Why Dental Implants Could Be the Right Call

If you’re missing one or more teeth, then you’ve probably noticed the negative impact that it can have on your everyday life. From your interactions in social settings, to discomfort or even pain while chewing food, missing teeth are definitely a problem for adults who have had teeth extracted. The important thing to understand is that you don’t have to be stuck with these problems- dental implants are actually a very reliable, durable, and even aesthetically pleasing solution for patients in just about any state of dental health.

Teeth can break, chip, or even “fall out” over time. There’s often a root left in the gum, which can lead to infection if it isn’t properly removed by a dentist. In situations like these, proper dental extraction is one of the best things that you can do for your health where crowns, root canals, and other solutions simply may not be an option. While an extraction can save you from a painful infection, it does leave you with the issue of a missing tooth. That’s where dental implants come into play.

• Dental implants are meant to last. There are other solutions that you can consider based on your remaining teeth, such as bridges and partials, but dental implants are a method that’s been devised for life. The titanium screws that are used in dental implants last longer than the bone they are placed in, and the entire procedure only typically needs to be performed once; when the screw has been placed, replacing the crown is a much simpler process.
• They look amazing. As a prosthetic tooth, a dental implant’s crown requires cosmetic consideration. That means crafting a tooth that has the right shape, the right color and shading, and the proper alignment with your natural teeth. As a cosmetic benefit, that can mean replacing missing teeth with a prosthetic that looks and feels like the real thing.

A missing tooth doesn’t need to be a permanent problem for many patients in many different dental situations. That’s why we encourage any patient who may have missing teeth to learn more about our dental implant options, which can include implant-supported bridges, and even dentures that are held in place by implants. For reliability, strength, and great cosmetic results, dental implants are almost always our most recommended solution in these situations.

For the Right Cosmetic Dentist Houston Residents Need Options

Options are good. In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, we have a lot going on, and we understand that here at LifeSmiles. It is our goal to make sure we make our patients’ treatment venues as clear and easy as possible.

At LifeSmiles, we take the route of listening to our patients when they have questions or comments, and to tailoring our services, and our options, to suit their needs. That’s why we’ve invested so much into our cosmetic dental techniques, technology, and training, and everything we offer our patients.

• Thorough examinations and consultations. This is the key of figuring out what your best options really are- without a thorough examination, we won’t know exactly what will be best for your teeth, and a consultation process helps us to understand what you want to do with your smile. This is one of the most important parts of providing high quality cosmetic care.
• Payment options and clear billing. Scheduled payment plans and flexible options are also an important part of providing high quality care to those in need. Cosmetic dentistry bills and services are clearly labeled and explained, so that you never feel like your bills are coming out of nowhere. This also helps both us and you to make a plan of action for total smile makeovers, or for long term work that can include veneers, implants, and more.
• Sedation and pain management solutions that fit your needs. Part of the examination and consultation also includes figuring out the best ways to make your experience as comfortable and pain free as possible. We take the extra step with our sedation therapy and pain management options to ensure that you have a great experience, from start to finish.

From treatment, to recovery, to education on your cosmetic dental options when you need it most, you will find that there’s an entire world of information available and just as many ways to brighten up your smile. If you want to find out more about our services, just browse the site, or give us a call at our office today.

Houston, we have a problem: Bad breath

Bad breath is a very common problem with people nowadays. We are all so self conscious of how we look and appear that, sometimes, we forget that our breath is one of the first things others notice about us. This is an embarrassing condition for the sufferer, and it can impact on their everyday lives. Most people are surprised to learn there are several types and several causes of bad breath.

Bad Breath – An Embarrassing Condition

Let us have a look at some scenarios which can impact the life of a person with bad breath:

• At an interview for your dream job – your bad breath rears its ugly head – your chances of securing that ideal position could easily be dramatically reduced as a result
• You are at a meeting with a new client and you need to get close to them to demonstrate a concept on your computer screen – the client smells your breath and keeps their distance throughout the remainder of the meeting
• A person is on a first date with their dream partner and they wish to make a great first impression. If they are aware of their bad-breath problems then this may add to the nervousness of the already stressful situation. If the person is lucky enough to get a kiss at the end of the date then this can also cause problems, as the other person may judge solely on the foul smell coming from the mouth of the sufferer.

There are many other instances, like the above, that could significantly impact upon a sufferer’s life, so let us take a look at how to improve upon or avoid bad breath issues.

How to Avoid Bad Breath – Some Tips

Although some cases of bad breath are due to genetic or medical conditions, there are also many instances which can be cured fairly straightforwardly by taking into account some of the tips below:

Here are the types of bad breath:

• Food and Alcohol Breath - These odors are transient and have to clear the system. Some people have body chemistry that reacts more powerfully that others to certain foods like raw onions and garlic. Garlic odors can actually exude from the skin. Large amounts of water and fruit juices help clear this along with physical exercise. Coffee chasers make it worse. Brushing of teeth, gums, tongue and lining of the cheeks helps along with mouthwash.
  Chew gum that contains Xylitol, like Spry available at LifeSmiles - a natural sweetener that stimulates saliva and kills odor causing and cavity causing bacteria.
• Morning Breath - you can be healthy, have healthy gums, a great diet, but when you wake up in the morning it smells like something crawled in your mouth and died. That fact is, this is true! On a microscopic level. The flora of bacteria in your mouth has been munching on any food or plaque in your mouth and producing smelly Volatile Organic Sulphur Compounds. VOSC.
  HOW TO FIGHT IT: The most thorough cleansing of your mouth is the one that you do at bedtime followed by a mouthwash that can neutralize VOSC - like Closys toothpaste and mouthwash available at LifeSmiles. Most of the popular retail commercial mouthwashes contain tissue drying alcohol and do not battle VOCS.USE A TONGUE SCRAPER - to dislodge the smelly biofilm of bacteria that grows on top of the tongue and then brush the tongue until you uncover the natural color. Go all of the way back to where the gag reflex is. This is the biggest breeding ground of the bacteria releasing the VOSC. Mouth specific probiotics available at LifeSmiles can really help reduce this one.Chew gum that contains Xylitol, like Spry available at LifeSmiles - a natural sweetener that stimulates saliva and kills odor causing and cavity causing bacteria.
• Perio Breath - This is the very pungent, can knock down a sailor, odor of gum disease. No amount of perfume filled mouthwash or toothpaste can cover this up. It comes from the especially nasty bacteria that grows under the gum line of someone with gum infection. That is the bad news. The good news is when the infection is cleared up, the smell is cleared up too.
  HOW TO BAN PERIO BREATH: It starts with a deep cleaning. Because gums that have gum disease infection are typically tender, the deep cleaning is usually done with the benefit of local anaesthesia - just like we use for a filling, to make the mouth numb. We want to do a very good job of thoroughly cleaning the hardened deposits under the gum line AND we do not want to hurt you. Some people that have dental phobias or anxiety elect to have sedation in addition to the local anaesthesia. Just like the Vets do with our four legged friends. There are special probiotics available at LifeSmiles Houston that drastically help this. Take advantage of the Gums of Steel program at LifeSmiles for a long term solution to this especially serious problem.
• Medical Conditions - Tonsil, throat, sinus infections. Acid Reflux. Stomach ulcers and cancers. Uncontrolled Diabetes. Gotta get it treated!
• Prescription medications - Many Rx’s can have a nasty side effect of shutting off the salivary glands. The most common culprits are blood pressure meds, anti-depression meds, and antihistamines. This causes dry mouth or Xerostomia. Saliva has many important roles that include lubrication, enzymes to digest food, antibodies to fight gum and other infections and cavities. Washes things out of the mouth like food particles and VOSC!

 

How to fight dry mouth: Be in concert with the prescribing doctor if the medicine is needed long term or if a lower dosage will work. Keep some of the wonderful dry mouth products bedside. A simple pump spray can lubricate the mouth at night and help keep it fresh. Chew gum that contains Xylitol, like Spry available at LifeSmiles - a natural sweetener that stimulates saliva and kills odor causing and cavity causing bacteria.

 

Greetings Dr. Randy,

 

As usual I am derelict in expressing my profound gratitude for ALL of your help! One reason I am so late is that I have been running all around and about without having to worry when my next decayed crown was going to fall off(usually friday afternoons right?) without final remedy except extraction. I literally don’t know what I would have done without you…but I know it would not have been pretty. Now it is PRETTY… beyond my wildest expectations!

 

Thirty-five years of bruxism, grinding and thousands of dollars a year repairing crowns had left me without options..or so I thought…and then you came into my life and made that impossibility a reality. Now I can eat almost anything I want, can talk without mumbling(mostly<g>) and actually have had people tell me for the first time in my life that I had a pretty smile! You are definitely a role model in the smiling department as one can’t go into your office without catching your infectious smile! For those who have visited LifeSmiles it is obvious that smiling and caring IS a job requirement. The staff is so friendly and happy you just want to put them in a bag(a reallly BIG bag) and take them home with you. Alas you can only take a cookie or a cupcake…(as long as you brush afterwards!).

 

That the entire staff of LifeSmiles is so competent and wonderful is a testament to you. I think few people know what a great teacher you are! I have watched many people in my career trying to teach others to do something and failing. You always take the time to show your staff how to do something better and then turn it over to them again…never berating them…. always praising them even if they don’t do it right the first time. That is the formula for making people want to be better!

 

So thank you again Dr. Randy! I can’t wait to come back for my checkup and to see you and the gang again!

 

 

 

Regards always,

 

Pat Emmons

 

 

Pat first came to Dr Mitchmore NINE years ago with his dental problems. He had had a LOT of dentistry done over the years for seemingly endless expensive dental problems. At that time he was just not in a position to make a decision that felt right for him between investing more money in more crowns or removing the teeth and going to implants. Plus the crowns that he had done in the past just did not look very good. So he did what most people do when the options just don’t seem right – he did nothing.

 

Fast forward nine years and the problems became more serious and truly were impacting his daily life in terms of embarrassment, pain, emergency dental problems, inconvenient time and time away from work, much less the money. This time around he had made the decision that felt right to him. That was to remove all of the teeth – virtually every one of them had crowns and root canals and were brittle, decayed, and yellowed. He wanted to move forward with dental implants and a very long lasting bridge.

 

The real pain was revealed when Pat said, “Every time we go on vacation and have a photo made, I always turn my back to the camera like I am looking at the landscape because I am so embarrassed about my smile.” That hurts!

 

Now read what Pat has to say about his experience and see the photos of his new look:

 

(Attachment of Pat Emmons testimonial about Implants and Prettau Bridge with before and after photos)