What is Osseointegration?

Compared to traditional restorations, dental implants offer a lifelong solution for replacing any number of missing teeth. Valued as a highly versatile restorative option, much of the long-term success associated with dental implants derives from how this treatment interacts with other parts of patients’ smiles.

The Problem with Traditional Restorations
Natural teeth roots serve as stimulation for the jaw bone, ensuring stable dental function. When a tooth is lost, the bone also loses its necessary point of stimulation. While conventional restoration options such as bridges, partials, and dentures may be effective for temporarily treating tooth loss, these prosthetics sit above the gum line and do not interact with the jaw bone. Over time, the lack of jaw bone stimulation caused by general tooth loss and compounded by the restoration can cause bone deterioration. Known as resorption, this subsequent bone loss weakens the overall strength of the dentition and can trigger additional tooth loss.

Creating an Implant Support System
During implant placement, a titanium screw is placed directly into the jaw bone, mimicking the stimulation provided by the natural tooth. As a result, the bone begins to form around the implant, effectively incorporating the substitute root. Known as the process of osseointegration, this naturally-occurring process is directly tied to the success of the implant as a whole for several reasons:

• Prevents Resorption: Dental implants are designed to interact with the bone just like natural teeth do. By using an implant, rather than a bridge to replace a missing tooth, the bone can be comprehensively stimulated, thus preventing resorption and additional tooth loss.
• Stabilizes Future Restorations: Whether you’re receiving a single crown or using several implants to support a full-arch restoration, successful osseointegration prevents the need for total implant replacement in the future. Additionally, osseointegration helps to preserve dental function, allowing patients to enjoy lifelike teeth replacement. 
• Preserve Facial Structure: Bone resorption can also trigger changes in facial structure, leading to the premature aging and facial collapse. By stimulating osseointegration with dental implants, patients are able to preserve facial aesthetics. 

At Lorton-Springfield Dental Implants & Oral Surgery, our team is dedicated to helping patients achieve and maintain their smiles through dental implants and implant-supported dentures. For more information about this service, contact our Northern Virginia oral surgeon today.

Preventive Dental Care: Jaw Health

While often overlooked, the jaw is a critical part of the smile. From supporting the teeth to facilitating all oral function, the upper and lower jaw play an important role in maintaining a smile’s health and function. If compromised, patients can quickly find their standard of life diminished and may require extensive treatments in order to restore health and strength to the bone. With this in mind, being aware of the conditions that can compromise the health of your jaw and knowing how to protect bone health from the future bone issues can ensure uninterrupted oral function.

Common Dental-Related Causes of Jaw Bone Deterioration:

Periodontal Disease: If left untreated, the bacteria that cause gum disease are able to travel below the gum line and begin attacking the underlying jaw bone structure. As bone strength weakens, the stability of the dentition also becomes diminished, leading to potential tooth loss.

To reinforce the strength of the bone, patients may require bone grafting. During this oral surgery procedure, donor bone tissue is added to the weakened area. Over the course of recovery, this donor tissue begins to integrate with the natural bone, resulting in strengthened bone and improved dental stability.

Non-Implant Restorations: Similar to how bone loss can cause tooth loss, tooth loss can trigger bone deterioration. Teeth roots act like anchors for the bone, providing growth stimulation for the bone. Once a tooth is loss, the bone surrounding the lost tooth begins to deteriorate as a result of the loss of stimulation. This process of resorption is particularly common for patients with tradition, non-implant restorations such as bridges, partials, and full dentures.

To help prevent these issues from compromising jaw health and strength, consider opting for permanent dental implants or implant-supported restorations. In Lorton and Springfield, Dr. Snehal Patel and his team offer comprehensive implant options and work closely with patients to develop the right implant solution for their smile.

Misalignment: In addition to impacting the ability to bite properly, tooth misalignment can have a domino-like impact on the jaw, leading to bruxism and accelerated teeth damage. In cases of severe malocclusion, misalignment can trigger problems for the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ. If left unaddressed, patients can find themselves suffering from serious difficulties in performing basic oral functions, such as chewing, swallowing, and breathing.

Treating misalignment is a multi-faceted process that can include orthodontics, retainers, and surgical processes in order to correct the position of teeth and jaw. At Lorton-Springfield Dental Implants & OralSurgery, our team works closely with local dental specialists to develop a comprehensive treatment solution for patients suffering from malocclusion.

Teeth Abscesses: Abscesses are the consequence of untreated tooth infections. Caused when bacteria enter the inner pulp chamber, failure to treat this condition provide bacteria with the opportunity to travel to the base of the root and begin creating a cyst in the jaw bone. As the abscess grows, the bone is further damaged. Treatment for this condition requires that the cyst be removed and the bone be sterilized, with any infected tissue removed. To reinforce the bone following treatment, available treatments include bone grafting and ridge modification or augmentation.

Protect Your Jaw Health Today

A healthy jaw bone is the foundation of a healthy smile. At our Lorton and Springfield specialty oral surgery practices, Dr. Patel can help you maintain a healthy smile through specialized bone treatments. Contact our team today.

5 Factors to Consider When Looking For an Implant Dentist

Receiving dental implants is a multi-step process. Given the longevity and expense of the treatment, there are a number of factors to consider before undergoing treatment. In particular, researching implant dentists and finding the best dental professional to perform your procedure is a critical part of preparing for this treatment. Consider the following factors when looking for your implant dentist.

What is the Dentist’s Training?
Placing the implant and loading the restoration requires special training beyond general dental education. Additionally, depending on the condition of the smile, certain patients may require preliminary procedures to prepare the tissue and jaw bone for implant placement. As a result, not all general dentists may have the tools or training required to successfully place or load dental implants. On the other hand, oral surgeons and periodontists are well versed in the anatomy of the jaw and have undergone extensive training in implant placement, restoration loading, and jaw bone treatments.

Is a Referral Necessary?
Some implant dentists welcome patients without a referral. Others work in partnership with a group of fellow dental professionals to provide advanced implant and surgical services for their patients. At Lorton-Springfield Dental Implants & Oral Surgery, we accept referrals as well as independent appointments.

What are My Payment Options?
Knowing how to pay for upcoming dental implants is just as important as knowing where you’ll be receiving your dental implants. While dental implants offer patients a permanent restoration option, the initial placement and restoration is often more expensive than traditional dentures or bridges. As dental insurance may not fully cover this treatment, determining your payment options is especially important. While some practices may recommend third party financing, others are willing to work with patients to create a monthly payment plan.

What are the Available Treatments?
Each patients’ implant treatment is unique according to their oral health and functional needs. As a result, while some patients may require bone grafting or full arch implants, others may be looking for full mouth restoration options. With this in mind, search for an implant dentist who has helped restore smiles similar to yours and who offers the preliminary treatments your smile needs. Not only does this ensure consistent care, but it can also help drive down the overall cost of care.

What are the Sedation Options?
Patient comfort during treatment makes up an important part of their overall treatment experience. While implant placement is an outpatient procedure and local anesthetic is used to numb the area, some patient prefer to enhance their procedure with dental sedation. For improved patient comfort during implant placement as well as preliminary surgical procedures, Lorton-Springfield Dental Implants & Oral Surgery offers a wide range of sedation options, ranging from intravenous sedation to full general anesthesia.

The process of searching for an implant dentist can be lengthy and requires doing your research. If you have questions or concerns about the implant process, contact Dr. Snehal Patel of Lorton Springfield Dental Implant & Oral Surgery. We welcome patients from throughout Northern Virginia and the metro Washington D.C. region.

Which is Best for My Smile? Hybrid Dentures vs. Implant-Supported Dentures

Missing multiple teeth or an entire arch can have a number of lasting health, cosmetic, and functional consequences. While dentures and partials offer a temporary solution for replacing multiple missing teeth, the long-term consequences of these treatments often do more harm than good to a smile. As a result, dental implant-supported restorations have become the ideal solution for improving overall dental health.

Versatile, life-like, and permanent, dental implants can be used to support a range of full arch restorations. For patients seeking to replace entire arches of teeth, both hybrid dentures and implant-supported dentures offer an ideal solution. While similar, there are unique differences between these treatments, making each ideal for different patients.

Implant-Supported Dentures

Implant-supported dentures consist of a full denture supported by a series of strategically placed dental implants. While commonly worn on the bottom arch, implant-supported dentures can also be used to stabilize dentures on the upper arch.

Implant-supported dentures are often a more effective method for patients missing the majority of their teeth in an arch, than traditional restorations. As this treatment relies on implants to support the overdenture, patients do not risk bone resorption or deterioration that often comes with traditional non-implant restorations, thus eliminating the need for extensive jaw restoration in the future. For patients with existing dentures, adaptations can be made to the prosthetic for simple treatment transition.

Fixed Hybrid Dentures

Unlike implant-supported dentures, hybrid dentures are fixed restorations supported by four to six implants. Whereas implant-supported dentures consist of a complete denture, including acrylic gum replacement, hybrid dentures consist of prosthetic teeth only.

The shape of hybrid dentures provides patients with a number of advantages. As this restoration does not include acrylic gum tissue, hybrid dentures do not look or feel bulky. With hybrid dentures, the palate is left unobstructed, allowing patients to enjoy their food. As the replacement teeth are fixed to implants, patients do not have to worry about bits of food becoming trapped between the gums and prosthetic and are able to bite and chew with the stability of natural teeth.

Restore Your Smile Today

With offices conveniently located in Lorton and Springfield, Lorton-Springfield Dental Implants & Oral Surgery makes it easy to regain confidence in your smile following multiple tooth loss. At our state-of-the-art oral surgery practice in Northern Virginia, our team will help you determine which implant-supported restoration will most efficiently address your dental health and function needs. For more information about implant options available at our practice, contact our oral surgery team today.

Dental Care Post-Radiation

If you suffer from oral cancer or have recently gone into remission, odds are that you have been through some kind of radiation treatment. Though radiation treatment is not used for all types or stages of oral cancer, it is a commonly prescribed treatment that is often successful.

Unfortunately, radiation therapy can exacerbate any health conditions of your jaw, teeth, and tissue. It can also lead to a number of other problems such as inflammation of mucous membranes, infection, permanent dry mouth, cavities, consistent toothache, increased potential for tooth decay, and weakening of the jawbone. Radiation can also make it more difficult for you to taste, swallow, eat, or speak.

Throughout your oral cancer treatment, our Northern VA oral surgeon Dr. Snehal Patel works closely with your healthcare team and general dentist to ensure your oral health is protected throughout the process. Prior to undergoing radiation therapy, we determine whether advanced procedures will be needed in order to prepare the smile for post-radiation treatments. Impressions of your smile will also be taken to create your future restoration once treatment is complete.

Post-Cancer Restoration Options

At Lorton-Springfield Dental Implants & Oral Surgery, implant supported restorations and jaw reinforcement treatments are just a few of the services we offer for improving your smile following radiation therapy.

Dental implants are excellent options for those seeking an alternative to dentures following cancer therapy. Implants are secured to the jaw bone to stabilize prosthetic teeth, providing patients with lifelike replacement teeth. As prosthetics of varying sizes can be secured to dental implants, this treatment is a versatile option for patients with diverse tooth replacement needs.

Jaw reinforcement treatments, such as bone grafting and ridge modification, may also be necessary. Bone grafting is a surgical procedure in which donated bone is attached (grafted) to the missing area, thus reinforcing the strength of the jaw. Similarly, ridge modification corrects bone abnormalities by filling deficient or uneven sections of the jaw with a bone-like substance. Both treatments are critical to restoring health to the jaw bone and are often included as part of the dental implant process for patients recovering from oral cancer.

Restoring Your Smile in Lorton and Springfield

At Lorton-Springfield Dental Implants & Oral Surgery, our mission is to provide patients with lasting dental solutions that enhance their quality of life following oral cancer. For more information about restoring your smile following radiation therapy, contact Dr. Patel and his team today.