from the teeth and under the gum line before smoothing the surface of the tooth roots to prevent further bacteria buildup. Alternatively, they may also perform surgical procedures such as pocket reduction surgery or flap surgery to clean the teeth’s roots in advanced periodontitis. Moreover, the periodontist may also prescribe antibiotics whether you receive nonsurgical or surgical treatment.
Looking for a Holistic Periodontist in Palm Beach Gardens?
At Prestige Periodontics, we don’t just protect your teeth and gums. We protect your overall health. Contact us today to make an appointment.
Does your dental anxiety cause you to avoid the treatment you desperately need? Be glad to know that sedation dentistry in Palm Beach Gardens can help you relax while your dentist works on your teeth. We’re here to help you make an informed decision by debunking the persistent myths surrounding this treatment procedure.
Common Misconceptions About Sedation Dentistry
MISCONCEPTION #1: “Dentists use only one kind of sedation.”
Oral sedation refers to a sedative taken in pill form an hour before your procedure. You’ll feel calm and relaxed when you reach your dentist’s office. While the level of sedation depends on the dosage, its effects typically last for several hours. For this reason, it’s best to have a family member or friend drive you home after your appointment.
Nitrous oxide
This type of sedation is ideal for patients who have mild anxiety. It involves inhaling a colorless and odorless nitrous oxide gas, also known as laughing gas, through a mask placed over your face. Since this is a low-impact sedative, you can drive yourself home or get back to work right after your procedure.
IV sedation
This type of sedation works faster than other methods because the dentist administers the sedative directly to your bloodstream via a needle inserted into a vein. Moreover, they’ll monitor your vitals throughout your procedure and adjust the level of sedation as needed. Since its effects don’t wear off quickly, you’ll need someone to drive you home.
MISCONCEPTION #2: “Dental sedation is for everyone.”
Although most patients make good candidates for dental sedation, it’s not an option for someone pregnant before the second trimester, allergic to the sedative being used, or taking medication that shouldn’t mix with the sedative. Moreover, dentists don’t recommend sedation dentistry to patients with chronic bronchitis.
MISCONCEPTION #3: “Dental sedation is only for major surgical procedures.”
Dental sedation isn’t reserved for root canal treatment and periodontal work. Your dentist can use sedation dentistry such as nitrous oxide and oral sedation to help you sit comfortably in the dental chair through routine and basic procedures.
Considering Sedation Dentistry in Palm Beach Gardens?
At Prestige Periodontics, we offer various dental sedation options based on your needs. Contact us today to make an appointment.
If your teeth are a little too short for your taste, a natural dentist in Palm Beach Gardens may recommend that you undergo a crown lengthening procedure. Although this treatment involves a surgical procedure, it won’t have to catch you off guard because holistic dentistry uses dental lasers to ensure your comfort.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Crown Lengthening
What Is Crown Lengthening?
Crown lengthening is a surgical procedure specifically designed to make teeth look longer by removing excess gum tissue and reshaping the gum line. In some cases, the dentist adjusts the tooth’s bone level to extend the height and size of the tooth’s visible portion.
This adjustment ensures that the gums have at least 2 millimeters of surface area to bond with the new restoration. Besides helping with bonding, surface area adjustments prevent the trapping of food particles and potential complications such as dental crowns falling off the teeth.
When Is Crown Lengthening Needed?
People with small and short teeth will benefit from a crown lengthening procedure. Moreover, other conditions that require this treatment include teeth with cracks extending beneath the gum line and teeth with severe tooth decay below the gum line.
When the healthy portion of a broken or severely decayed tooth doesn’t have enough surface area to work with, the success rate of tooth restorations such as dental crowns is significantly reduced. Since crown lengthening exposes more of the tooth’s surface, it prevents restorative dental appliances from weakening or falling off. The procedure also helps ensure excellent oral health because longer crowns are easier to brush and floss.
Do You Need to See a Natural Dentist in Palm Beach Gardens?
At Prestige Periodontics, we use state-of-the-art technology, including laser treatment, to restore your smile’s function and appearance. For exceptional service and quality care, contact our office today to schedule your next appointment.