Diabetes and Implant Placement

This National Diabetes Awareness Month, we at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania want to raise awareness of the unique challenges people with diabetes face regarding their oral health. People with diabetes are at elevated risk for tooth loss, so dentists have long been studying the question of what kinds of prosthetic teeth are effective for them.

Research indicates that people with controlled diabetes can generally receive implants successfully, but there are a few areas that require extra precaution. One is that people with diabetes take longer to recover from surgical incisions, which are necessary for the placement of implants. This means that people with diabetes may expect a longer osseointegration period before their new dental crowns are placed. The other concern is that, because people with diabetes have higher rates of gum inflammation, their implants are at greater risk of failing prematurely.

Fortunately, a recent systemic review found that people with controlled diabetes hardly experience greater rates of implant failures than non-diabetic people. The key is that their oral health needs to be more closely monitored for signs of gingivitis, so that they can receive necessary cleanings quickly. If a patient has great trouble controlling their diabetes, dentures may be more appropriate. We offer dental implants at our offices, and will give each patient the individual care they need for lasting oral health.

 Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA.

 

Lip Swelling following Extractions

Tooth extractions are a routine procedure at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania. We’ll make treatment as minimally invasive as possible, allowing you to recover quickly and comfortably. However, to avoid swelling, we will need our patients to try to avoid biting their lips after they’ve been numbed.

During extractions, we often numb the inferior alveolar nerve. This nerve carries sensations from the teeth of the lower jaw, and numbing it also numbs the lower lip and chin. Children are especially likely to experimentally bite down on their numbed lips, although some people suffer biting injuries in their sleep. A bite will likely cause a large amount of swelling as well as an ulcer and white lesion. A red lesion, especially if accompanied by fever, could indicate infection.

Usually, swelling is not dangerous. A patient may be advised to take an over-the-counter painkiller, but draining and antibiotics will probably not be recommended unless there is reason to suspect infection. Complete healing may take a few weeks, but is unlikely to have other complications. When patients are released immediately after an extraction, they are advised to use cold packs for the first 24 hours to restrict swelling, and then switch to hot packs to make the swelling go down faster. Remembering to do this may also make a patient less inclined to bite their lip, or limit the damage if they do.

  Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA.

 

The Importance of Replacing Teeth

Suppose that you are missing one of your back teeth. Although this is not ideal, you may think that because the gap isn’t visible and you’re still able to chew and speak, there’s no pressing need for it to be replaced. Unfortunately, that would be incorrect. At Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania, some of our patients require extensive reconstruction due to the loss of bone structure around missing teeth. To help you avoid this, we wanted to say a bit about why you should replace teeth as soon as possible.

Our teeth are held in place by ligaments. When a tooth is lost, the supporting ligaments and muscles will atrophy, and no longer pull on the jaw bone. This causes the jaw bone to recede, as well, and it’s common for the section of jaw bone that supported a missing tooth to lose 25% of its width in the first year after the tooth’s loss. With less jaw bone tissue, it’s common for the remaining teeth to shift place, making it harder to chew and putting more pressure on the temporomandibular joints that connect the jaw to the head. If a person compensates for missing molars by chewing with their front teeth, their incisors may be pushed outward, causing the face to shrink vertically.

We offer dental implants for missing molars, but if the patient has lost jaw bone tissue, they may require a bone graft before receiving an implant. Another option is an implant-supported denture, which will help stabilize the jaw bone and stimulate new tissue growth.

  Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA.

 

Leukoplakia

One of the services Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania provides is biopsies for leukoplakia. If you’ve been referred to us for an excision, you probably already have some idea of what that means. But if you’ve just noticed a white spot on the soft tissue of your mouth that won’t go away, we want you to understand why it’s important to get that examined and what your next steps might be.

Leukoplakia is the development of a thick white lesion on the gums, tongue, or inside of the cheek in response to prolonged irritation. It is not necessarily cancerous, but it might be, especially when the lesion is irregularly shaped and accompanied by red spots. Leukoplakia most often develops in response to the use of tobacco and alcohol products, but it can also result from poorly fitted dentures or bridges rubbing against soft tissues. Sometimes a dentist might send a patient to our oral surgery office to have the lesion removed and analysed. A lesion might also be caused by a viral infection in a person with a weakened immune system.

Leukoplakia lesions will usually disappear when the source of irritation is removed. That may require a patient to stop smoking or to cut back on alcohol. We can refit patients’ prosthetic devices and determine whether their other teeth are likely to cause irritation in the future. People with leukoplakia-related viruses are likely to be prescribed medication, but non-cancerous leukoplakia is unlikely to be painful.

 Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA.

 

Flossing Technique

Flossing is an essential part of oral hygiene. At Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania, many of our patients are people who have had some of their teeth replaced and have conditions that put them at especially high risk for tooth decay. Since prosthetic teeth are also vulnerable to bacterial build-up, we want to ensure our patients know how to take care of themselves.

You’ll want to use a lengthy strand of floss and to wrap its ends around your middle fingers. This will allow you to move the floss with your pointer fingers and thumbs. Slide the floss next to each tooth and wrap it around the crown to gather up as much tartar as possible. Don’t push against your gums, but do slide the floss as deeply as it will go and use an up-and-down motion to clean thoroughly. Make sure you’re cleaning each side of each tooth, not just sliding the floss between them, and don’t forget the backs of your back teeth. As you go from tooth to tooth, unspool more floss so you aren’t just spreading food debris around. When you’ve flossed each side of each tooth, rinse your mouth.

Some people have trouble with dexterity and may benefit from using a flosser. People who have fixed bridges may also need to use a threader to loop floss under the bridge. Although there’s no solid evidence about whether it’s better to brush or floss first, people should be flossing at least once a day. Always speak with the dental hygenist at your dental office, if you have questions about how to care for your teeth.

 Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operates in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA.

 

Introduction to Alveoloplasties

We at the Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania provide extractions to people with all sorts of medical histories. Implant-supported dentures, fixed bridges, and single-crown implants can all help people regain their biting power and self-confidence. But in order to receive prosthetic teeth, some people will need to undergo a minor surgery called an alveoloplasty.

An alveoloplasty is the smoothing of the jawbone ridge. It is done when the ridge has protuberances or is otherwise shaped in a way that would make it difficult to slip a denture over. Sometimes, alveoloplasties are done when a tooth is extracted in anticipation of providing a patient with a denture later, but a person’s jawbones may naturally reshape somewhat if several years pass between extraction and replacement. Alveoloplasties are frequently done when multiple teeth are extracted at once in preparation for full-mouth restorations.

To perform an alveoloplasty, our surgeons may need to make an incision. The smoothing is done with a file, drill, or dental pliers while the patient is anesthetized, and the surgical site is kept well-irrigated. When it is over, the gums will be sutured shut. Incisions may not be necessary when the alveoloplasty is done in the same procedure as an extraction. Performing one makes complications less likely while the gums heal. A patient will usually be ready to receive dentures four to six weeks later.

The Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA.

 

Getting Implant Supports for Dentures

Do you have multiple teeth you need repaired or replaced? Are you concerned that standard dentures wouldn’t provide you with enough comfort and function? We at the Oral  Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania hear those concerns all the time. One of our solutions is the implant-supported denture. This device stabilizes a denture, while still allowing it to be removed for convenient cleaning.

If a patient is a good candidate for implants, they will be inserted into the patient’s jaw and allowed to integrate with the surrounding jaw bone over a period of a few weeks or months. But implants that support dentures don’t require the patient to have as much jaw bone tissue as single-crown implants, either because the implants are smaller or angled differently. This means a person is less likely to need a bone graft and the implants may integrate with the bone more quickly.

While the implants integrate, the patient may wear a temporary denture. Once the implants have stabilized, your dentist will attach abutments to them that will allow them to snap onto the patient’s custom-fitted denture. The patient will remove the denture each night and brush it, as well as their mouth, but during the day, the denture will not be at risk of slipping and will not need to suction onto their natural palate. Implant supports can be used with both full and partial dentures.

The Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA.