Archive for May, 2010

Affordable choices for missing teeth

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

I already have 11 missing teeth, and the remaining teeth are discolored, have some with holes and some rotting away. I do not want dentures. I have had many friends and family members that complain about their dentures and I can tell they are fake and some look foolish. I don’t have much money at all. I am 53 years old. I was wondering if mini implants would be a good thing for me. I want teeth that look natural and to stay in my mouth permanently.

- Michelle from Indiana

Michelle,

Yes, if you don’t want dentures that slip around and make it hard to talk, mini implants are a great option. They are much more affordable than standard implants, and will help stabilize your teeth so that you don’t have those problems with dentures.

Another option would be to save some of your teeth and have removable partial dentures. If there are any teeth left that don’t require extensive restoration, this could be your least expensive option. And partial dentures are anchored to the teeth you have left.

An implant-retained denture is very different from a removable denture. Removable dentures are hard to eat with, they can come loose, and they move around in your mouth. But if you have it retained with mini-implants, that makes it fairly stable. It’s best to have the full-sized implants – that makes your teeth very stable and is just like having your own natural teeth. But if the full-sized implants are out of your price range, the mini implants work fairly well. And if you go to a good dentist, the implant-retained denture can be made to look very life-like – people won’t know you have dentures. Some dentists try to use cheap materials for dentures so they can quote the lowest price possible. But for a little more money, there are some excellent, wear-resistant materials that look very natural.

Read more about affordable dental implants.

Tetracyline Stains are really tough to do right

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

I have severe tetracycline staining from medication given to me as child. From the research I’ve done it’s my understanding that using porcelain veneers to treat tetracycline stains requires specific techniques and expertise. My problem is this: the local dentists I’ve consulted with regarding veneers have usually only worked with one or two tetracycline patients; some have never treated tetracycline stains. Are there any cosmetic dentists in Florida (or elsewhere) that you can recommend who have more experience with treating such staining?
- Brad from Florida

Brad,
You are smart to be cautious about what dentist you see for this. There is a high probability of seriously disappointing results unless you go to someone good. It would be worth a drive of a couple of hours to get this done right, if you’re not near any really good cosmetic dentists. You’d need maybe three trips to get this done – a small price to pay for a beautiful smile that you will enjoy for many years.

Tetracyline stains are very intense, and when a dentist doesn’t have much experience with them, they will make one of two mistakes. Either the porcelain veneers will be too translucent, and the ugly gray-brown color will show through, or they will be too opaque and your smile ends up looking chalky and fake. Getting that color blocked out while creating a translucent, natural, look, is very tricky and requires a careful technique of using opaquers directly over the stain and translucent porcelain over that opaquing. It takes experience to master that.

There is a great website that recommends expert cosmetic dentists all over the country. It’s mynewsmile.com. Check their list of Florida cosmetic dentists. I’m confident that any of the cosmetic dentists they list in Florida will do a great job with tetracycline stains. The owner of that website is a cosmetic dentist, and he personally screens every dentist they list. Drs. Rota and Smith are their recommended cosmetic dentists for Colorado Springs.