Single Implant For An Actress

This young actress showed up at our clinic with a hopeless premolar on her right side.

As her job requires her to look good in front of the camera all the time, she cannot afford to go without a tooth.

We extracted her tooth and inserted a tiny one-tooth Flexite immediate denture.

With pink coloured nylon claps and no coverage of her palate, she was able to look good before the camera and not have a denture plate interfere with her speech immediately after her extraction.

2 months after extraction, she came in for implant surgery. The healing was not very good and the bone quality not as good as we had wanted it to be, but we managed to insert a 4.5mmx8.5mm Osstem GSII implant into the space.

The extraction space after 2 months.
Healing is not perfect, making the surgery a challenging one.

The implant is in place.
The blue fixture mount was removed and the wound was stitched up.
She reported only mild discomfort after surgery and went straight back to work.
The restoration phase of the treatment will take place in 3 months.
We will post the updates then.

2 months post-op! Our beautiful actress showed up.
We relieved her of her Flexite denture, did a surgical exposure of her implant and attached an abutment to it.

Sorry, we were so excited we didn't clean up the area before taking this picture.

After that, we placed a temporary crown over the abutment.
We will wait another 2 weeks for the cut gums to heal, at which time we'll take impressions for the permanent crown.

Sorry, we were so excited we didn't clean up the area before taking this picture.

The finished product.

The patient had some reaction to the temporary crown material.
The inflammation is expected to clear in a couple of days.

A very daring super close up.
The gums have been pushed aside by the temporary crown.
They will soon settle in nicely with the new crown.
The patient has her tooth back.

Implant Restoration

The Dental Implant

The procedure is technically known as an endosseous implant.

The implant behaves like an artificial root on top of which a new artificial porcelain tooth can later be screwed in or cemented.

The implant is serted surgically in the existing jawbone and can remain in place for years.
The procedure to place the implant is a minor, two-step surgical process.

While some people express concern at undergoing minor surgery, the procedure is actually less invasive than having a tooth removed.

There is another significant, therapeutic benefit to implants: They prevent further bone loss and help maintain ridge form.

Mini Implants

Here are the recent patient questions on dental implants:
Q = Question ; A = Answer

Q: What are my options for implants?
A: The cheapest and uncomfortable would be denture.

Q: How long do dental implants last?
A: As to the longevity of dental implants, honestly at the present time we cannot answer this question.

Q: How much does mini implant cost?
A: About $2500.

Q: Can i use my medisave to pay for it?
A: No. Unless you go for conventional implant.

Q: What is the dental implants procedure?
A: The first step in the decision for dental implants is to make an appointment with a qualified dentist for an evaluation. Dentist will examine your mouth and teeth and take a thorough medical and dental history. X-ray will be taken on the consultation day which will give the dentist a good idea of your bone density and the shape of your jaw. Dental implants is a process generally performed in the office with local anesthesia or light sedation to help make the patient more comfortable. Using precise, gentle surgical techniques, the implants are placed into the jawbone for 3 to 6 months while osseointegration takes place. This helps ensure a strong, solid foundation for replacement teeth. During this time, temporary bridges or dentures may be used to minimize any cosmetic or chewing inconvenience.

Q: Can i choose the type of anesthesia for dental implant surgery?
A: There's MUST on local anesthesia. But if you're require for general anesthesia, we will provide it for you too.

Q: Am i going to hospitalization?
A: Not necessary.

Q: What is the long-term success rate?
A: The simply answer to the long-term success rate of dental implants are that dental implants can fail, but fortunately very infrequently. Failure rates vary depending on the site in the mouth, whether they are placed into natural or grafted bone and whether the patient smokes. The overall success rates in natural bone is 95%, though this falls to between 85 and 90% in grafted bone. If a patient smokes it has been shown that they are statistically two and a half times more likely to have an implant fail than a non-smoker.


In order to better understand how mini implants work, it will be helpful to read about the history and current status of standard dental implants.

http://www.osseonews.com/standard-implants-vs-mini-implants-for-lower-overdenture/

If You Have The Gummy Smile...

What is gummy smile?

A smile is considered a 'gummy smile' if a significant amount of gums can be seens as a person smiles. Below

The gummy smile (1)

The gummy smile (2)

The gummy smile (3)

I personally think that a person's appearance, 70% is depending on the smile. Or you might say that if she/he looks ugly or so so... i would say that people's are rely on make-up or garment dressed. In this world, no one is ugly. Everyone has a good looking.

Correcting gummy smile can be accomplished by one oof two possible simple surgical procedures. The first procedure is called a gingivetomy. Gingivectomies are performed when the amount of gum reduction necessary is minimal such as in mild gummy smiles. During a gingivetomy, a minimal of gum tissue is removed. The procedure is painless, requires no sutures, and the gum tissues usually heal within two weeks.

More advanced gummy smiles require more extensive tissue reduction. This is performed by a procedure known as crown lengthening. During this painless procedure, the gum tissues are contoured around each individual tooth. The tissue is lifted off the bone and placed in a desired new position. The tissues are sutured into place and allowed to heal for 7 - 10 days. After initial healing, the sutures are removed. The newly repositioned gums are allowed to heal for an additional 5 - 7 weeks before any final restorations can be placed. Following a crown lengthening procedure, further treatment with either porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns will be required to achieve a beautiful new smile. These final restorations can be completed in just two visits.

Bridging The Gap

This is not really a cosmetic/aesthetic case.

The patient, a middle-aged office worker, had a missing premolar for many years and finally decided to replace it with her bridge. Her supporting teeth have been previously crowned.

As she had several other teeth to crown and gaps to bridge, she opted for a PFM bridge which does not look as good as emax but suits her requirements.
A missing tooth. Very obvious when the patient smiled. We are surprised she put up with it for so long.
Here's the PFM bridge fitted in her mouth. We tried to match her crown on the other side. Her left central incisor will be corwned later.
A crown for the left central incisor and a new filling for the lateral will make her look much better.
It could have been better with emax or zirconia, but the patient is quite satisfied that her missing tooth is finally replaced.