When the worst comes to your smile, that’s when you need the best.
I covered the consequences and treatment options of oral injury and missing teeth in our last blog post, but there’s another important, related topic that needs to be addressed.
What happens if you need restorative dentistry, but the bones in your jaw and inside your skull make those treatment options impossible?
For example, if you have missing teeth and decide to get a dental implant to secure a new crown, bridge, or set of implant-retained dentures, then that implant needs a sufficient amount of bone to anchor itself to.
Think of it like building a fence. Putting a dental implant in a healthy jaw is the same thing as pouring concrete into the base of the fence post so that the structure stays sturdy for years. But a jaw that is too brittle, or has too little bone mass, is the same thing as securing that fence into sand with popsicle sticks: It just won’t hold.
This can be extremely frustrating for patients like you, who have made the decision to finally do something about their smiles – due to conditions like osteoporosis, advanced gum disease, or just simply getting on in your years – only to discover that a much-needed dental implant can be installed because your bones are too weak.
What then? Talk about being in a rock and a hard place.
When patient like you goes to another dentist in New Hampshire, they will usually refer you to an oral surgeon who is skilled enough to deliver such a high level of care – dentists like you’ll find at Nashua Area Family Dentistry.
My team and I excel at the kinds of oral surgeries that your average Nashua dentist can’t perform, and that includes a pair of remarkable treatments that can help you to get your dental implants with a gentle, skilled hand.
Building Better Bones
If you need dental implants but the bones which support your smile aren’t strong enough to hold them, I can perform oral surgery which will reinforce those bones or, in some cases, create space for the implants if there isn’t enough room in your mouth to properly install them.
But before we get to those procedures, you must understand how a dental implant can change the quality of your life in positive ways that you never thought we possible. By securing a crown, a bridge, or even a full set of custom-made dentures onto an implant or series of implants, you can enjoy the closest thing to a natural bite just outside of having all of your original teeth in perfect condition.
I think you are worth having those benefits back in your life, so let’s now talk about how I can help you get them!
Bone Grafting – Bone grafting is a process by which I can restore width and form to a jaw bone that is simply too small to support a dental implant. The process involves putting you under anesthesia so you feel absolutely no pain whatsoever, and then transplanting a small portion of bone from elsewhere on your jaw to the place where we want the implant (or implants) to go. After a healing period, your jaw will be ready to support an implant-secured tooth that’s even better than the real thing.
Sinus Lifts – This is performed when a patient needs dental implants placed into their upper jaw line, but their sinus cavity is positioned so low that there is very little room for the implants. It is a more involved process, and requires a couple of different surgeries to create room for the implants and reinforce with additional bone grafting, but the end result is the ability to have a smile that you can be proud of.
These procedures can help you to achieve a smile that won’t disappoint, or worse, lead to infections such as gum disease, which affects people with missing teeth at much higher rates than normal.
But they are delicate, involved treatments, which is why you should cut out the middle man and make your appointment with Nashua Area Family Dentistry to explore your options and figure out to best deliver a perfect, functioning smile.
To make your appointment, please call me at 603-546-7460, or click here to request your appointment with us online. Together, we’ll work tirelessly until your smile is better than you could have ever hoped for!