dental implants

Save Your Smile And Your Life With Implants

June 6, 2016

Welcome back to our oral health blog. At Really Smile, we strive to provide you with high-quality dental work in a compassionate environment. Our Carmel, Indiana office has everything you will need to keep your smile healthy all through life. But we will also be here for you should the unexpected ever happen.

Tooth loss is one of those things. Even if it happens slowly as the result of untreated gum disease or tooth decay, no one ever expects it to happen to them. And when it does, it will rock your world, and not in a good way!

Our team chose the tagline “life-changing dentistry” to sum up our practice, and it couldn’t be more appropriate for the work that we do with dental implants to help adults with missing teeth get back on the good road.

That’s why today we want to talk about implants and how they can save not only your smile, but quite possibly your life.

Keep reading to learn more about this wonderful restorative procedure, and then be sure to follow up with our team to schedule your consultation in our Indianapolis area office.

A Viable Solution For Tooth Loss

Unlike the false teeth of earlier eras, dental implants are stable, permanent, and not dependent on nearby teeth to anchor them. A dental implant actually consists of two parts. It has an artificial tooth root and a crown.

Here’s how the procedure works at Really Smile:

First, your implant post, made from titanium, will be surgically inserted and allowed to fuse into position to serve as the new root.

Once healing has happened, after a few months, you will come back so that a permanent crown can be placed on top. That’s the part that looks like a tooth.

Once that is done, you might just come back again to thank us, but that is not an official step by any means.

You Will Look Better

The crown we place over the implant will look stunning. You will once again have a complete smile and facial structure support. So, there will be no more embarrassing moments moving forward.

You Will Feel Great

Things will feel normal in your mouth, and your smile will be attractive. As such, your confidence will soar. Plus, your health will get a boost too as you go back to a normal diet.

You Will Be Able to Chew

You will have enough biting power to eat whatever you want with confidence. That should make meals more enjoyable and dinner dates a delight.

Take Back Your Life!

The best part about implants is that, with proper care, they will last a lifetime. It is also nice that they will help you look great, feel better and live longer!

We hope you have been inspired by all the possibilities outlined in today’s post to want to learn more about dental implants.

We can determine if you are a suitable candidate for this life-changing procedure when you schedule your consultation. To get started, contact us online or call our Carmel, Indiana office at 317-451-4050. We can’t wait to get to work!

Tooth Regeneration: Is It In Our Future?

May 21, 2016

Here’s a hypothetical situation for you: it’s the middle of winter. It’s cold, snowy, and there’s ice everywhere. You’ve just come home from a long day of work, and while leaving your car you slip on the ice. The unthinkable happens and you bang your face on a step, instantly shattering a tooth.

We hope you never have to experience a situation like that, because you know what’s probably coming with it: the loss of that damaged tooth. Your replacement options are limited, and expensive, but what if there was another option: Could you soon be coming to our Carmel office to have your teeth regrown?

The Secret To Tooth Regrowth, Unlocked

With so much research being done in genetics nowadays it’s amazing how much information we’ve found out about ourselves. One of the most recent discoveries has led scientists to believe that tooth regeneration could be possible some time in the future, a prospect that definitely gets our attention!

It all starts with a gene we have in common with creatures like sharks and alligators, both of whom can regrow teeth their entire lives. As humans we’re limited to just two complete sets, but here’s the really interesting part: the genes that we use to get that second set is the same gene that sharks and alligators use!

Millions and millions of years ago we all shared a common ancestor who spent life hunting for food and living in constant fear of predators. As we evolved away from the need to constantly regrow teeth we ended up with just two sets that get us through the amazing amount of growth we do.

But what if we could unlock that gene? Once our adult teeth grow in the gene basically “deactivates,” leaving us with just enough teeth to get through life. If we could find a way to flip the switch back to the on position we might just be able to regrow teeth on demand!

You probably aren’t going to find a scientist in the world who says we’re ready to do that, though. In reality we’re a long ways off from being able to simply regenerate teeth when we have an accident or lose them to decay and gum disease.

So what do we do to replace teeth right now? There’s no way we can do something that works just as well as a natural tooth, right?

The Current State-Of-The-Art In Tooth Replacement

While we’re not able to replace lost teeth with new ones grown naturally we can do something that’s just as stable, just as long-lasting, and just as natural looking as a real tooth. The solution to tooth loss problems in today’s world is dental implants.

Using nothing more than a small titanium screw we can place an anchor that binds to your jaw just as firmly as a natural tooth. Titanium is the implant material of choice because it’s so amazing at integrating with bone – dental implants can easily last for life with proper care.

Once an implant is healed we can restore it with an amazingly lifelike crown, or even a bridge for replacing multiple lost teeth. Patients who get implants are amazed by how good they look – some even forget which tooth is the implant and which are natural!

Dental implants don’t only provide a cosmetic solution; they’re also the best way to keep the rest of your mouth healthy after tooth loss. Other tooth replacement methods, like a bridge or dentures, don’t stop the bone loss that comes along with tooth loss. Over time this leads to other teeth shifting or coming loose until you end up with a chain reaction of lost teeth!

If you’re excited about regrowing teeth naturally you’re probably going to be waiting for a long while. In the meantime you can still enjoy tooth replacement that provides the same security, reliability, and great natural look as real teeth. We’re sure you’ll love what we can do with just a single dental implant!

Find Out How We Can Help

Whether you’ve lost a single tooth in an accident or a whole bunch of them to gum disease and decay we want to help. Our Carmel dental team is ready to show you exactly what we can do for your smile with dental implants, and we’re confident you’ll love the results!

If you’re ready to discover the great new smile that can be created with dental implants don’t wait – call Really Smile today at 317-451-4050. If you would prefer, you can also schedule an appointment online. We look forward to seeing you soon!

How To Care For Your Dental Implants

May 5, 2016

Have you recently had dental implants placed? It’s an exciting new time in your life – you’re finally able to enjoy all the foods you’ve been missing, all the smiles you’ve been afraid to show, and caring for your teeth is easier than it has been in years.

We’re thrilled to see the implant results we give the patients at our Carmel office, but placing and restoring implants isn’t the end of the process. Once implants are healed and topped with a bridge or crown there’s some special care that has to be taken to ensure that they stay healthy. While implants aren’t difficult to keep healthy there are still some specifics of caring for them that’s different than a regular tooth.

The Anatomy Of An Implant: How They’re Different

It’s obvious how an implant is physically different from a tooth: it’s a titanium screw that attaches to your jaw that’s capped with a crown or bridge. That said, there are a lot of other differences between implants and teeth that go beyond how they’re built.

One of the biggest differences between a dental implant and a tooth is how they both connect to the sockets they rest in. Teeth don’t make direct contact with your bone, and instead rely on a strong layer of tissue called the periodontal ligament. The ligament is made up of a bunch of thread-like fibers that bind to small pores in your teeth and bone, holding them firmly in place.

The periodontal ligament is also responsible for fighting gum disease and other infections as well. It runs all the way up your tooth to the gumline, and is the reason your gums hold so strongly to your teeth.

Now let’s consider dental implants: they don’t have a periodontal ligament at all. In fact, there’s no tissue between the implant and the bone it rests in. Implants are made of titanium because of its unique ability to fuse to bone. Once your implant is healed it will be perfectly integrated with your bone, forming a seal that’s strong enough to outlast almost anything.

Implants are strong, but the fact that there’s no periodontal ligament surrounding them poses its own problem: it’s much easier for bacteria to make its way beneath your gumline. The gums still hold onto the implant crown or bridge, but with much less strength than the ligament can provide. The result is a risk for a condition known as peri-implant disease.

Peri-Implant Disease: Death For Dental Implants

A healthy implant will easily last you for the rest of your life, but if peri-implant disease strikes that can all change. Similar to gum disease, peri-implant disease happens when oral bacteria gets under your gums, causing inflammation, bleeding, redness, sensitivity, and gum recession.

Since your gums aren’t bonded as firmly to your implant they recede faster, and without any other soft tissue to fight the infection it can quickly attack bone. The end result of peri-implant disease is infection, death of gum tissue, destruction of bone, and loss of implants.

When an implant is lost to peri-implant disease it’s not as simple as placing a new one: the bone that held it is either severely damaged or is gone completely. There are surgical options for regrowing lost bone tissue, but we never want to let things go that far, especially when you consider how easy it is to prevent that kind of damage!

Keeping Your Implants Healthy

As we mentioned above, caring for dental implants is a lot like caring for natural teeth. If your oral hygiene habits are good you probably never even need to worry about developing it!

Make sure you’re brushing twice a day with a soft bristled brush. Use a toothpaste that helps fight bacteria and be sure to get all around the gumline of your implant.
Floss every night – no exceptions. It only takes oral bacteria about 24 hours to start causing irritation to your gums, and it doesn’t take much longer for it to get below them and start spreading.
Make sure you’re seeing us at Really Smile Dentistry for regular checkups. Even if you don’t have a single natural tooth left we still need to take care of your implants!

Your Implants Are An Investment

Having dental implants placed is an investment, both financially and for your personal happiness. Don’t let something simple like a lack of proper care leave you at a loss. Take care of your implants and they’ll take care of you right back.

To get started on dental implants in Indianapolis, call our office to schedule an appointment at 317-451-4050. You can also save some time and request an appointment online. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Could Your Denture Cleaner Be Poisoning You?

April 5, 2016

Countless people wear dentures, and thousands more make the switch every year. If you wear dentures – partial or full – you need to be aware of what’s in your denture cleaner! You probably don’t even realize that you’re exposing yourself to potentially toxic chemicals every time you clean your dentures, but you probably are!

We craft a lot of dentures at our Carmel office, which is why we feel it’s important to pass this warning on to our patients who don’t know about it. Take a look at your denture cleaner and check the active ingredients: it one of them is persulfate you could be in danger.

What’s The Risk?

Persulfate denture cleaners make up the overwhelming majority of products available today. It works great because it’s an oxidizing cleanser that really scrubs away bacteria and other nasty things that build up on your dentures. It’s also highly toxic, and a lot of people even have an allergic reaction to it!

Rinsing your dentures off before you put them in should be a standard practice, but even that isn’t always enough to get all the persulfate off. Allergic reactions to lingering bits of cleaner are quite common, and in many cases are never correctly diagnosed.

If you’re having an allergic reaction to persulfate you might experience:

rashes and hives inside your mouth
tenderness in your gums
other forms of damage to mouth tissue
trouble breathing
low blood pressure

These symptoms usually pass quite quickly so you might assume your dentures are just irritating your skin but that’s not the case – it could be a persulfate allergy.

Persulfate poisoning also happens, though on a much more rare basis. Poisoning from persulfate requires ingestion of it, usually through drinking denture soaking liquid or ingesting a cleaning tablet. These instances are rare, but they have happened!

You could end up with persulfate poisoning if you mistake a tablet for alka seltzer, eat a tablet thinking it’s an antacid, and children have been poisoned by mistaking them for candy. The effects are potentially fatal, so be sure you keep your denture cleaner in a safe location.

Persulfate poisoning can cause:

internal bleeding
burns to tissue
abdominal pain
blood in the urine
low blood pressure
trouble breathing
seizures
sudden death

Avoiding Persulfate Poisoning

If all this makes it seem like your denture cleaner is out to get you we understand. Thankfully there are plenty of alternative products that are persulfate free. Take a look at denture cleaning products next time you’re at the store to find out which ones are a better choice – DentaSoak and Fresh Guard are two popular brands.

You can also use castile soap, which might just be the cheapest and safest option out there! It’s great for dentures and doesn’t contain any harsh chemicals like other denture cleaners. It’s best purchased in liquid form and just a few drops is enough!

Want To Get Rid Of Your Dentures Completely?

Great – now you have to add poisoned dentures to your list of reasons to hate them! How about getting rid of dentures completely – it’s possible with dental implants!

We can use a series of implants, usually four or six, that attach to a full mouth bridge, permanently replacing your dentures with teeth that are fixed in place and just as reliable as the real thing! Imagine never having to deal with dentures, denture cream, poisonous tablets, or embarrassing accidents ever again: dental implants can make that and more possible!

The procedure is simple, and we can have you wearing a full set of permanent teeth in just a few months. You won’t believe how amazing implants are until you can experience it for yourself!

Let Us Help You Find The Best Solution

Partial dentures, complete dentures, or even a single missing tooth can all be replaced by dental implants. You can get rid of them today and never have to worry about poisoning yourself or a loved one with denture cleaner – why not eliminate that risk?

To find out more about your dental implant or denture alternative options don’t wait – call Really Smile Dentistry today to schedule an appointment!

You can reach our Carmel office at 317-451-4050 or you can request an appointment online. We look forward to seeing you soon!

What’s So Great About Dental Implants?

March 5, 2016

Tooth loss is a terrifying topic, but it’s one that a lot of us have been forced to face. By the time you’re in your 40s statistics aren’t in your favor: around two thirds of people that age or older have lost at least one tooth.

The most frightening part comes from thinking about what to do about lost teeth. Do you get a bridge? Should you worry about more lost teeth? Will you have to end up wearing dentures? All of those are plausible outcomes of tooth loss; when one tooth goes others are likely to follow!

At Really Smile Dentistry we prefer to treat lost teeth with dental implants. These remarkable advancements in tooth replacement technology are the closest thing possible to regrowing a natural tooth! Whether you’re only missing one or you’re tired of living with dentures implants can get you a smile that’s fully functional, stable, and will last a lifetime.

What Makes Implants Exceptional?

Dental implants are small titanium screws that are placed in your jaw right where your missing teeth used to be. Once they bond to your bone they’ll be just as permanent and reliable as the real deal! If that isn’t reason enough to think implants are great hopefully these other reasons can convince you.

No More Dentures

If you’re wearing full or partial dentures you know how uncomfortable and miserable they can be, even mentally. You have to spend all day worrying about your teeth and the second you stop they fall right out!

No one deserves to live like that, and with dental implants you don’t have to. By placing just a few dental implants we can permanently attach a full-mouth bridge that stays fixed in place for life! Imagine never having to deal with the hassles of dentures again: it’s possible!

We also offer implant support for your dentures, which allows you to keep your current set, modified to snap right onto several dental implants.

Stop Bone Loss, Stop Tooth Loss

A single lost tooth can start a domino effect where more and more teeth loosen and fall out. Over time you’ll end up without a single tooth if you don’t stop it! Dental implants are the only tooth replacement solution that can stop the domino effect, and stop it naturally.

Continued tooth loss is caused by the loss of bone tissue that supported your missing teeth. Your body absorbs it, and will continue to do so until your other teeth loosen and fall out too. Because dental implants are able to bond to bone they stop the entire absorption process, and thus the domino effect as well.

If you replace that first lost tooth with an implant and then take care of your oral health your worries about tooth loss will dry right up!

Implants Are Permanent

When you get a dental implant you aren’t getting a temporary fix: you’re getting a tooth replacement that will last for the rest of your life. Implants form an incredibly strong bond with your bone that makes them just as – if not more – reliable as a natural tooth.

The crowns and bridges we restore dental implants are made from premium materials that will keep them looking great for years to come, and you won’t have to worry about anything except for your great smile!

Implants Are Easy To Care For

Taking care of a dental implant is just like taking care of a natural tooth: brush twice a day and floss in the evening and you’ll be all set for life! A lot of patients get worried that implant maintenance will be difficult, but as soon as they’re healed and their restoration is placed they realize how easy living with implants really is.

Of course, having dental implants doesn’t mean you can avoid trips to see us at our Carmel dentist office. The last essential piece of caring for dental implants is regular cleanings and exams so we can keep your new teeth – and the originals – healthy.

Invest In Great New Teeth With Dental Implants

You aren’t going to find another tooth replacement method that’s more lifelike, easier to live with, or more reliable than dental implants. If you’re ready to find out which implant solution is right for you, we’re ready to see you! You’ll find the best dental implant dentist in the Indianapolis area right here at Really Smile Dentistry.

Make an appointment at Really Smile Dentistry in Carmel, IN today by calling 317-451-4050 or by filling out our online request form. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Give Your Dentures A New Lease On Life

February 17, 2016

Think of one word to describe your dentures. It’s probably a safe bet that words like “reliable,” “beneficial,” “great,” or “easy” aren’t among them. Face it: no one likes their dentures. They might have been a great way to replace missing teeth when you got them, but after that it’s just a long road to unhappiness.

At Really Smile Dentistry we know how much of a hassle dentures can be. We see a lot of patients who are fed up with constantly having to think about their teeth and all the embarrassment they can cause. We don’t think you should have to live that way – it simply isn’t fair!

Why Are Your Dentures A Problem?

The denture-wearing patients at our Carmel office have given us a laundry list of reasons for hating their dentures, but there are some complaints we hear over and over again. If you’re a denture wearer there’s a good chance you’ve dealt with at least one of these problems before.

Living A Tasteless Life

Dentures and food: they don’t exactly get along, do they? And to think that they were supposed to make life easier – no one who has said that has tried eating with them! How long has it been since you’ve last eaten your favorite foods? If you prefer anything except for mush the answer is probably a long time ago!

What’s worse, the restricted diet can’t even be tasted very well because the roof of your mouth is covered. You probably never realized how important the roof of your mouth is for your sense of taste, but covering it with plastic makes it very obvious.

A lot of denture patients end up malnourished for the simple reason that they can’t get enough nutrients. Combine that with the fact that eating with dentures is a chore and it’s not shocking that people simply only eat when they have to.

No One Likes A Slippery Smile

You know the feeling: a denture disaster is just one wide smile, a sneeze, or a slip of the tongue away. People say being mindful is a good way to live, but they probably weren’t talking about being mindful of your dentures every waking minute of the day!

The longer you have dentures the worse the fit becomes. Your bone shrinks over time, leaving you with loose dentures that are completely unreliable. Pastes and adhesives only do so much – often just leaving you with slippery dentures and a bad taste in your mouth.

If you’ve ever had your dentures fall out in public or around family you know how embarrassing it can be. The humiliation of having your teeth be the center of attention for all the wrong reasons isn’t something anyone should have to deal with!

A Gauntlet Of Gum Pain

Redness, irritation, sensitivity, and soreness: all hallmarks of wearing dentures. Your gums simply weren’t meant to deal with all the pressure and forces of eating, speaking, and living with dentures. When you had teeth it was your jaw bone that absorbed the forces from your teeth, not your gums.

With dentures you’re placing all that pressure on soft tissue that was never meant to sustain it. Combine that with the plaque bacteria on your dentures and you’re in the perfect situation for serious irritation. A lot of denture wearers get to the point where they can’t even handle wearing them unless they absolutely have to. Weren’t your dentures supposed to be helpful?

The Solution

At Really Smile Dentistry we can use dental implants to support your dentures, giving them the reliability and beneficial qualities they were always supposed to have. With just four dental implants we can modify your dentures to snap in place and stay there until YOU want to take them out.

Implants are topped with either metal balls or a bar that fit perfectly into sockets or clasps on your dentures, which hold them in place while you eat, talk, and live your life.

Imagine being able to eat with ease, smile without worry, and focus on the things that really matter in life – that’s what implant support can do for you!

Want To Find Out More?

Our Carmel dentist office would love to show you all the benefits of implant retained dentures. All it takes is one phone call to our office to schedule a consultation today!

You can reach Really Smile Dentistry at 317-451-4050 or you can request an appointment by filling out our online form. We look forward to seeing you soon!

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