Restorative Dentistry

Dental Implant Placement

As our teeth play such a vital role in our overall health and sense of self-esteem, losing one or more teeth to tooth damage, gum disease, or tooth decay is often a significant life experience. Tooth loss can make simple activities of daily living, like chewing, smiling, and speaking, feel unnatural, uncomfortable, and embarrassing. You may also notice changes to the appearance of your mouth and face, as tooth loss can cause jawbone deterioration or shifting of your remaining natural teeth.

Though facing tooth loss can feel distressing, you do have options for restoring the health, function, fullness, and beauty of your smile. With dental implants, you can prevent the unwelcome side effects of jawbone loss and reclaim your sense of normalcy, self-esteem, and oral and overall health and well-being.

What are dental implants?

Dental implants are durable titanium posts that are surgically placed into the jawbone to replace the root of a natural tooth. Along with being well tolerated by human tissues (known as biocompatibility), titanium offers the strength of steel at half the weight and is often used to replace parts of the human body, like hips and knees.

The roots of your natural teeth play a critical role in creating stability for chewing and stimulating your jawbone to stay robust and healthy. Dental implants are the only tooth replacement option that replaces this vital structure of a missing tooth. Because of this more complete replacement, dental implants offer a long-lasting and reliably stable base to support your custom implant restoration.

Dental Implant Placement in Wasilla, AK

Dental implant placement is the first phase in restoring your smile with dental implants and will occur over the following stages.

1. Consultation: To determine if dental implant placement is right for your unique situation and needs, Dr. Robinson will listen to your goals and concerns and conduct an initial evaluation of your mouth and teeth.
2. Treatment Plan: To develop a highly precise treatment plan for implant placement, our dental team will take high-resolution digital X-rays and impressions of your mouth and facial structures.
3. Bone preparation: If your bone structure has thinned or deteriorated, you may first undergo a bone graft or sinus lift to prepare and strengthen your bones before an implant placement to ensure the most successful implant restoration.
4. Implant Placement: Once your treatment plan is completed and you’ve healed from any needed bone augmentation, you’ll be ready to undergo implant placement. An outpatient surgical procedure, implant placement is performed under local anesthesia, with additional sedation options available to increase your comfort and ease. During placement, Dr. Robinson will strategically open the gums and place each implant into your jawbone (known as the alveolar process). Your dentist will then place dissolvable stitches into your gum tissue and provide you with detailed aftercare instructions for optimal healing.
5. Osseointegration: During the weeks and months following implant placement, your bone tissue will fuse to each implant and anchor them securely in place. Known as osseointegration, this structural fusion ensures a reliable stable foundation for your implant restoration.

Dental Implant Restoration

Dental implant restoration is the second phase of your dental implant treatment. Once you’ve undergone and fully healed from implant placement, your dental implants will be ready to support the custom restoration that will make your smile strong, full, healthy, and beautiful again.

Types of Implant Restorations

Your implant restoration will be completed with one or more prosthetic teeth, which will be artfully designed to complement your facial features and any remaining natural teeth.

• Crown: Used for a single-tooth implant restoration, a dental crown is a strong, attractive, and lifelike prosthetic tooth made from porcelain, gold, metal alloys, or a combination of these materials.
• Implant-supported bridge: Used for restoring two or more missing teeth, a bridge is a series of custom dental crowns that “bridge the gap” in your smile and resemble the shape, shade, and sheen of natural teeth. An implant-supported bridge is anchored onto one or two dental implants.
• Implant-supported dentures: Used for restoring an entire upper or lower arch of missing teeth, implant-supported dentures are a set of fixed or removable prosthetic teeth. Your implant-supported dentures will have an acrylic base that resembles the color and texture of your gum tissue and lifelike porcelain or acrylic prosthetic teeth. Depending on your bone structure and which arch you’re replacing, your implant-supported dentures will be secured onto two to eight dental implants.

Implant Restoration Process

The implant restoration process is completed over two simple stages: abutment placement and restoration placement.

1. Abutment placement: Abutments are the pieces that connect your dental implants to your custom restoration. Once your dental implants have integrated into your bone structure, Dr. Robinson will carefully open the gum tissue above each implant post and secure an abutment.
2. Restoration placement: Once your gum tissues have healed from abutment placement in about two weeks, Dr. Robinson will fit your custom crown, bridge, or denture into position and make any final adjustments for an ideal fit. Once your restoration has been fitted, you’ll have a full and functional smile that is equal parts beautiful and healthy. With daily cleaning, healthy lifestyle habits, routine dental visits, occasional parts replacement, and healthy lifestyle habits, your implant restoration will keep you smiling for years to come.

Dentures

Missing all or most of your teeth can dramatically impact your quality of life and physical, psychological, and social well-being. Though experiencing or facing major tooth loss can feel overwhelming or devastating, you can restore your sense of health and self with a customized full denture.

Full Dentures in Wasilla, AK

Dentures are a set of removable prosthetic teeth that replace an entire arch of upper or lower teeth. Formed to fit your mouth’s unique shape, full dentures have an acrylic base that matches the color and texture of your gum tissue and a full row of lifelike acrylic teeth. Dr. Robinson will meticulously customize your full denture to comfortably fit your oral anatomy and complement your facial features.

Both upper and lower dentures fit over your alveolar ridge, the part of your jawbone that is covered in gum tissue where your teeth used to live. For the best fit and maximum stability, upper dentures are designed to cover the roof of your mouth (called the hard palate), while lower dentures are shaped like a horseshoe to allow space for your tongue. Depending on your bone structure and needs, your dentures will either be held in place by suction or an over-the-counter dental adhesive.

Along with creating a natural-looking restoration, our top goal is to provide you with a snug denture that fits comfortably and functions optimally so you can get back to enjoying your life more fully.

Full Denture Maintenance

Daily denture care and healthy lifestyle choices are the best ways to ensure a long-lasting restoration that fits comfortably and supports your oral and overall well-being. Along with placing your dentures in a cleaning solution nightly, you can support your dentures’ longevity with occasional rebasing, regular dental visits, tobacco abstinence, a balanced diet, and healthy oral habits, like keeping hard foods and objects out of the mouth.

Partial Dentures

If you’ve lost or are expecting to lose several teeth due to an injury or oral disease, Dr. Robinson can help you make your smile complete again with a partial denture that’s custom-made to comfortably fit in your mouth and match your smile and facial aesthetics.

A partial denture is a removable set of prosthetic teeth that fits into your mouth like a puzzle piece to fill the gaps caused by several missing teeth. Used on both the upper or lower arches, a partial denture is custom-made from acrylic and attached to your teeth with special brackets or clips.

The base of a partial denture is designed to match the color and texture of your gum tissue and will anchor a series of prosthetic teeth that are handcrafted for the most natural appearance. Though it won’t be visible when you smile, your partial denture is also reinforced by a lightweight metal for long-lasting durability and strength.

Partial Denture Treatment Process

Good oral health is the best foundation for your partial denture treatment. If you’re seeking options for replacing missing teeth, Dr. Robinson will thoroughly evaluate your mouth and teeth. If needed, you’ll first undergo any necessary treatments, like periodontal therapy or tooth extraction. With your teeth and mouth healthy, our dental team will take precise three-dimensional impressions and measurements of your mouth and remaining natural teeth. Your impressions will be sent to a specialized dental laboratory that will follow your dentist’s instructions to create a strong, lifelike partial denture.

In some cases, you may be fitted with a temporary partial denture while your custom partial denture is being created. When your unique denture is complete, Dr. Robinson will adjust and optimize your denture’s fit and provide you with detailed homecare instructions. With daily oral hygiene habits, routine dental visits, and healthy lifestyle choices, your partial dentures can last for years before they need replacing.

You may be fitted with a temporary denture while you wait for your partial denture to be made. When your new denture is ready, your dentist will adjust your denture as needed for the most stable, comfortable, and natural-looking fit.

Zirconia Crowns

The visible part of your natural teeth (called crowns) are quite literally your smile’s crowning glory. Along with giving your smile its unique appearance and shape, the crowns of your teeth allow you to bite and chew all of the foods you eat. As they’re exposed to external forces and everything you put in your mouth, your natural crowns can become permanently damaged by injury or tooth decay. Damaged teeth are inherently more vulnerable and weak and can’t heal themselves once they’ve been compromised. The longer a damaged tooth is left untreated, the more likely you are to experience bigger dental issues, like further breakage and deep tooth decay, which require more extensive dental work and cause pain.

If you’ve experienced tooth damage from injury or decay, a natural-looking zirconia crown can protect your teeth from further damage, restore your bite, and maintain your smile’s strength and beauty.

Zirconia Crowns in Wasilla, AK

Dentists have been restoring smiles with dental crowns for decades, though the use of zirconia is relatively new. Gold and metal alloys are incredibly strong and have been used for the longest period of time, though porcelain crowns have grown in popularity over the past several years for their natural appearance. Zirconia crowns are relatively new and combine the strength of metal with the shade and sheen of a natural tooth.

Zirconia crowns are made of zirconium dioxide, a white metal related to titanium. Like titanium, which is used for dental implants, zirconium dioxide is a biocompatible material that is well tolerated by human tissues. Zirconia offers superior strength to porcelain crowns and is able to withstand the immense force your jaw exerts on your teeth during chewing, creating a stable and long-lasting restoration that’s resistant to wear and cracking.

Because they are created by a highly trained technician in a dental laboratory, zirconia crowns also provide an exceptional and comfortable fit. This means less of your healthy tooth structure has to be removed to support your new restoration.

Zirconia Crown Procedure

A zirconia crown treatment typically takes place over two dental visits. During your first visit, your dental team will first make you comfortable with a local anesthetic. Dr. Robinson will then shape your tooth to support your dental crown before a dental technician takes accurate impressions of your teeth to send to the dental laboratory. Your dentist will then place a temporary crown to seal and protect your tooth while your zirconia crown is being created.

During your second visit, your dental team will remove your temporary crown and thoroughly clean your teeth. Next, Dr. Robinson will refine your crown’s fit before securely bonding it in place with a strong dental bonding agent. Once the bonding agent has been set, you’ll have a fully functional smile that is healthy, strong, resilient, and radiant.