Properly Maintaining Dental Implants

An experienced dentist, James A. Vito, DMD, provides high-quality dental care to patients at his own practice in Pennsylvania. Although he provides a wide range of general and advanced dental care services, James A. Vito, DMD, is particularly knowledgeable about dental implants. He holds two board certifications in implant dentistry.

Patients who receive dental implants need to take care of them. Good implant maintenance is similar to routine dental care.

Implant recipients should brush and floss their teeth and implants at least twice a day, ideally after meals with a toothpaste that is minimally abrasive. Patients can use an antimicrobial mouth rinse and plaque removal aids between brushings. Professional dental visits should also be scheduled regularly.

When dental implants are not properly cared for, recipients are at risk of developing infections. As with teeth, implants have two stages of problems: mucositis and peri-implantitis. 

Bleeding around the implant is a symptom of mucositis. However, when mucositis is caught early, it can be treated and even reversed. 

If the problem is not fixed, it leads to peri-implantitis, which is bone loss. Bone loss is irreversible and can lead to the removal of the implant and even advanced bone loss.

The Advantages of Mini Dental Implants

James A. Vito, DMD, holds a doctor of medical dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. He also received a certificate in periodontics from the school. As the leader of a Wayne, Pennsylvania, dental practice, James A. Vito, DMD, provides patients with an array of services, including both traditional and mini dental implants.

Dental implants allow dentists to replace a tooth’s damaged or missing root with a strong titanium substitute. After the implant fuses with bone, dental professionals can manage a patient’s oral health as if the tooth has simply been fixed with a crown. In some scenarios, dentists prefer to use mini dental implants.

Mini dental implants are especially helpful when dentists are performing procedures in narrow oral spaces. Some individuals have smaller teeth than others, necessitating mini implants, while certain kinds of teeth, like incisors, are smaller for all individuals. Oral spaces may also be crowded, and therefore require mini dental implants, due to the presence of lower jaw dentures or pre-molar teeth.

In most cases, a mini dental implant is about half the width of a normal-size implant. In the event of implant failure, the shallow submersion of a mini implant means dentists do not have to perform any corrective grafting. Additional benefits of a mini dental implant procedure range from oral bone preservation to less pain and recovery compared to traditional implants.

An Introduction to Sleep and Sedation Dentistry

 


James A. Vito, DMD, spent several additional years training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry after receiving a doctor of medical dentistry. His additional time at the school yielded certificates in periodontics, periodontal prosthesis, and fixed prosthodontics. James A. Vito, DMD, now leads a Wayne, Pennsylvania, dental practice, through which he provides services ranging from initial exams to sedation dentistry.

The anxiety and stress a medical setting generates in some people is enough to keep them from receiving regular treatment. Sedation dentistry and sleep dentistry may provide a solution for these individuals.

Prolonged avoidance of professional dental care can result in a number of serious health concerns, from gum disease to permanent tooth loss. The main objective of sedation dentistry and sleep dentistry is to ease a patient’s nerves to the point that they can comfortably receive treatment and avoid these issues.

Drawing on a gentle dose of IV sedation, sleep dentistry patients can safely receive any number of restorative or cosmetic dental procedures, including dental implant surgery. Sedatives are administered and managed by a board-certified anesthesiologist. To learn more about sedation dentistry and sleep dentistry options in the Wayne, Pennsylvania, region, visit www.jamesvito.com.