Bone Graft for Dental Implants

If you’re missing one or more teeth and decide on dental implants to restore them, then you’re already on your way to a more aesthetically pleasing smile. For a successful implant surgery, you must have healthy gums and adequate bone to support the implant. If your bone is too thin or soft, you may require a bone graft. At Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania, we would like to explain this process.

Bone grafting is a safe and highly successful procedure that involves adding bone to the jaw. During the bone graft procedure, one of our surgeons may use a special bone grafting material and graft it into your jaw bone. This process is likely to take a few months because the transplanted bone needs to grow in order to support the dental implant that will be placed. Once the bone graft is complete, the rest of the implant surgery can proceed. In some cases, you may only need minor bone grafting which won’t take as long and can be completed during the same time as your implant surgery. Your oral surgeon is the one who will make the final decision on which type of bone graft you need.

To learn more about the services we provide at our practice, visit www.oralsurgerypa.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with one of our doctors at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, call 215-463-4141. 

Computed Tomography

At the office of the Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania, our ability to provide patients with implants and maxillofacial surgery is thanks in large part to our computed tomography (CT) machine. This kind of x-ray allows us to observe bone tissue inside the patient’s body in fine detail and to create a 3-dimensional digital image to use with our software.

Older x-rays required a patient to hold film inside their mouth while a series of photographs were taken. That is not the case with a CT scanner. After the patient has removed jewelry and other metal objects from their person, they will clamp a bite adjuster with their front teeth and rest their chin on a ledge. The machine’s panels will then rotate around their head, taking an image from every possible angle. The scan process usually only takes twenty seconds, at most.

The CT scan can be done with very little preparation on the patient’s part and minimizes the amount of radiation they are exposed to. The information we gain from CT allows us to ensure patients are retaining jaw bone tissue following placement of implants, monitor the attempted eruption of teeth, and detect whether a bone graft or sinus ridge augmentation is necessary.

Drs. Ramin Braham and Brad Richman operate the Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania at 2546 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19145. To schedule an appointment, call 215-463-4141 or visit OralSurgeryPA.com and fill out a contact sheet.

Dry Mouth

Dry mouth is a common condition which complicates people’s oral health. To protect our patients at the Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania, we want them to be aware of how this common medication side-effect can hurt them and what they need to do about it.

The drugs which cause dry mouth include those used as part of chemotherapy, as well as medications used for mood disorders, high blood pressure, and pain. Therefore, dry mouth is most commonly seen in the elderly. Of course, smoking is also a major contributor. (Older people, especially women, are also at risk of developing an auto-immune disorder called Sjögren’s syndrome which causes dry mouth and eyes.) When the mouth isn’t producing enough saliva, patients have difficulty chewing and swallowing, which harms their nutrition. Food particles also tend to remain stuck, contributing to plaque build-up, and patients are less able to fight off bacterial infections which cause sores. A dry mouth also makes it difficult to get restful sleep.

If possible, patients may want to change medications. If this is not worth the tradeoff, there are products that can act as artificial saliva and additional medications which can make the mouth produce more moisture. Patients should also drink plenty of water and stop using caffeinated and sugary beverages which dry out the mouth faster.

Drs. Ramin Braham and Brad Richman operate the Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania at 2546 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19145. To schedule an appointment, call 215-463-4141 or visit OralSurgeryPA.com and fill out a contact sheet.

 

Exposure of an Impacted Tooth

When a tooth is impacted, this simply means that it is stuck underneath the gum and cannot erupt into function. This typically occurs with wisdom teeth and when they are impacted, this can lead to infection. Since wisdom teeth really have no use in the mouth, our doctors at the Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania recommend extraction. Various surgical techniques can be performed to uncover impacted teeth, but we will explain our most common.

The techniques involved to aid in eruption can be applied to any impacted tooth in the upper or lower jaw. If the patient is passed a certain age, the chances of the tooth erupting naturally are slim to none. Once dental x-rays have been taken, the location of the impacted tooth and the amount of gum surrounding it will determine the appropriate technique your oral surgeon will use. In a simple surgical procedure performed in our office, the gum on top of the impacted tooth will be lifted to expose the hidden tooth underneath. You can expect a limited amount of bleeding once the surgery is complete and we will provide you with thorough post-op instructions.

To learn more about the services we provide at our practice, visit www.oralsurgerypa.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with one of our doctors at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, call 215-463-4141.