Implant case

Wrapped up this case on Friday of last week.

Patient broke off half of her tooth.

The break was severe and extended down under the gums.

Patient did not want a bridge so an implant was chosen.

(Digital picture of tooth)

(X-Ray of tooth)

After the extraction both root sockets were examined and it was

determined that the socket farthest back would work best for the implant.

The implant was placed.

Bone grafting material was placed in the front most socket.

The spot was then stitched shut.

The implant is at bone level and the outcome for this case is extremely favorable.

The patient will now wait for about 6 weeks to make sure

that the implant site heals completely.

After that a tooth will be attached to the implant

and she will be back to her old self.

There are certain situations in which they don't work

but for the most part implants are wonderful.

Dr Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis Website

Does your jaw pop or click?

TMJ is the abbreviation for Temporal Mandibular Joint. It is the joint directly in front of your ear that is used by your body to open and close your mouth. It is, like most other joints in your body, made up of cartilage, fluid, bones, and muscles.. And just like any other joint in the body any piece to this puzzle can deteriorate, get misplaced, damaged, or have any other number of problems.

If any sort of damage does occur then pain, clicking, popping may result.

If you have had any of the above symptoms the best thing to do

is to see your dentist right away.

He/she needs to determine what is the cause of your TMJ discomfort and

what, if anything, can be done to solve the problem.

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis Website

What is the black line around my crown?

Nothing is wrong.

What you are seeing is simply the metal that your crown is

made out of showing out from underneath.

I know I know, you thought that your crown was white and that

there wasn't any metal in it.

Well, there is. You have what is referred to as a porcelain

fused to metal crown of (PFM).

The crown is made of a metal substructure to give it it's strength and

then porcelain is layered over the top to make it look like a tooth.

The PFM has been used for years and has had remarkable success.

The only draw back to these types of crowns is the metal line showing through

and the fact that the porcelain layers can begin to separate from each other

and cause the pieces of porcelain to fall off the crowns.

Today there are new advances in crown technology that have

eliminated both of these problems.

There is a new material, to the world of dentistry that is, called zirconium.

Zirconium crowns are milled from a solid block and are very very strong.

This milling process means that they are not put together piece by piece.

Therefore there are no pieces to come apart. The crown is one solid unit.

Zirconium is also white so the color is that of most teeth and will never show a

metallic line because there is no metal.

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis Website

Implant case from yesterday.

Just finished up a nice implant case.

Patient came in with one of his four front teeth broken off at the gum line.

(Pictured here)

The big problem was that he already had bridges on both sides of the broken tooth.

Since he didn't want to destroy a good bridge he went for the implant.

We extracted the tooth, placed the implant, and placed a temporary on it the same day.

The patient returned in 8 weeks to receive the final crown.

He is very happy with the result.

(Pictured below)

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis Website

Does it matter what kind of toothpaste you use?

Nope.

Sure doesn't.

Now, if you or someone you know is a dental toothpaste salesmen please don't get all bent out of shape. No matter what anyone says most toothpastes are pretty much the same. There are a few products that someone's Aunt Betty makes in her back yard out of bees wax and real maple syrup. But other then that they are all pretty close.

In fact in a 4 week study the American Dental Association found very little, if no,

difference between folks who brushed with toothpaste vs straight water.

Here is a link to the study.

LINK

And what they are made out of is not even really the important thing anyway. The important thing is that you actually pick up the brush and use it. And then pick up the floss and use that. If you do these two things, regardless of what types of toothpaste or floss, you will be in the 95th percentile of people in this country.

Moral to the story is this......

don't be so worried about what you put on the brush,

just put the brush against your teeth.

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis Website

I cracked my front tooth! What now?

Okay so you, your child, your mom, your brother, etc. etc. just fell face first into something, over something, under something, etc. etc. and broke the corner of your/their front tooth off.

What do you do now?

Well, that depends. Lets break this down into 3 simplified categories.

The nerve of a tooth is in the middle of the tooth.

#1 If you just broke off a small corner of the tooth and it didn't reach the nerve then a simple filling is probably all you would need.

#2 If you broke off a larger corner but still didn't reach the nerve then you more then likely would need a crown.

#3 If you broke your tooth so severely that you got down into the nerve then you will need a root canal AND a crown.

And although all of this may be a traumatic experience don't worry. Your cracked and broken smile can be completely repaired and have you back to being the model you know you were born to be.

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis Website

Just take out all my teeth!

Every once in a while we will get someone who asks us to take

all of their teeth out and just give them dentures.

In almost all cases the answer to this is no.

The reason for this is because these people are looking for a fix.

A fix to all of their dental problems.

They figure that if they have no teeth then they can't have anymore mouth problems.

Oh how wrong that is.

Dentures come with their own set of problems.

Do they fit?

Will they stay in?

Can I chew with them?

Etc.

Etc.

Now, for some people a denture is absolutely the right way to go.

But for most there are other options.

And once you go with a denture you can never go back to real teeth.

Its kind of a, the grass is always greener on the other side mentality.

Do dentures work?

Yes.

But they require work, cleaning, and care just like teeth do.

If you aren't willing to work on your teeth then the problems you

had with your teeth will follow you to your dentures.

Dr. Ellis on Facebook

Dr. Ellis Website