Posted on

Rebuilding the Jaw for Dental Implants

One of the great frustrations of implant dentistry is that often there is insufficient jawbone remaining to support the implant. Doctors and researchers have investigated a number of workarounds for this common problem, but it wasn’t until this month that trials had shown promising results from stem cell therapy:

The researchers worked with a 45-year-old woman missing seven front teeth plus 75% of the bone that once supported them, the result of a blow to her face five years earlier. She was left with severe functional and cosmetic deficiencies, since the missing bone eliminated the possibility for dental implants.

After stem cell treatment under strict protocols, the researchers conducted a followup assay, noting with some enthusiasm how much viable material had grown back in:

Four months after cell therapy, cone-beam CT and a bone biopsy were completed, and oral implants were placed to support an engineered dental prosthesis. The researchers found that 80% of her missing jawbone had been regenerated, which allowed surgeons to place oral implants that supported a dental prosthesis, giving her a complete set of teeth again.

This is an encouraging result, and one which could help countless patients with craniofacial deficits to recover more typical form and function.

To learn more about implant dentistry and the many tools and materials you need to do this work well, please contact the bone grafting and dental instrument experts at Surgikor today.

Posted on

The New York Times on the Benefits of Dental Implants

A recent piece in the New York Times discussed the various economic roadblocks faced by many people in search of long-lasting dental care. Among other things, the article also addressed the myriad benefits of dental implants:

Implants are an economic impossibility for some patients, said Beth Truett, chief executive of Oral Health America. But, “If they can afford it, they are a great solution to maintaining not only that tooth, but the teeth around it.” A full set of teeth for an adult is 28 (32 if you still have your wisdom teeth), and you should have at least 22 teeth to eat properly, she said. Once a tooth is lost, nearby teeth bear additional strain and it gets more difficult to chew; that leads to a cycle of poor nutrition and further tooth loss, she said.

This is precisely the reason why dental implants remain a swift business for many dental surgeons: they remain an indispensable element of good overall health:

Patients who are in their 80s, but who are fit and have a healthy lifestyle, can benefit from technologically advanced dental care “because it is estimated that they will have another 10-15 years of life span,” Helena Tapias-Perdigón, an assistant professor at the Baylor College of Dentistry at Texas A&M Health Science Center, said in an email.

Here at Surgikor, we offer a full suite of products to keep your practice up to date with the latest techniques, technologies and materials, including:

Feel free to browse the full catalog here, and don’t hesitate to contact our experts if you have any questions. As more and more people come under the protection of good insurance, the market for dental implants is only going to grow.