Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Dental Implants Save Face



Photo insert: Dr. Bill Williams with fellow Atlanta implant dentist Dr. Bernee Dunson and his wife Hillary at the American Academy of Implant Dentistry annual session in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Dental implants are ideal for replacing missing teeth that have been lost due to dental caries or to periodontal disease. In many cases, the bone can be regenerated and an implant placed in its ideal location to maintain the health and beauty of the mouth. The problem with missing teeth is that it can be detrimental to your body’s overall general health as well as to the structures inside your mouth. It’s a well known fact that tooth loss leads to being a dental cripple with one tenth the biting power and ten times the facial wrinkles compared to people who have their own teeth….or dental implants. In essence, dental implants can help you "save face"!

Just as atrophy occurs with muscle disuse, so atrophy occurs in the jaw bones as teeth are lost. Excessive atrophy leads to excessive aging and weakness of the jaw and facial muscles. One of our goals at Suwanee Dental Care is to educate the patients we have to not lose teeth, to not allow missing teeth to remain in that detrimental state for long and to replace those that are missing with the

best available option, bone-saving and bone-stimulating dental implants (as opposed to dental bridges, partial or full dentures). While those options are better than nothing (toothlessness), they pale in comparison to dental implants for longevity, function, and, most of all, the ability to preserve bone. For those who are missing teeth, dental implants are the absolute superior way to replace them. There is no bridge that is as good as a good dental implant for restoring a single tooth. The successful dental implant, over a lifetime, will be much less expensive to place and maintain than the average dental bridge or partial denture, too.

Many people will look at the initially higher cost of a dental implant, abutment and crown on that implant and consider it too expensive compared to a dental bridge or partial denture. This is actually shortsighted because the complications and remakes of traditional bridges and partials are much higher over time. And, when bridges and partial dentures have to be remade every ten years or so, and when the implant is still functional after the same time span, the cost of the implant begins to look like a total bargain.

Photo insert: Annual session of the AAID in NOLA.

Dental implants have been around for over 50 years as a common part of the dental list of options for patients. While not too many dentists placed them in the early days and many implant systems have been come and gone, what is now used in dental implants by the highly trained dentists such as those at Suwanee Dental Care, are extremely reliable and have a highly favorable track record. Because of this fact, dental implants as an option for our patients, have risen from the bottom of the list in 1975 to the top of the list of options in 2011. We place them confidently and often and can say that they are well tolerated and enjoyed by hundreds of our patients. In fact you have probably met several of our team who have dental implants in their own mouths…Angie our treatment coordinator and myself! I had a dental implant placed to replace a missing permanent tooth in 1986 and it’s as good today as it was back then…perfect in form, function and comfort to this very day.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Sleeping Your Way to a Smile


So you haven't been to the dentist for years... Every time you think about it you feel the sweat start to drip. Don't feel like that anymore!!! IV sedation can be the answer you were searching for.

IV sedation can offer a stress-free way to approach treating any issue that you have with your smile.

With IV sedation patients feel more sedation than other avenues of treatment. IV sedation is better suited to moderate to severe anxiety than pill or oral sedation. The speed of onset is faster. As soon as the IV is started the medication starts working. Patients almost immediately drift to sleep.
The doctor can then adjust dosing and manage the comfort of the patient easily. After the procedure is finished, recovery tends to be quicker than with oral sedation. After waking, patients tend not to remember treatment because the medications given keep patient unaware during the procedure.


Here at Suwanee Dental Care, we are proud to offer you a well-trained staff and environment that put our patients first. Our dedication is to your health and well-being. Come in and speak to our caring doctors and see if IV sedation is the answer you have been waiting for!