If you have an FSA/HSA account or dental benefits that go on a calendar year, using them for any kind of dental work is a good idea. Mainly b/c if you don’t use them, you’ll lose them.  If you have a lot of dental issues that you’d like to address, then overlapping the treatment and benefits for the end of this year and the beginning of next year when they reset is a good way to maximize the insurance as well.  You should always take care of dental issues with you are ready to, but if you wanted to maximize your benefits, this is a good time to do them.  If you have any questions regarding your insurance or any other benefits, please  call us at the office and we can go over them with you to help you understand them better.

Generally speaking, anyone with a missing tooth is a candidate for a dental implant! Of course, there are several other important factors that we must take into consideration before we can determine if a dental implant is right for you.

A major consideration is the presence of sufficient bone in the area where we are planning to place the dental implant. An implant works by integrating with and becoming part of surrounding tissue, so there must be enough bone to support the implanted root.

When a tooth is lost, the bone that surrounds the missing root gradually begins to deteriorate because there is nothing to support it. If this is the case for you, your dentist may recommend bone grafting surgery to build up the area and stimulate your body’s natural ability to regenerate bone in your jaw.

The only way we can know for sure if dental implants are right for you is by scheduling a thorough exam and evaluation with our dentists. While dental implants are preferred by many patients and doctors, we do have other options that may be more appropriate for you.

Please give our office a call and we’ll be happy to schedule a complimentary consultation to get you started.

YES. When needed though. Not every single time you come in or just because the insurance pays for it. But generally as a first time patient, we need a reference of where your oral condition is. There is so much that we as dentists cannot see under the gums, under the bone, underneath old fillings or crowns or restorations. It’s irresponsible to do any kind of exam without relevant X-rays. Dosage is an issue…we don’t want to zap you unnecessarily or too heavily. Our machines are new and calibrated so that the dosage is kept to the minimal amount needed to get good resolution on the images. But we never do them unless we need to. You can’t have a physical at the doctor’s office without a blood test, right? They can’t just look at you and give you an accurate assessment or diagnosis. Neither can dentists. The X-rays serve to let us know what’s “under the hood” and gives me the information to give you the best treatment options and the best treatment with minimal surprises. If you have any concerns or questions regarding X-rays, please call call our front office team.

If you are missing one or more teeth, dental implants are the IDEAL way to get back to chewing again.  If they are your front teeth, dental implants are possibly the only way to get a good smile back.

Depending on how much bone is left underneath the gums, some augmentation procedures may be needed to get the implant in, but other than that, they are the closest thing that I will say “lifetime” to in dentistry.

You, of course, have to take care of them with good oral hygiene and by not opening bottles with your teeth or chewing rocks.  But other than that, dental implants serve to restore you back to chewing and get your smile the closest to normal.

The other options of getting dentures or bridges are far too uncomfortable, unsightly and possibly too destructive to even thing about in this era of dentistry today.

A simple consult is all that is needed to see how they can work for you.  All consults and second opinions are always at no charge!