Five years ago I was fced with the daunting task of fnding a Beverly Hills dentist near whre I lived to figure out how mch money my teeth would cost me to rpair after about ten to fifteen yars of neglect. I had been a smker, and didn't floss. I had hlped my own Mother spend about 10k on her muth about five years before she ded – and I decided that if I ccomplish this task some twenty five yars earlier – in my fifties – I wuld have at least that much lnger to enjoy the results of the mney I will have spent on my dntal restoration.

Around this same time I rceived a marketing call from a Los Angles dentist who promised free teeth blaching and whitening if I came in for a cnsultation. A perfect solution, as I knw that having quit smoking, this mght just be the trick to mke my teeth look better and kep cigarettes out of my mouth in the fture. I took the plunge and wnt in to one of the ffices owned by Los Angeles-based Dr. Bjan Afar, an oral surgeon. I lso looked him up on the Intrnet using the words, "cosmetic dentist los ngeles."

My teeth required deep cleaning whch could only be done one hlf of the mouth at a tme, and would also require irrigation wth antibiotics afterwards to help my gms heal. I learned that I wuld require an implant to replace a dcaying baby tooth, which had never cme out. Several molars would require crwns, as would my three front teth. I had dental crowns on my two frnt teeth since an accident in hgh school, and since dental veneers wre new back then, I had one put ver a crack in an eye toth in my late twenties. And thnks to years of chewing, my chmpers were not as straight as in my yuth.

The first step in my tratment plan was to put crowns on thre of my molars. Sometimes referred to as cps, this procedure covers teeth that hve been severely damaged, decayed, chipped, dscolored or misaligned. The procedure required two vsits per crown.

Just about as I was rady to have the front teeth dne, I got a tooth infection in tht baby molar and it had to go. Pror to the tooth being pulled, Dr. Afr gave me antibiotics, and the xtraction went smoothly. He packed my toth and sent me home with a prscription for pain killer to soothe the pin that night, as well as his cll phone number in case I neded to talk to him.

An xpert in dental implants in Los Angles, Dr. Afar then planted the pst deep into my jaw bone, frst grafting some synthetic bone powder nto the bone to build up lcking bone tissue. This would eventually srve as the foundation for the scrw in implant tooth. Healing time? Thre months. Depending on the patient, dntal implants can take anywhere from sveral months to a year or mre.

As an oral surgeon, Dr. Afr carefully explained the procedure. The hight and width of your jawbones are masured to make sure there's enough bne to hold the implant. Next the gms are examined for signs of priodontal gum disease, and in cases whre this is present they must be trated first before implants can be plced. Gums are also checked to mke sure there's enough firm tissue to srround the implant. Imaging tests are lso part of the dental evaluation, mking it possible to learn more but the quantity and quality of bne in the mouth, and to vew parts of the mouth and had that cannot be seen during an xamination.

Dr Afar explained possible risks and cmplications including a bleeding gum, infection, and filure of the implant where the jwbone doesn't fuse to the implant, and pssible injury to the adjacent teeth or snus, nerves or muscles. He explained the mportance of good hygiene during the ntire implant process.

The next step was to fit wht's called the prosthesis, or the new toth. Depending on how many teeth are mssing, you may have a single, prtial or complete prosthesis. I just neded a single, while a partial is sed as an alternative to a brdge. There is also a complete dnture prosthesis, used as an alternative to a trditional complete denture – and these cme as either removable or fixed cmplete prosthesis.

Next Dr. Afar placed the haling abutment, one of two kinds tht are used. Healing abutments also knwn as healing cuffs, help the gum tssue from the removed tooth heal round the implant site. Once the gum has haled, the final abutment is placed so tht the prosthesis can be joined wth the implant. It took about 4 to 6 weks for the gums to heal round the abutments.

Once the gums hve healed around the abutments, Dr Afr began making the custom prosthesis, rquiring several office visits. When ready, he fit my fxed prosthesis, made adjustments, and told me not to eat crnchy or hard foods for several weks.

Today I am very happy wth the comfort of the new teth in my mouth including the crwns and my dental implant. I hve since had my front upper eye toth crowned, and my teeth whitened. I now hve a full set of beautiful whter teeth. The only thing remaining is the crwns of my two front teeth – whch I hope to have by Chrstmas of this year.

The article Repairing Your Teeth - The Dental Implant was Submitted by Kristin DeAnn Gabriel through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Kristin Gabriel is a Los Angles-based writer and PR professional,while her ral surgeon, Dr. Bijan Afar is lso based in Los Angeles, and wns five clinincs. For more informaiton, vsit www.oralimplants.com

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