Long Island Dental Implants Versus Dentures

It is estimated that 22% of Americans will have lost all of their teeth by the age of 65

Maybe you are among those who have resigned themselves to dentures. For years, dentures were the only option. Whether you have lost teeth to gum disease, decay or accident, there is now an alternative to dentures that you should consider. You may replace your teeth with dental implants. As well, implants give you the option of affixing your dentures in a permanent manner.

Why should you consider implants over the customary mouth full of dentures?

* Long Island Dental implants look and feel like your natural teeth.
* Implants don’t slip and slide out of place.
* There is no need to remove your teeth for cleaning. You care for implants Suffolk County in the same manner you would care for your natural teeth.
* You can avoid the discomfort of typical dentures. There is no fear of getting something lodged beneath a denture plate, no painful mouth sores where the dentures rub, and no soreness from the muscles of your cheeks and tongue having to adjust to keep your dentures in place.
* Implants Long Island won’t change your speech patterns as they will not move in your mouth as you speak.
* With implants, you will feel free to smile with confidence.

What type of specialist do I have to see for implants?

Many different types of dentists place dental implants. A Periodontist is an excellent choice for dental implant placement. They have a wide range of training in the areas of surgery and prosthetics, and their ability to manage the gum tissue is second to none. BE CAREFUL who places your implants. Lots of general dentists are taking weekend courses and start “practicing” on their patients Monday morning.


With the increase in patient demand for dental implants, there are plenty of options in materials, as well. A dentist will be able to evaluate your needs and determine the best type of implant for your situation.

Is the procedure more involved for implants than for dentures?
The process of getting implants might be slightly more involved for implants than for dentures. It does involve surgery. For most patients, however, that surgery can be done under local anesthetic right from the chair in the dentist’s office. Many denture wearers also find themselves having to undergo surgery prior to being able to wear dentures. Tooth extractions and bone grafting might be necessary in either case, depending on the current state of your oral health.

The number one advantage to implants is that they are a near-permanent solution to tooth loss. Most patients can expect to have their implants for life. Continued gum and bone deterioration often make it necessary to replace dentures in subsequent years and the comfort level for denture wearers is never as high as for those who have implants. Patients comment that it’s “just like having teeth again.”
If you do have remaining healthy teeth, implants give you the option of leaving those teeth and only replacing those that are missing. The gum and bone will not wear away with implants the way it continues to do with dentures. This is why dentures are a continual source of frustration for many wearers. The perfect fit, if you get close at all, is not likely to last more than a couple of years as the underlying structure of bone continues to degenerate when teeth are removed.

Sounds good, but it is affordable?

Those who have received dental inplants Long Island agree that the initial cost for implants, which is higher than for dentures, is well worth it. Aside from the comfort and confidence you will receive from having teeth that look and feel naturally yours, you will not have the continued expense of messy adhesives and cleaning products that come with dentures. As well, most dentures have to be replaced one or more times because of changes in gums and bone density. Many wearers have to go through several pair just to get a good initial fit. Of course, we’ve all heard the stories of dentures being lost or inadvertently thrown out, a worry you won’t have with dental implants. Find an experienced dentist who specializes in dental implants and you can avoid the excessive fees you might otherwise pay.

In short, dentures will continue to cost you, in more ways than one, for years to come. Suffolk County Implants are expected to last a lifetime. Visit Dental Implants Suffolk County for more great information

Dental Implants | Long Island | Suffolk County | Dental Inplants

Watch this video to see how dental implants Long Island can hold a lower denture. Dr. Scharf is a Long Island Peridontist who has helped thousands of patients feel and function better with implants. Call (631)661-6633 for an evaluation.



Dental Implants Suffolk County are incredible for helping to restore comfort and function.

Replacing a Single Tooth
If you are missing a single tooth, one implant and a crown can replace it. A dental implant replaces both the lost natural tooth and its root.

What are the advantages of a single-tooth implant over a bridge?
A dental implant Suffolk County provides several advantages over other tooth replacement options. In addition to looking and functioning like a natural tooth, a dental implant replaces a single tooth without sacrificing the health of neighboring teeth. The other common treatment for the loss of a single tooth, a tooth-supported fixed bridge, requires that adjacent teeth be ground down to support the cemented bridge.

Because a dental implant will replace your tooth root, the bone is better preserved. With a bridge, some of the bone that previously surrounded the tooth begins to resorb (deteriorate). Dental implants integrate with your jawbone, helping to keep the bone healthy and intact.

In the long term, a single implant can be more esthetic and easier to keep clean than a bridge. Gums can recede around a bridge, leaving a visible defect when the metal base or collar of the bridge becomes exposed. Resorbed bone beneath the bridge can lead to an unattractive smile. And, the cement holding the bridge in place can wash out, allowing bacteria to decay the teeth that anchor the bridge.

How will the implant be placed?
First, the implant, which looks like a screw or cylinder, is placed into your jaw. Over the next two to six months, the implant and the bone are allowed to bond together to form an anchor for your artificial tooth. During this time, a temporary tooth replacement option can be worn over the implant site.

Often, a second step of the procedure is necessary to uncover the implant and attach an extension. This small metal post, called an abutment, completes the foundation on which your new tooth will be placed. Your gums will be allowed to heal for a couple of weeks following this procedure.

There are some implant systems (one-stage) that do not require this second step. These systems use an implant which already has the extension piece attached. Your periodontist will advise you on which system is best for you.

Finally, a replacement tooth called a crown will be created for you by your dentist and attached to the abutment. After a short time, you will experience restored confidence in your smile and your ability to chew and speak. Dental implants are so natural-looking and feeling, you may forget you ever lost a tooth.

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What is the difference between a tooth supported bridge and a tooth replaced by Long Island Dental Implants. Here is the recipe for success.

Periodontal

In yesterday's New York Times Jane Brody wrote an article entitled "New Thinking on How to Protect the Heart." In it she mentions how elevated levels of a marker called C reactive protein is a significant risk factor for heart attack. She also discusses the effect of periodontal or gum inflammation has on health. Studies in the periodontal literature have shown over and over again that if you take a patient with periodontal disease and high levels of C reactive protein and treat their periodontal disease the levels of C reactive protein reduce. Wow. The mouth really is attached to the rest of the body. The old thinking was that neglecting the teeth only resulted in a loss of teeth. The new reality is that neglecting the mouth may result in loss of days of your life!! I have copied the whole article below for you. Stay warm and Happy New Year. To learn about laser periodontal therapy visit LILASERPERIO.COM

Personal Health
New Thinking on How to Protect the Heart
The New York Times
By JANE E. BRODY
Published: January 12, 2009

If last week’s column convinced you that surgery may not be the best way to avoid a heart attack or sudden cardiac death, the next step is finding out what can work as well or better to protect your heart.

Many measures are probably familiar: not smoking, controlling cholesterol and blood pressure, exercising regularly and staying at a healthy weight. But some newer suggestions may surprise you.

It is not that the old advice, like eating a low-fat diet or exercising vigorously, was bad advice; it was based on the best available evidence of the time and can still be very helpful. But as researchers unravel the biochemical reasons for most heart attacks, the advice for avoiding them is changing.

And, you’ll be happy to know, the new suggestions for both diet and exercise are less rigid. The food is tasty, easy to prepare and relatively inexpensive, and you don’t have to sweat for an hour a day to reap the benefits of exercise.

The well-established risk factors for heart disease remain intact: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, abdominal obesity and sedentary living. But behind them a relatively new factor has emerged that may be even more important as a cause of heart attacks than, say, high blood levels of artery-damaging cholesterol.

That factor is C-reactive protein, or CRP, a blood-borne marker of inflammation that, along with coagulation factors, is now increasingly recognized as the driving force behind clots that block blood flow to the heart. Yet patients are rarely tested for CRP, even if they already have heart problems.

Even in people with normal cholesterol, if CRP is elevated, the risk of heart attack is too, said Dr. Michael Ozner, medical director of the Cardiovascular Prevention Institute of South Florida. He thinks that when people have their cholesterol checked, they should also be tested for high-sensitivity CRP.

Diet Revisited

The new dietary advice is actually based on a rather old finding that predates the mantra to eat a low-fat diet. In the Seven Countries Study started in 1958 and first published in 1970, Dr. Ancel Keys of the University of Minnesota and co-authors found that heart disease was rare in the Mediterranean and Asian regions where vegetables, grains, fruits, beans and fish were the dietary mainstays. But in countries like Finland and the United States where plates were typically filled with red meat, cheese and other foods rich in saturated fats, heart disease and cardiac deaths were epidemic.

The finding resulted in the well-known advice to reduce dietary fat and especially saturated fats (those that are firm at room temperature), and to replace these harmful fats with unsaturated ones like vegetable oils. What was missed at the time and has now become increasingly apparent is that the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet is not really low in fat, but its main sources of fat — olive oil and oily fish as well as nuts, seeds and certain vegetables — help to prevent heart disease by improving cholesterol ratios and reducing inflammation.

Virtues Confirmed

It was not until 1999 that the value of a traditional Mediterranean diet was confirmed, when the Lyon Diet Heart Study compared the effects of a Mediterranean-style diet with one that the American Heart Association recommended for patients who had survived a first heart attack.

The study found that within four years, the Mediterranean approach reduced the rates of heart disease recurrence and cardiac death by 50 to 70 percent when compared with the heart association diet.

Several subsequent studies have confirmed the virtues of the Mediterranean approach. For example, a study among more than 3,000 men and women in Greece, published in 2004 by Dr. Christina Chrysohoou of the University of Athens, found that adhering to a Mediterranean diet improved six markers of inflammation and coagulation, including CRP, white blood cell count and fibrinogen.

The same year Kim T. B. Knoops, a nutritionist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, and co-authors published a study showing that among men and women ages 70 to 90, those who followed a Mediterranean diet and other healthful practices, like not smoking, had a 50 percent lower rate of deaths from heart disease and all causes.

“The Mediterranean diet is one people can stick to,” said Dr. Ozner, author of “The Miami Mediterranean Diet” and “The Great American Heart Hoax” (BenBella, 2008). “The food is delicious, and the ingredients can be found in any grocery store.

“You should make most of the food yourself,” Dr. Ozner added. “When the diet is stripped of lots of processed foods, you ratchet down inflammation. Among my patients, the compliance rate — those who adopt the diet and stick with it — is greater than 90 percent.”

Among foods that help to reduce the inflammatory marker CRP are cold-water fish like salmon, tuna and mackerel; flax seed; walnuts; and canola oil and margarine based on canola oil. Fish oil capsules are also effective. Dr. Ozner recommends cooking with canola oil and using more expensive and aromatic olive oil for salads.

Other aspects of the Mediterranean diet — vegetables, fruits and red wine (or purple grape juice) — are helpful as well. Their antioxidant properties help prevent the formation of artery-damaging LDL cholesterol.

Other Steps

Several recent studies have linked periodontal disease to an increased risk of heart disease, most likely because gum disease causes low-grade chronic inflammation. So good dental hygiene, with regular periodontal cleanings, can help protect your heart as well as your teeth.

Reducing chronic stress is another important factor. The Interheart study, which examined the effects of stress in more than 27,000 people, found that stress more than doubled the risk of heart attacks.

Dr. Joel Okner, a cardiologist in Chicago, and Jeremy Clorfene, a cardiac psychologist, the authors of “The No Bull Book on Heart Disease” (Sterling, 2009), note that getting enough sleep improves the ability to manage stress.

Practicing the relaxation response once or twice a day by breathing deeply and rhythmically in a quiet place with eyes closed and muscles relaxed can help cool the hottest blood. Other techniques Dr. Ozner recommends include meditation, prayer, yoga, self-hypnosis, laughter, taking a midday nap, getting a dog or cat, taking up a hobby and exercising regularly.

He noted that in a 1996 study, just 15 minutes of exercise five days a week decreased the risk of cardiac death by 46 percent.

Even very brief bouts of exercise can be helpful. A British study published in the current American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that accumulating short bouts — just three minutes each — of brisk walking for a total of 30 minutes a day improved several measures of cardiac risk as effectively as one continuous 30-minute session.

Dental Implants Long Island to Hold a Lower Denture | Dental Implants Suffolk County

Dental Implants are incredible for holding a lower denture. Dental implants fuse with the bone and hold a lower denture so that you do not need adhesive or glue. These allow people to chew, and laugh with comfort and confidence. To see pictures of dental implants visit Dr. Scharf's web site or call (631)661-6633 for an appointment to see if implants are for you.

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Some videos on Dental Implants for you.

Dental Implants Long Island | Dr. Scharf (631)661-6633 | Dental Implants Commack

When teeth are lost the bone that holds the teeth in is lost as well. This leads to the facial changes found with tooth loss. Dental Implants on Long Island or Dental Implants Commack can stimulate the bone and stop the bone loss. To see if you are a candidate for dental implants on Long Island call Dr. Scharf at (631)661-6633 or visit him on the web at