Advanced Bone Grafting Techniques
It is well known that periodontal disease destroys the bony support around the teeth. Due to new technological breakthroughs, we are now able in many instances to actually regrow bone that has been lost through the disease progression.
Regrow bone? Absolutely! The FDA has recently approved two new compounds that stimulate bone to regrow, such as GEM-21S from BioMimetic Therapeutics and Medtronic’s Infuse Bone Graft.
These new products allow us to preserve teeth in instances where we would have been unable to do so in the past. Additionally, this technology allows us to grow bone around dental implants which often allows for more ideal placement, allowing easier restoration.
Laser Therapy
The face of dentistry is ever changing, and we do our best to keep up with technological and practical improvements. It is a rare occurrence to have a piece of equipment that significantly changes the way we practice, but this is what the Biolase has done for me. As a periodontist, to be able to honestly tell a patient, in many instances, that a procedure can be painless, require no injections, and no pain medication afterward is truly revolutionary. It is an amazing advancement in the treatment of soft tissue and provides many benefits:
-Faster healing
-Reduced risk of infection
-Decreased sensitivity
-Less time in chair
-Less bleeding
-Less post-treatment discomfort
In addition to the Waterlase, we have a Diode laser that we use for low level laser therapy (LLLT). LLLT promotes healing by increasing circulation and promoting collagen formation.Other advantages of using laser therapy include:
- -Many procedures done with topical anesthetic instead of painful injections
- -Root sensitivity can be permanently eliminated
- -Herpetic lesions, if treated early, can be avoided
- -Stimulation of the immune system
- -Speed tissue regeneration
-Lasers have had such a significant impact on my practice, and my ability to give patients the least invasive and most comfortable treatments possible.
Invisalign
We have integrated Invisalign into our treatment plans for periodontal patients who can benefit from repositioning teeth. Crooked, overlapped and tilted teeth can contribute to periodontal disease because these areas are difficult to clean. Traditional orthodontic treatment with brackets, wires and rubber bands make it even harder to treat these areas. Invisalign requires none of these, making it a better alternative for perio patients, giving them better health and the smile they always wanted. Call our office to schedule an Invisalign consultation to improve your health and your smile.
What are Dental Implants?
Dental implants represent one of the most dramatic advances in modern dentistry. Every year, tens of thousands of dental implant procedures give people a second chance for their teeth and smile.
People lose one or more teeth for a wide variety of reasons, including infection, gum disease, accidents and injury. When natural teeth are removed, remaining teeth may shift, rotate and become crooked. An implant can be used to alleviate these problems.
A natural tooth consists of a crown and the root. It is the root that holds the tooth in place. Dental implants are titanium cylinders that are placed in the jawbone where the original teeth were. These root-like cylinders are used to secure a replacement tooth in a spot where a tooth is missing.
Implants have a very high success rate. In fact, some have lasted more than 20 years! Patients who have good oral hygiene can enjoy their implants for a lifetime.
