Dentist on Air with Dalvir Pannu, D.D.S.
Can bridge be done over the Implants?
October 28, 2009 — pannuddsHere is a actual patient success story from our San Jose Office.
What is it?
An implant-supported bridge is similar to a regular dental bridge, but it is supported by implants and not by natural teeth. In most cases, when an implant-supported bridge is used, one implant is placed in the jawbone for each missing tooth and then, instead of placing a separate crown on top of each implant, the crowns are connected to each other to form one piece.
When is this used?
An implant-supported bridge is used when more than one tooth is missing. It also may be used when your dentist is concerned that you might put too much pressure on individual implants that are not connected to each other. For example, clenching or grinding your teeth can put a lot of pressure on individual implants and increase the chance that they will loosen from the bone and fail. If an implant-supported bridge is used, it reduces the pressure on the individual implants in the bone, and spreads it across the entire bridge.
If the implants will be placed next to natural teeth, the natural teeth and surrounding gums must be in good health. If you don’t have enough bone to place and support the dental implants, the supporting bone can be built up using bone augmentation or grafting before the actual implant procedure.
What is a palatal expander?
October 26, 2009 — pannudds
A palatal expander, also known as a rapid palatal expander, rapid maxillary expansion appliance, palate expander or orthodontic expander, is used to widen the upper jaw so that the bottom and upper teeth will fit together better. It is thought this can only be done when the patient is still growing, unless surgery is used to separate the two halves of the palate, however there is evidence to the contrary. It is most often followed by braces to straighten out all the teeth now that room has been created.
The expansion process usually results in a large gap between the patient’s top front teeth, although this does not always happen. This gap is closed naturally and the teeth may overlap which leads to braces being needed. Sometimes with expanders, the patient has to turn the expansion screw themselves to tighten up the expander. For expansion that is not managed by the patient on the and lower jaw, a bionator may be a more suitable alternative.
Although it may vary from person to person, most usually feel slight pressure on their teeth. As the patient turns the expansion screw using the key, a space develops between the front two teeth. Some may notice a larger space while others do not notice a space at all. It usually takes several days to adjust to eating and speaking after first receiving the rapid palatal expander. Patients may experience pain and headaches while wearing palatal expanders and when the screw is turned. They may also feel a sore on their tongue from contact with the expander’s metal bars.
Patients who have expanders may experience extra saliva and lisps (pronouncing the letter S as a T sound) or a slight ‘hissing’ S sound.
When the palatal expander is first removed, patients usually report that their mouth feels extremely big and spacious.
Permanent Fixed Lingual Retention (PFLR)
October 26, 2009 — pannuddsInvisible Wire Retainer or Fixed Lingual Wire
If you are fitted with a PFLR, you will need to:
- Eat normally, use your teeth normally, do not tear at crunchy foods or crunch ice-cubes, etc. with your teeth.
- Keep the wire/s clean by using a toothbrush and dental floss.
- Attend regular dental reviews and have recommended treatments as required by your dentist (usually every 6 or 12 months).
What is invisalign case refinement?
October 26, 2009 — pannudds
As you can see from the 2 above pictures, the after picture still shows there is still mild crowding; therefore, refinement is necessary to fine tune and perform finishing movements to complete the treatment. Getting a refinement done on your Invisalign treatment can be simple. This means that Invisalign will make more trays for you, until you reach the look you want. Refinement records are the same as the records taken to begin your invisalign treatment. A set of accurate molds are taken and these are sent to invisalign for a new clincheck video to be set up. This video will determine the number of aligners and therefore the refinement treatment time. You wear the refinement aligners in exactly the same way as you did previously. Refinement can be done for 1 or both arches. Check out the second clincheck video in the above case, it starts from where the AFTER image of first clincheck ends. If any questions about the Invisalign Case refinement, please feel free to as Dr Pannu, Invisalign Elite provider at pannudds@yahoo.com
Satisfied Dental Implant Patient: Ben Kwok
October 22, 2009 — pannudds
Dental implants or implantation is simple to understand and really not so complicated a procedure to do. It’s really just a new way to replace missing teeth, and a benefit which eventually will see your entire mouth restored to near-complete natural condition. The implant is made out of incredible material called titanium. And once this is implanted, it then becomes integrated with the bone (and even causes bone to grow back).
To see more dental implant photos click here
