Maricopa Family Dentistry & Orthodontics

Dr. Jared Pope

Dental implants represent the very best treatment to replace missing teeth that dentistry offers today. Implants are made of medical grade Titanium, similar to that which is used in a knee or hip replacement. The implants are placed into the jaw bone and look similar to a small screw. The process is usually very well tolerated by patients and has no downtime, and minimal discomfort. Most patients only require 1 pain pill a few hours after the procedure.

After the implant has been placed the body needs a few months for the jawbone to integrate with the implant. Once this process takes place, known as osseointegration, the implants are very solid and now ready for function. At this point a crown or tooth replacement is custom fabricated for the patient’s mouth and attached to the implant. When completed implants look, feel and function just like natural teeth. They actually look and feel like they grew there right out of your gums, just like natural teeth.

There are several additional advantages to dental implants. When your natural teeth are lost, or removed, the surrounding bone goes away (a process called atrophy). The body senses no reason for the bone to be there so it resorbs at a continual, predictable rate until you die. This loss of bone has a significant effect on facial musculature and facial profile. This is also the reason why people who get dentures at age 40 have problems with the dentures continually loosening over time, their bone is constantly deteriorating. When implants are placed in the bone, the bone in the area remains and will no longer atrophy, it senses a purpose to be there, which in turn will support the face properly and help you look and feel younger and healthier. Placing implants as soon as possible after your teeth are removed is recommended to prevent further bone loss.

Dental implants represent a medical procedure that can help replace one single missing tooth, but this procedure can also be used to replace several teeth that are missing. For individuals who struggle with extremely complex oral health issues, it is possible to replace all the teeth in the mouth with dental implants and closely replicate natural teeth.

In the past the treatment for patients who had lost all their natural teeth was dentures. However, today most of us desire something better. An upper denture for example covers the entire palate (which contains taste and texture receptors) with plastic; therefore people with dentures tend to eat more salty and sugary foods, because they no longer can taste their foods, which can lead to health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. Dentures offer around 50% of the chewing capacity of your natural teeth. This leads to the inability to chew courser healthier foods such as whole grains, vegetables etc. which also has its effect on the body. Implants today allow us to fix or snap existing dentures in place, remove the plastic on the palate, or get rid of dentures all together. For those looking for better health and longevity, healthy teeth play an ever increasingly important role.

Dental surgery today presents itself with extremely advanced technologies. Therefore, the success rate of this procedure is extremely high. The success and accuracy of this medical procedure is being even more enhanced thanks to the computer assisted techniques and advancements in medical and dental materials.

There are certain criteria that the patient must fulfill, before they can go through a successful dental implant procedure. For example, the general oral health of the patient must be good. There must have enough healthy jaw bone. For patients who do not have enough jaw bone, a procedure called bone grafting can be performed to increase the amount of bone prior to implant placement.

For those interested in dental implants we offer free consultations to discuss your individual needs.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jared Pope DDS

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Is Your Mouth Killing You?

Dr. Jared Pope

We often are asked the question – “Is there really a link between gum and heart disease?” Some people actually believe the “supposed link” is a fabrication by dentists to scare patients! But I am here to assure you this is not the case – the link between heart disease and periodontal disease is very real. Your health history, family history, and condition of your mouth may affect you far more than you realize. Recent studies indicate what I see as a clinician every day, that the health of your mouth is a window to the overall health of the body. In an effort to educate my patients and the general public (I feel education is one of the best motivators to help you to take control and improve your health) I will be presenting various topics for review. Below are some great concise informative resources to understand why its important for you to maintain your oral health.

The primary association between heart disease and strokes and periodontal disease (peri means around, and odontal refers to the tooth, so periodontal disease is literally “around the tooth disease”) appears to be the relationship between inflammation (infection) and the production of C-reactive protein (CRP). Any inflammation in the body produces C-reactive protein. In studies at Harvard University, C-reactive protein has had a stronger relationship between heart attacks and strokes than high cholesterol levels – the predictability of heart attacks and strokes was twice as great as it related to C-reactive protein than was the association with cholesterol levels. Some experts now believe that inflammation is the link between the many diseases and conditions that affect the heart and brain.

“Inflammation is the common denominator in nearly all of the diseases we deal with,” says James O’Keefe, MD, director of preventive cardiology at the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. “Heart disease, diabetes, dementia — they’re all tied to inappropriate, low-grade, chronic inflammation.”

Inflammation is simply your body’s natural defense to a foreign invader such as a bacteria, toxin or virus. The cycle of inflammation is perfect in how it protects your body from bacterial and viral invaders. However, if we chronically expose the body to injury by toxins, bacteria, foods or chemicals the human body was never designed to process, a condition results called chronic inflammation.

I likewise agree with Dr. O’Keefe, inflammation is a common culprit across many diseases in the body including your mouth, much more than we thought just a few years ago. When your mouth is full of bacteria and periodontal disease is present, your body’s natural response is inflammation and the production of CRP and other mediators of inflammation. These dilate local blood vessels to allow reparative cells to the infected area and ward off the ongoing attack, however long-term this leads to extremely high levels of constant inflammatory mediators like CRP floating around the body causing inflammation. Further, the bacteria and toxins from those bacteria now can enter the blood stream in high numbers due to the “easy access” created by the inflammation, which leads to a cascade of inflammation throughout the body. Heart disease is more than just high levels of cholesterol. Recent research has shown that inflammation has as much to do with heart disease as cholesterol and fatty deposits. One example of this was discovered in the 1970s by researchers studying the Greenland intuit tribe. The Greenland Inuit people consumed large amounts of fat and cholesterol from meat, but displayed virtually no cardiovascular disease. The high level of omega-3 fatty acids consumed by the Inuit which has an anti-inflammatory effect, reduced triglycerides, heart rate, blood pressure and atherosclerosis.

We are still in the relatively early stages of understanding the exact role of periodontal disease as it relates to other diseases of the body. It is clear however that many links exist. I don’t think we can understate the role of inflammation on the body, personally I think it is linked somehow to nearly all disease we encounter. There are many things that lead to an inflammatory response in the body and many things that reduce inflammation in the body. Future postings will deal with these various topics in more detail.

References/ Additional Resources

www.perioheart.com

www.wikepedia.com

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed