Full Mouth Reconstruction

Full Mouth Reconstruction

Dental Implants Sterling Va

The Role Dental Implants Play in Restoring a Patient’s Smile

In our culture, a bright, friendly smile means so much. It means safety, openness and warmth. When a person feels they can’t smile because of badly damaged teeth, it can actually put a damper on their enjoyment of life. They may not feel as attractive. A broken smile can impede a person in their business or career. They may spend their days hiding their smiles behind a hand or simply refusing to open their mouths at all.

What happens to some people’s smiles? They may have suffered from tooth loss, aging and broken dental work, cracked or darkened teeth or obvious black spots of decay. They could have worn their teeth down to stubs by constant grinding of their teeth. It’s even possible that their earlier dental work was badly done, resulting in a disfigured smile that now needs extensive repair.

Sometimes this damage results from genetics, other times because a person was far away from good dental care for years. But now, the cause doesn’t matter. Because with a highly qualified dentist like Dr. Abdelrazek, even the most badly damaged smile can be restored.

The Dental Technology to Restore Smiles

Of course, any smile restoration starts with a detailed examination. The condition of each tooth must be assessed, along with the health of the gums and the bone supporting the teeth. This assessment will tell Dr. Abdelrazek how each tooth needs to be treated to bring this smile back to life and vibrant beauty.

A combination of dental services may be needed to restore a smile. Some teeth may need root canal therapy to remove the infected soft tissue inside. Decayed teeth can be corrected with tooth-colored fillings. A chipped or broken tooth may need a crown or a veneer, depending on whether the damage is structural or cosmetic. Teeth may need straightening or whitening to improve their appearance. Inlays or onlays may be used to correct aging dental work.

But in most badly damaged smiles, there are some missing teeth that must be removed to preserve the patient’s health. That’s when tooth replacement options must be examined. When none of the teeth can be saved, there are better and more comfortable dentures than ever before. When there are a few or several missing teeth, replacement options include partial dentures, bridges and, a favorite of many of Dr. Abdelrazek’s patients, dental implants.

Dental Implants Are an Integral Part of Smile Restorations

Why are dental implants a favorite? Because patients who receive dental implants feel like they have their teeth back. They have replacement teeth that feel and act like natural teeth. And in the hands of a specialist like Dr. Abdelrazek, an implant can be designed to exactly match the color and shape of natural teeth.

An implant not only restores the beauty of a smile, it also enables a person to eat and care for implant-supported teeth just like natural teeth. These replacement teeth don’t need to be removed for special cleaning or repair; they are permanently fixed in the mouth. There are no food restrictions like there are with dentures. And with implants, there’s no slippage or need for adhesives like there are with dentures.

Preparing for a Dental Implant

The placement of an implant is a precise procedure calling for excellent training and experience. In her three years of internship and residency after completing dental school, Dr. Abdelrazek had the opportunity to gain extensive experience in planning and offering dental implants and mouth restorations. This experience has served her well since she opened her Northern Virginia practice more than fifteen years ago.

The vital first step to providing an implant is assessing the strength of the bone in the area of the missing tooth. When a tooth has been missing for years, some of the bone in that area is broken down and absorbed into the body, a process called “resorption.” The bony ridge of the jaw narrows and this may mean that the bone must be thickened before the implant can be placed.

To restore this bone, a bone graft must first be done. To accomplish this, the gum must be opened and tiny chips of the patient’s own bone, donated bone or synthetic bone will be placed in the patient’s jaw bone. This graft encourages new bone growth in the area.

As soon as the bone heals and is strong, the implant can proceed.

Placing the Implant

The implant itself is a slender titanium post that will be placed in the bone. The first step is digital imaging of the bone and determining the correct location and angle for the implant. Then an opening will be created in the bone using those specifications so the titanium post can be placed.

Dr. Abdelrazek has trained on a special method of placing this implant called Guided Implant Surgery. Guided Implant Surgery utilizes precise drilling guides to ensure that the opening in the bone reaches just the right depth and that it is placed in exactly the right location for its greatest viability. Not all dentists have trained on this technically advanced system.

The titanium implant is then placed. Over time, this implant will integrate with the bone and form a strong anchor for the replacement tooth that will be attached to its top. Essentially, this implant acts as the root of the replacement tooth.

Finally, a white, artificial tooth (called a “crown”) will be manufactured from durable ceramic material and that will be secured to the implant. At this point, the patient’s smile is complete again.

Variables in the Implant Procedure

As implant dentistry has matured, additional methods of providing patients with dental implants have developed. The traditional way to place implants meant that the titanium support was allowed to heal for some months before the white crown was attached to its top. Newer developments have arrived which mean that some patients can go home with new teeth the same day that they receive their implants.

Implants are not only used to replace individual teeth. They can also be used to anchor bridges that replace multiple teeth. They can even anchor dentures. With four to six implants anchoring an upper or lower denture, slipping or discomfort or dietary restrictions are a thing of the past. These new dentures either attach permanently to a series of implants or they can be provided with clips that snap onto the implants, making the dentures removable for cleaning or repair.

Consideration for a Patient’s Comfort

Keeping a patient’s teeth and mouth healthy involves keeping that patient comfortable, no matter what treatment is taking place. And that is very important to Dr. Abdelrazek. A comfortable patient will be willing to return for more care and that means they can keep their teeth healthy in the future.

Dr. Abdelrazek has received training and certification in a variety of pain-relieving techniques, including sedation. Even an anxious patient can receive the help needed to restore their smile with dental implants and other dental procedures, all the way up to complete smile restoration.

Who Can Benefit from Dental Implants

To receive dental implants, a person must be in generally good health and must not have any signs of gum disease. As long as that is true, nearly anyone can benefit from dental implants. Finally, there is a way to put tooth loss in the past with these fixed, permanent replacements that act just like natural teeth.

Start Your Smile Restoration Today

Do you have a damaged smile that you would love to restore? From Sterling, Great Falls, Ashburn, Oak Grove and other nearby Northern Virginia communities, please contact Potomac Falls Family Dentistry to learn more about how dental implants can restore your smile. Call 703-444-6150 today to start your own smile restoration with Dr. Abdelrazek.