Do Dental Implants Really Work?

People often ask if dental implants really work and if they are for them or not. Others have experiences that are horrifying stories of how implants did not work for them. The misinformation and misconceptions are abounding, but what is true and what’s not?

Approximately 100 million Americans are missing at least one tooth or more. About 69% of people have between ages 35-44 have at least one tooth in their mouths lost to permanent decay or a failed root canal or even gum diseases or accidents. 1/3 of all people 65 or older have no original teeth at all.

Many people who lose teeth prematurely have poor nutritional habits and are not getting the nourishment they need to be healthy as they could be. Others cannot smile comfortably and be OK with who they are. Modern-day dentistry offers implants and dentures and many ways to fix one’s teeth, but many people are all confused about what to do and what works or doesn’t work for them therefore they don’t go see a dentist or do anything to fix the problems at all. They just don’t bother.

Dental implants are growing popularity as about 5.5 million were inserted for people in the US alone in 2006, and that number is set to increase exponentially in the future as popularity continues to grow. However, many Americans refuse to consider these implants as they don’t even know what they are getting into, or are afraid of what may go wrong.Here are 5 things you need to know about implants and their conspiracies that are FALSE also known as myths before making your decision as to what works best for you:

1) Implants Are Too Invasive & Painful: Dental implants can be put in by a surgeon in little as 10-15 minutes, and patients often report less discomfort having the implant put in than having the previous tooth extracted. They are not nearly painful as people make them out to be. However, some people will recover faster than others depending on how they are at bouncing back from a procedure.

2) Implants Are Expensive: Procedures do cost money, yes, but an implant is often partially covered by your insurance, and moreover an implant should last a lifetime. Keeping the surrounding teeth healthy and the mouth full of teeth can save you a lot of money you otherwise may spend in the future! Most implants also likely do not need more care than just general dental upkeep for the rest of their lives unless they chip or crack.

3) Implants Are Frequently Rejected by the Patient’s Body: Overall the success rate of an implant is about 96% over the past 50 years as experience and research have gone into making the implants a very healthy option. The implants are also made of materials like titanium that fuse well with the bone structure of the mouth so the chances of infection are minimal.

4) I Don’t Have Enough Bone Mass or I Am Too Old for Implants: Jawbones may become thinner with age, but grafting techniques that are available for oral surgeons allow them to easily make it so that the implants have adequate structure around the tooth to hold it in place. Grafting procedures are available for almost everyone including the elderly. As a result, these implants can improve eating patterns and confidence in social settings to provide older people with a fuller life all around.

5) Any Dentist Can Perform Dental Surgeries: That’s false as very few dentists are certified oral surgeons. Oral surgery is a totally different job, and it requires at least 8 years of school and 10,000 hours of experience and practice to ensure the dentist is adequately equipped to do this procedure. Very few people who try get the whole way to being an oral surgeon. You are in good hands!

Dental implants are really one of the most ideal ways to replace lost teeth as they are fixed in and permanent. They are able to provide longer-term fixes that don’t need as much maintenance as other forms of fixing teeth!

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about us visit us here or call us 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”

ClearCorrect: What Is It and Does It Work?

ClearCorrect is a tooth alignment system that is an alternative to getting traditional braces. This is similar to other designs like Invisalign available through a dentist or orthodontist to help provide alternative treatment to their patients. ClearCorrect offers custom-made removable aligners that gradually move the teeth back into line without having to wear braces to do it.

Different things from your medical history will help build these personalized, custom trays including x-rays and scans of your mouth as they are used to create an exact 3D-model of what your mouth looks like. Your treatment is then mapped out by using a gradual realignment system to help get your teeth to be straightened to the point where your dentist wants them to be.

Treatment is set up through a computerized model of your mouth for you to use on the internet while you are wearing the ClearCorrect trays throughout your treatment time. The program allows you to email your dentist with questions, comments, or concerns throughout your experience and to get advice on how to make the system work best for you.

You wear these trays for a three-week period of time before the alignment changes enough that you get a new customizable set of trays. Each phase allows for you to control and be flexible with where your teeth go and what you do with the next phase of the treatment. You should wear the trays at all times except when eating and drinking, and they are barely noticeable while they are in your mouth unlike braces.

After each set is worn for the 3-week period you will notice the gradual alignment of the teeth and the entire treatment takes from 1 to 2 years. There are 3 sets of options available for treatment. One plan provides unlimited tray changes till your teeth are where they need to be and the other plans offer 12 or 6 sets of trays respectively and are priced accordingly. Treatment costs vary depending on the plan you choose to best suit your needs.

ClearCorrect is currently available for teens and adults. ClearCorrect is similar to comparable with InvisalignTeen. Children who might now have all their molars or senior citizens who are missing some teeth or have complicated dental needs may be able to use ClearCorrect if the dentist determines that this treatment can meet their specific needs.

ClearCorrect can also help correct various problems that you are having including some conditions like crowded teeth, extra space between teeth, overbites/underbites, or crooked/rotated teeth that need to be moved to be facing forward again.

In cases where ClearCorrect is not a good solution to one’s problems such as where there are complex problems are treated by more traditional orthodontics such as braces. Traditional metal braces, however, can oftentimes stop one from cleaning and keeping good oral hygiene up as well as they can with trays you remove to brush your teeth and floss. ClearCorrect requires a lot less intervention from dentists and is pain-and-hassle free compared to metal braces that can cause poor oral health or gum and lip irritation from constant rubbing.

Both ClearCorrect and Invisalign are removable trays that slowly realign teeth into their natural position, while changing trays continues to help the teeth move when the previous set no longer fits anymore. Expect to pay between about $2,500 and $3,500 for a full treatment depending on your needs and length of the treatment involved. It’s up to individual insurance plans if they will cover the cost of this treatment or not.

Your dentist can determine if something like ClearCorrect is right for you if you want to improve your smile and use this technology ask them today!

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about us visit us here or call us 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”

Tooth Bonding: A Dental Restoration Overview

Tooth-bonding is a procedure that is used to bond the application of the tooth-colored resin material using adhesives. These tooth-bonding procedures are used using highly-intense curing lights. The procedure bonds the restorative piece to the tooth. Bonding is usually used for aesthetic purposes such as to fix various problems like chipped teeth or discoloration. These tools can also be used to help close gaps between teeth or to change the shape or color of the teeth as well. These same devices could protect the portion of the tooth that may become exposed when gums recede.

Bondings can be considered to help fix many issues including repairing tooth decay, repair chip/cracked teeth, improve the appearance of discolored teeth, close spaces between teeth, to make teeth look longer, change the shape of your teeth, as an alternative to amalgram fillings, or to protect unexposed parts of the root of the tooth that is exposed when the gum begins to recede.

Dental bonding takes little-to-no preparation, and the use of anesthetic is not necessary to do this procedure unless the bonding is filling a decayed tooth. Your dentists’ goal will be to match the closest color and shade of the rest of your teeth. There are two types of bonding and one is direct composite bonding which is a process where the dentist use tooth-colored composites that they have in their offices to fill cavities, repair chips/cracks in teeth, close gaps in the teeth, or to build up worn-edges around the teeth. These composite materials may also be directly and sculpted to the surfaces of the teeth that will prominently when you smile for minimally invasive procedures. These are also known as having “bonding” procedures done. The other type of bonding is an adhesive bond which is commonly used for things like esthetic crowns, porcelain veneers, bridges, and inlays/overlays. After your dentist has chosen a color that matches your teeth. The dentist will have to rough up the surface of the teeth before using gentle phosphoric acid solution and after the roughing agent is removed there will be a bonding agent applied and it will be hardened on there after the bonding is done. This is done with an ultraviolet light that hardens as the light is shone on it.

The pros of dental bonding are not expensive compared to other procedures in the dental industries and can be done in a short office visit unless many teeth are involved. Compared to veneers and crowns this requires little to no removal of tooth enamel and most procedures require no anesthesia.

The cons of the dental bonding procedures can include that the dental bonding materials used are not as strong as your original teeth in many cases and so chewing on things like pen caps or fingernails or even ice cubes can cause problems if the material is chipped. These may not even last a few years before the bondings need repaired which can mean more appointments, but these procedures are not as invasive as the crowns, veneers, and/or fillings.

Bondings can only fix some problems though and some dentists see it as a small cosmetic procedure, but not things that can fix major problems. Sometimes bondings can cause lower pressure in biting power and cause problems with people being able to chew food well.

A consultation with your dentist can determine if the problem can be solved with the bonding procedure, or if the procedure needs to be something a little more invasive than bonding. The dentist will also discuss other risk like the tooth chipping or cracking or having other issues and possibly needing bonding a gain in the future to see if this is the right move for you. The teeth will be required to be taken extra care of to ensure you are not choosing to chew on things like fingernails or ice cubes. You can expect to pay $100 to $400 per tooth for the procedure to be done.

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