John was scared of the dentist and had not attended for over 20 years. He was at a stage where all his back teeth had broken and his remaining front upper and lower teeth were decayed and wearing extensively. After his first visit at Parrock Street Dental Care with Rik he overcome his phobia and was comfortable with attending the dentist. He was able to have reconstructive treatment to replace his missing back teeth, increase his bite and a smile makeover to improve the colour and appearance of his teeth and smile. He has regained his self confidence and smiles effortlessly. ”Coming to this practice is lovely” See his video testimonial below.

There he observed live surgery involving the most advanced procedures to treat patients with missing and failing teeth.

Patients attended with insufficient bone in areas requiring dental implants to replace missing teeth.

In the back part of the upper jaw a procedure called a sinus augmentation/graft procedure was carried out. This involved accessing and lifting the upper jaw sinus lining and placing an artificial graft material and occasionally simultaneous implant placement. The graft material encourages natural bone formation and this is allowed to heal with implant placement for about 6 months.

The best form of graft material is natural bone from the patient in another part of the mouth. In other areas with bone deficiency natural bone was taken either from the chin or back part of the lower jaw and fixated to the deficiency and allowed to heal. After 3-4 months this bone usually heals and corrects the deficiency to enable implant placement.

Where there were deficiencies making the area for implant placement too thin advanced procedures were learnt to expand the ridge avoiding a bone graft to allow simultaneous implant placement. Likewise where there were small deficiencies in bone height in the back part of the upper jaw simple techniques were observed to increase the height for simultaneous implant placement.

All in all a great 3 day experience which will benefit those of our patients with missing teeth, dentures and failed bridgework and crowns greatly in achieving fixed naturally looking and functioning teeth.

Colin has been a dental technician for over 30 years and thoroughly enjoys his job. He works Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and is available to help repair and add to any broken dentures or replace any missing teeth onto a denture.

You do not have to be registered at our practice in order to use the services of our dental laboratory. You can bring your broken denture to us and after Colin has made an assessment of the denture we can advise you of the proposed course of action needed in order to fix your denture.

Just like an optician we recommend two pairs of glasses, We recommend that our denture wearing patients always have a spare set of dentures made, in the unlikely event that their permanent dentures are misplaced, dropped, broken etc….. they will then not have to go without any teeth as the process of making a great fitting and looking new denture can take a few appointments over the course of a few weeks.

As a fixed alternative to dentures patients may want to consider implant supported dentures or bridges

Should you have any queries regarding your dentures, please do not hesistate to contact us on 01474 537191

Dentures are the cheapest short-term option but they require replacing every few years and soon become the most expensive long-term. They can also have a  detrimental effect on the gums supporting surrounding teeth which leads to further tooth loss. this makes dentures harmful to the overall health of the mouth long-term.

Bridges have a cost similar to dental implant treatment but usually require the cutting down of adjacent healthy teeth to hold and link to the missing tooth, this can mean healthy teeth risk having problems. Although bridges give a fixed solution they do need replacing over time. The frequency of replacement depends heavily on the maintenance of a patients oral hygiene and lifestyle factors such as smoking and sugar intake.

Implants are considered the more sound long-term investment. The initial cost can be spread over the length of the treatment. They are shown to be the most long-term successful option having a 97-99% success over a 15 year study. Hence long-term they are by far the cheapest!

Ultimately if i lost a tooth its the only thing i would ever consider! If you require any further information or wish to discuss this further please call or email the practice to arrange an appointment at your convenience.

Dr. R. Trivedi

Dr Rik Trivedi