PDD, or periodontitis, affects the soft tissues around your teeth. This includes the gum and bone support that hold your teeth firm. The

first stage of treatment involves the removal of bacteria deposits on root surfaces to disinfect the surface, and to encourage the healing of gum tissues. Treatment also includes the preservation of bone support. The outcome is ultimately the retention of teeth. Ongoing management of PDD involves addressing behavioural risk factors and providing solutions to self-manage your condition in the long term.

One of the side effects of PDD is the degradation of supporting bone support around teeth. Without adequate support, teeth begin to loosen under the pressure of eating. This ultimately results in pain either during eating, or spontaneously.

Treatment involves using new technology that can regenerate bone in certain situations to improve the support leve. This ultimately prolongs the lifespan of teeth.

Despite ‘long in the tooth’ being a euphemism for old age, teeth can actually become shorter in time. A short tooth does not allow enough surface area to attach any facings or crowns that increase the overall length of the tooth.

Functional crown lengthening reshapes the gum attachment (and underlying bone support) to reveal more tooth area to work with. This technique reduces available gum to create symmetry across the top front eight to ten teeth, restoring the smile.

Around Teeth: Shrinking gum tissue often presents as longer looking teeth, and can be caused by PDD, wear and tear, or simply genetically thin tissue.

Tissue grafting or augmentation involves procedures designed to improve thickness of the gum tissue and restore it to its original position. In doing so, the original gum line and architecture can be returned. With symmetry, dental cosmetics and aesthetics are improved.

Around Implants: Without adequate gum attachment around dental implants, the metal surface can be exposed to accumulated bacteria. In some scenarios, a lack of gum attachment around an implant can make it painful and difficult to properly clean around the implant. Ideally, a lack of gum attachment is addressed before the implant is placed. Fortunately, loss of gum can be reinstated after the implant is placed. Treatment improves the thickness and volume of gum attachment around implants. In doing so, the original gum line and architecture can be returned.

A dental implant is essentially a metal screw that is anchored into bone, bonding to create a stable connection. It can have threads that also physically lock into create an attachment point where a crown can be anchored on top of the dental implant to recreate a tooth. This is the most ideal for solution when you are missing one tooth and restores your ability to chew and smile.

Where a space is more than one tooth wide, there may be a need to utilise two or more implants to restore a wider gap with more teeth. As a rule of thumb, a single implant can support up to two teeth, while a three teeth wide space will need two implants. Any wider spaces will require a careful assessment of the minimum number of support points (implants) to anchor teeth down. Multiple Teeth Implants will improve your ability to chew and smile.

Loose bottom dentures is the most common complaint of patients wearing dentures for the long term. Over time, the bone that supports these dentures can shrink, and only saliva or denture adhesive holds the bottom denture to the gum. Treatment does not require full surgery and a fitting can make them functional immediately. The outcome is comfortable and long-lasting dentures.

Dental implants can be placed into remaining bone to provide anchor points that clip to ‘press studs’ within a denture. This now provides physical and firm retention to hold the bottom denture stable, and most patients find this is a better solution.

Older implants may need to be modified to continue their effectiveness, corrected to improve on aesthetics, or simply treated to stop pain, bleeding and infection. Procedures include resurfacing or smoothing of exposed rough parts of the implant, and regeneration of loss bone or gum tissue around implants. In some instances, removal of an implant and starting again is indicated. Whatever the process of treatment is, the outcome we are looking for is dental implants that allow you to eat, talk and smile without pain, bleeding or infection.

Even if your teeth are secured by dental implants, they can suffer a similar disease process to teeth, as the bacterial cause is largely the same. Unfortunately, the disease process is usually more invasive around implants than natural teeth and therefore, progression is faster. Management strategies are similar to that for teeth, and include the removal of bacteria, and disinfecting the metal surface. This means that dental cosmetics and aesthetics are improved.

Dental implants can suffer bone degradation from bacteria related sources and lose bone support. This loss can be repaired if there is bleeding around the implant, a bad smell, or in worse cases, exposed metal. Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) is a surgical procedure that directs the growth of new bone and gingival tissue. Rehabilitative bone grafting around implants is designed to rebuild the bone volume and remove pain.

Bone degradation and loss of bone support can occur from bacteria related sources. Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) is a surgical procedure that directs the growth of new bone and gingival tissue. This can be done prior to implants as it is sometimes easier to rebuild prior to implant placement, than after the implant has been fixed. An optimal outcome means the patient with the issue can be a suitable candidate for implant placement.

Loss of teeth and gum infection destroy the bone in the back parts of the upper jaw, affecting its volume. To rebuild the bone and regain volume, we utilise the space in the sinuses (the air cavities behind the cheekbone). This contains bone graft material that will eventually act as an anchor platform for dental implants. This rebuilds bone volume.

Talk to us to learn more about sinus lifts and grafting techniques.

This strategy usually involves the removal of all teeth and immediate replacement of teeth on just four long implants. This solution is often used to remove and provide teeth in just one day for upper and lower jaws, to anchor a minimum of 12 teeth.

Note that 3 to 4 hours of pre-surgical planning can be involved and not everyone is suitable for this procedure. The outcome is that patients who are time poor and prefer a quick solution can have their teeth replaced in the same day.

These are many subtle variabilities to these conditions, which cannot be described in detail without a consultation.

Contact us to make a time here.