Over the holidays, we installed some brand-new solar panels on the roof of our office. They will aid our goals to become naturally more efficient in our energy utilization, and to grow less dependent on expensive, non-sustainable energy. It’s just another step forward in our aim to bring all-around top-quality, truly holistic (in every way possible!) care to our patients.

On another note, Happy New Year! We’re a week into 2012, and the resolution hype is still humming along. Did any of your resolutions or goals include taking better care of your health, the oral region in particular? I hope so. If not, why not decide today to floss every night before bed or spend a little more time thoroughly brushing your teeth? Small changes can make a huge difference in the long run.

It’s not too late! Start a good habit or two now, and the pretty smile you’ll have next year will thank you.

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

Tooth injury — maybe because of an accident, the natural tooth/teeth were knocked out and cannot be replaced normally.

Disease — perhaps because of infection, poor treatment, or other reasons, a sick or dead tooth with no hope of recovery must be extracted and replaced with an implant.

Improper development — if a tooth has come in with complications such as crookedness, which may cause pain, infection, or wear and tear on other teeth, then it may be necessary to replace it with an artificial tooth constructed to optimally function with the rest.

Ugly teeth — well, if you have enough money and are willing to undergo surgery for vanity’s sake, then this would be for you.

Of course, every single case is different. It’s possible someone needing an implant wouldn’t fall under one of these categories. Not only that, but sometimes the extra step of providing enough bone for an implant is necessary, meaning you may need an implant, but there’s not enough bone in your facial/jaw bones to hold one in. But I’ll go over that later. You’ll be amazed at the science and technology involved in the process.

Stay tuned!

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

If you are new to the entire dental implant procedure, the next few posts will be helpful for you to read. Every implant surgery is unique to the individual receiving it; every case is different. Dental implants require more than drilling a hole in your mouth and sticking an artificial tooth in that hole. (Ugh, that sounds like cruel torture stated so bluntly!) That is basically what dental implantation is; however, because we are not cavemen and have all kinds of brilliant technology and intelligent doctors* handling your oral ailments, you can be assured that such a surgery will be done with the utmost care and precision with long-term sustainability in mind.

Let’s say, in a “simple” case, a tooth has been extracted, lost, or missing for years. There is no tooth — or no healthy tooth — and the doctor determines that an implant is needed. After several careful measurements; x-rays; sizes; ways, shapes, and forms are recorded, the drilling begins. Don’t worry; you’d be under anesthesia. The place for the tooth in your jawbone or facial bones, depending on where the tooth is going, is drilled into and prepared for the implant base that will be twisted, screwed in, and anchored.

Side note: I have mentioned one-piece implants here before, but I will not bring that up just yet. Just imagine for a second that we’re using typical, two-piece implants.

After the base is screwed in nice and tight, the second piece is anchored onto it. This second piece is what the crown of the artificial tooth will fit onto. When the below-the-surface hardware has healed and integrated into the surrounding bone with no complications, the crown is installed. The crown, by now, has been formulated by the doctor after more measurements and math. In my holistic practice, it would be important for me to be sure this new tooth isn’t just some standard tooth that looks good alongside the others. This tooth must fit into the body’s naturally designed chewing system so that it does not interfere in any way with other teeth or the whole jaw. If it were to interfere, it could break, cause other teeth to wear down or break, or change how you chew in a way that might be detrimental to your jaw joints. I’ll go on about this later.

So finally, that crown is inserted and anchored into the implant site, allowed to heal, and there you have it: a brand-new tooth.

This is a problem-free version. Questions patients might have include:

What about if there is not enough bone to drill into?

What if multiple teeth in a row need to be adjusted?

How long does the entire process take?

Does it even look good afterwards?

I’m terrified of this procedure, but if I let my condition worsen, I will be infected and in pain the rest of my life. Which poison do I choose?

Oh, we’ll go over it all. Thanks for reading!

~Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

I’ll talk a little bit about implants and give you some information on the installation process, how they work, and how they may help you if you’ve been found to need them. Stay tuned!

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

GALILEOS will also be used hand-in-hand with our CEREC technology, which will bring our patients the best maximum-quality holistic care you can find.

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

As I was saying, patients heavily rely on their dentists for proper, thorough, and accurate treatment by their dentist. GALILEOS helps immensely with your dentist’s precision and confidence in your treatment. This technology is particularly beneficial for disease beneath the surface, places where we cannot see with the naked eye… where even x-rays can be hard to decipher. Because the GALILEOS x-rays are 3-D, we are able to see disease as if looking at it through glass. We can see the exact size, direction, progression, etc. of the problem. This takes all the guesswork out of root canals and dental implants. While a skilled, careful dentist can do well enough without 3-D x-rays, the GALILEOS just increases the patient’s safety and security that much more, also enabling the very best possible healing results.

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

What the picture doesn’t show you, however, is the ability to pan through the layers of each image from different angles. You know how CT scans show you multiple pictures of the same brain, only each one illustrates a different layer or “slice”? This is similar, except it would be like putting all the slices together and being able to zoom in and out, focusing on each one individually while still being able to see the surrounding environment. Remember that, because it’s an important point I will touch on later.

On a side note, watching your own 3-D skull on the screen is pretty cool. I hope it is an inspiration to patients. Cavities and other dental problems that you can’t see with the naked eye are easy to ignore, at least until there is discomfort, pain, or your dentist tells you your health (or life) as you know it is seriously threatened. Even then, some refuse to take action. Would this new ability to see inside yourself motivate you to establish healthier habits? You’d be able to see just how far those cavities reach, just how close your teeth are to falling out, just how far that infection has spread, etc. We might even discover problems elsewhere — tumors, for instance — that you would never have known were there until it was too late. Would seeing inside your face, particularly inside your mouth and teeth and surrounding bones, make these problems more of a reality for you, thus changing your mind about lazy oral hygiene?

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

Comfort! You know how conventional x-rays require the film to be put inside your mouth, sharp corners poking in places you never knew existed? Well, we can kiss that goodbye. The GALILEOS unit is different. It stands up tall, about as tall as a doorway, with an overhanging piece built to encircle one’s head. The height of this piece is adjustable, catering to patients of all heights, seated or standing. It almost resembles an electric can opener… but replace the “opener” part with the head piece.

That imagery probably sounds a little more horrific than I intended. So here’s a picture:

The mouthpiece probably looks a little scary, too, but it’s not. You simply place yourself so that this piece is in the center of your mouth. I think just by looking at it you can tell its comfort is superior to having to clench down on individual pieces of film.

After you have positioned yourself in the right spot, what happens is the top unit circles your head to scan your mouth, jaw, and facial bones. The cone beam x-rays emit the lowest amount of radiation possible, so the hygienist or dentist performing your x-rays won’t be “running for cover.” Then super-cool 3-D images of your teeth and front portion of your skull are put into the computer for you and the dentist to view. We’ll check that out soon!

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles

This week, I am installing GALILEOS by Sirona. Sirona is a dental company developing and manufacturing top-of-the-line technological equipment, imaging systems, and instruments catering to today’s most updated dentists. GALILEOS is a complete 3-D diagnostics low-radiation imaging system. Did you hear the emphasis on “3-D” and “low-radiation”?

First, it may help to understand conventional dental x-ray systems. X-rays are necessary for dental and orthodontic work today. Without x-rays, a lot of guessing — a scary word in the medical field — would be done on delicate and precise procedures, such as dental implants or root canals. You would steer clear away from a dentist who just “guesses” at which direction to drill (or not), right? That is serious trouble. But x-rays allow us to see below the surface without much hassle, which saves a priceless amount of pain, mistakes, and loss.

However, x-rays don’t come without their well-known and feared side effects from exposure to radiation. In each individual’s condition, it is best to be up front with your doctor about whether you are in good enough health to withstand that exposure with little to no problems. Generally, if you are taking good care of yourself — eating well, sleeping well, and getting fresh air, sunshine, and exercise — and not getting x-rays every single week for the rest of your life, you’re at a significantly lower risk of illness caused by radiation. I do believe that exposure should be as minimized as possible, though.

This is why I, the holistic dentist, am thrilled our new system uses lower amounts of radiation. And there’s a bonus: a clearer, more detailed picture — in three dimensions, no less! I’ll cover more details this week, but next time you’re in my office, get ready to see some pretty cool stuff.

Dr. Sperbeck, West Los Angeles