dental implants Charlotte NC – Page 2

Glidewell Laboratories Introduces the Inclusive Mini Dental Implant

April 12, 2011/in Blog /by Paresh Patel

A leader in the dental laboratory market has introduced a new mini dental implant.

The Inclusive Mini Dental Implant System provides the dentists all the components necessary to start and finish a high quality mini implant retained overdenture.

This package includes the final overdenture, four Inclusive Mini Implants, surgical drill, impression copings, analogs, O-ring housings and all model work. The Inclusive Mini Implant is also available for purchase individually. I anticipate in the near future a competitively priced Surgical Guide made from a Dual Scan CT.

Photograph showing the Inclusive Mini Implant Placement Kit. I was glad to see that Glidewell had the dentist in mind and included:

A drill extender

Torque wrench

3 different size pilot bits

Inclusive Mini Implants are available in three diameters (2.2 mm, 2.5 mm, 3.0 mm) and three lengths (10 mm, 13 mm, 15 mm) and provide many benefits including: a minimally invasive surgical protocol, immediate loading and affordability. Mini implants can accommodate new or existing dentures, which are anchored to the exposed ball heads of the mini implants via a simple and effective O-ring retention system, providing edentulous patients new levels of comfort and confidence.

The Inclusive Mini Dental Implant comes in a heavy duty heat wrapped plastic bag. A glass vile contain the sterile mini implant. The carrier color denotes the size of the implant.

Green = 2.2mm

Orange = 2.5mm

Blue = 3.0mm

Another nice feature is the o-ring housing comes pre-loaded and includes an extra black o-ring. Several other lab support items are available such as a 25 pack of block out shims and lab analogs.

I anticipate good things for General Dentists who want to learn how to improve their patients lives with the security and comfort of a well thought mini dental implant system….

Paresh B Patel DDS

Mini Dental Implants

Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Missing Teeth? Mini Dental Implants Can Help

April 12, 2011/in Blog /by Paresh Patel

It is estimated that over 50% of Americans are missing at least one tooth (not including wisdom teeth or third molars).

Some of these missing teeth can be in the smile area. This picture shows a patient of mine that lost two of her teeth due to fractures in the root. She did not like showing the large gap between her molar and her canine tooth.

For this case I selected a OCO Biomedical two piece 3.25mm dental implant. The picture to the right shows the OCO ERI 3.25 implant being placed. The bone was very soft and the two piece implant was allowed to heal without fear that it would get moved around by biting forces.

OCO Biomedical ERI 3.25mm dental implant in place right below the gum. The gold color you see is the collar of the implant. I think it is a nice touch to mask the grey color of the implant.

The OCO Biomedical Implants with a solid abutment screwed in place. The abutment is the part that is placed into the implant and comes up out of the gum for the crown to cement to. This does add an additional expense but in some cases it is necessary.

X-ray of the crowns made to fit over the OCO Biomedical dental implants.

Paresh B Patel

Mini Dental Implants

Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Dental Implants Hickory Lenoir Asheville Boone NC

Upgrade your Snap in Denture to a Fixed Full Arch Bridge Roundhouse with Mini Dental Implants

March 30, 2011/in Blog /by Paresh Patel

Having done thousands of mini dental implants more and more of my patients are now asking why they can’t have fixed crowns or fixed teeth with dental bridges. Well no real reason if they have enough bone to place a few more mini dental implants.

My patient when we first put in 6 mini dental implants to support a full upper denture.

He had enough bone to add in a few more mini implants so we set out to duplicate what he liked about his denture in a fixed porcelain roundhouse bridge.

I took the existing denture that my patient liked the way it looked and made a copy of it in lab putty. From that Evolution Dental Lab was able to make a exact copy of the denture but out of porcelain and pink porcelain for the gum tissue.

Final full upper roundhouse bridge that will be supported by mini dental implants.

Day of cementation of the fixed full bridge upper roundhouse. The design is the same as if the bridge was made on traditional size implants. The patient will brush, floss or water pick to keep the gums clean.

Paresh B Patel DDS

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Dental Implants Charlotte Mooresville Lake Norman NC

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Mini Dental Implants ~ Extractions ~ Lower Denture

March 29, 2011/in Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

My next patient is a great example of how versatile mini dental implants can be.

Lower ridge with 2 teeth left. Patient has been wearing an all acrylic partial denture. He is going to do a sequenced treatment plan where we place 4 mini dental implants and make a full lower denture. As he is able to accumulate the funds we will add in 4 -5 more mini dental implants to support a full lower porcelain bridge.

The teeth are extracted and the mini dental implants are placed. The only bleeding that occurred in this case is from the extraction sites; not from the mini dental implants.

This kind of placement allows patients to have less healing and less pain.

X ray showing the 2.2mm OCO mini dental implant in place in between the bone. What looked like wide bone in the mouth has a facial and lingual curve making the bone narrower that it appears. Perfect spot to use a mini dental implant.

From here is will be a straight forward overdenture case. We were able to get his first impression today after the mini implants were placed. From that a wax rim will be made with some speaking wax to record how his jaws come together. In a few weeks his denture will be complete; the gums where the teeth were extracted will have closed in and he will have a snap in/ snap out lower full denture all thanks to the mini dental implant.

Paresh B Patel DDS

mini dental implants Charlotte NC

mini dental implants Hickory Lenoir Wilkesboro Asheville NC

Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implant vs Regular Implant ~ Whats the difference?

March 29, 2011/in Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

I get asked this question a lot from both Doctors and Patients. I think a better way to look at this is to compare one or two piece dental implants.

Mini dental implants are one piece in design…the part that comes up into the gum is connected to the screw part that goes into the bone. One piece means for the patient less expense. But there are one piece dental implants in regular implant sizes. OCO Biomedical has a one piece, 3.25mm + 4.0mm + 5.0mm. Once again the same theme….one piece less expense for the patient.

OCO Biomedical ISI one piece dental implant. Same concept as a mini dental implant with no extra piece to purchase as the abutment (part that come up out of the gum) is fixed to the body of the regular size dental implant.

So when would you use a one piece regular size implant? I think when you have enough stability in the bone that would allow immediate loading. Most of the time that will be in the lower jaw; but in this example we were able to do this to replace an upper missing molar.

My patient had a missing upper left molar.

Our plan was to replace it with a regular size implant (we could have done it with two mini dental implants, but he preferred to have a traditional size solution).

He had been missing that tooth for well over 7 years. This had allow his sinus cavity to 'drop down' thus reducing the height of bone we had to place a dental implant. Our plan was to do a 'sinus tent' and gain a bit of height by adding some bone through the small hole that was made in his gum. Easy to do and very predictable.

OCO Biomedical ISI one piece 4.0mm implant was selected. The bone was very dense and I was fairly certain I would get over 35ncm of torque to stabilize the implant. If I did not then a two piece 4.0mm implant could have been placed and left to heal into the bone for the next 12 weeks.

Regular size implant in place to replace the missing upper crown. The placement procedure is the same as when I place a mini dental implant. Notice the lack of blood or gum that had to be cut. A temporary crown was made and the patient will come back to have the final crown cemented. In this case the patient needed additional time to collect the funds for his crown. So he would not return for around 8 weeks for his impression.

The lab fabricated a Zirconia Crown to fit the OCO ISI 4.0mm dental implant.

Internal view of the Zirconia crown.

Zirconia crown in place over the OCO Biomedical ISI 4.0mm dental implant.

Final Thoughts: In a well designed implant system placing a larger size implant is just as easy as placing a mini dental implant. With the OCO system the only thing you change is the final drill bit. There are no other drill sizes to work your way through.

What I like even better is the ability to now have either a one piece or two piece implant that offers the same prosthetic abutment. If you do place a two piece OCO and put in a solid abutment you have now created a one piece OCO ISI implant.

The other thing I like about these implants is that you cement the crown to the implant body, not the abutment, so the 'micro gap' in internal to the implant crowns.

Paresh B Patel DDS

Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Dental Implants Hickory Lenoir Asheville NC

Mini Dental Implants ~ Extractions ~ Lower Denture

March 29, 2011/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

My next patient is a great example of how versatile mini dental implants can be.

Lower ridge with 2 teeth left. Patient has been wearing an all acrylic partial denture. He is going to do a sequenced treatment plan where we place 4 mini dental implants and make a full lower denture. As he is able to accumulate the funds we will add in 4 -5 more mini dental implants to support a full lower porcelain bridge.

The teeth are extracted and the mini dental implants are placed. The only bleeding that occurred in this case is from the extraction sites; not from the mini dental implants.

This kind of placement allows patients to have less healing and less pain.

X ray showing the 2.2mm OCO mini dental implant in place in between the bone. What looked like wide bone in the mouth has a facial and lingual curve making the bone narrower that it appears. Perfect spot to use a mini dental implant.

From here is will be a straight forward overdenture case. We were able to get his first impression today after the mini implants were placed. From that a wax rim will be made with some speaking wax to record how his jaws come together. In a few weeks his denture will be complete; the gums where the teeth were extracted will have closed in and he will have a snap in/ snap out lower full denture all thanks to the mini dental implant.

Paresh B Patel DDS

mini dental implants Charlotte NC

mini dental implants Hickory Lenoir Wilkesboro Asheville NC

Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implant vs Regular Implant ~ Whats the difference?

March 29, 2011/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

I get asked this question a lot from both Doctors and Patients. I think a better way to look at this is to compare one or two piece dental implants.

Mini dental implants are one piece in design…the part that comes up into the gum is connected to the screw part that goes into the bone. One piece means for the patient less expense. But there are one piece dental implants in regular implant sizes. OCO Biomedical has a one piece, 3.25mm + 4.0mm + 5.0mm. Once again the same theme….one piece less expense for the patient.

OCO Biomedical ISI one piece dental implant. Same concept as a mini dental implant with no extra piece to purchase as the abutment (part that come up out of the gum) is fixed to the body of the regular size dental implant.

So when would you use a one piece regular size implant? I think when you have enough stability in the bone that would allow immediate loading. Most of the time that will be in the lower jaw; but in this example we were able to do this to replace an upper missing molar.

My patient had a missing upper left molar.

Our plan was to replace it with a regular size implant (we could have done it with two mini dental implants, but he preferred to have a traditional size solution).

He had been missing that tooth for well over 7 years. This had allow his sinus cavity to ‘drop down’ thus reducing the height of bone we had to place a dental implant. Our plan was to do a ‘sinus tent’ and gain a bit of height by adding some bone through the small hole that was made in his gum. Easy to do and very predictable.

OCO Biomedical ISI one piece 4.0mm implant was selected. The bone was very dense and I was fairly certain I would get over 35ncm of torque to stabilize the implant. If I did not then a two piece 4.0mm implant could have been placed and left to heal into the bone for the next 12 weeks.

Regular size implant in place to replace the missing upper crown. The placement procedure is the same as when I place a mini dental implant. Notice the lack of blood or gum that had to be cut. A temporary crown was made and the patient will come back to have the final crown cemented. In this case the patient needed additional time to collect the funds for his crown. So he would not return for around 8 weeks for his impression.

The lab fabricated a Zirconia Crown to fit the OCO ISI 4.0mm dental implant.

Internal view of the Zirconia crown.

Zirconia crown in place over the OCO Biomedical ISI 4.0mm dental implant.

Final Thoughts: In a well designed implant system placing a larger size implant is just as easy as placing a mini dental implant. With the OCO system the only thing you change is the final drill bit. There are no other drill sizes to work your way through.

What I like even better is the ability to now have either a one piece or two piece implant that offers the same prosthetic abutment. If you do place a two piece OCO and put in a solid abutment you have now created a one piece OCO ISI implant.

The other thing I like about these implants is that you cement the crown to the implant body, not the abutment, so the ‘micro gap’ in internal to the implant crowns.

Paresh B Patel DDS

Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Dental Implants Hickory Lenoir Asheville NC

No More Loose Dentures with Dental Implants ~Charlotte Today

February 7, 2011/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

Paresh B Patel DDS interview on Charlotte Today Show on Dental Implants to secure in a snap in upper denture.

Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Dental Implants NC

Mini Dental Implants

No More Loose Dentures ~ Mini Dental Implants by MiniMark Can Help..but not Cost Effectively

February 3, 2011/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

Having a set of loose or ill fitting dentures can create a whole set of problems. These problems can include cosmetic issues (the first things people see is your smile) and function(how well you can eat).

Sometimes my patients walk in what several sets of dentures they have had made over the years. The first thing all of them say is that none of them fit. I think its not that the dentures never fit it is that the dentures had nothing to hold them in place! Thus the need for dental implants to secure in dentures.

So while some people come in to get their smile back ~ others come in to be able to function (eat) again. I think with mini dental implants you can get both. The ability to smile again. The ability to eat the foods you enjoyed (salads, steaks, fresh vegetables). Your diet will improve as you no longer have to swallow chunks of food.

You self esteem will be regained as you now don't have to wonder what can I eat at the party or family outing. You now don't have to wonder are my dentures going to fall out at the sporting event as you cheer, or sing at church.

So consider mini dental implants to secure in your dentures. At around 1/2 the cost of traditional implants with little to no pain its a safe and effective procedure.

When you come to see us you only have to see one Doctor. We place the mini dental implant and fit your denture with the snaps in the same office. One Doctor means fewer visits and reduced costs.

Greatly increase the aesthetics of your smile with secure mini dental implant retained dentures. You will look years younger.

The right set of mini dental implant retained dentures will also allow you to have proper function (chewing your food properly and the ability to speak correctly).

This case was done with MiniMark Implants. 2 mini dental implants in the front and 2 traditional size implants in the back. All of the MiniMark implants have Zest Locator attachments that allow the denture to 'snap' into the mouth. Once that is done and the implants heal the denture can be converted into a horseshoe shape for even more comfort.

As a General Dentist I am pleased with the Zest Locator but I am extremely dissapointed in the price point of the MiniMark Implant. It averages about 3 to 4 times the costof a comparable mini dental implant. 3M IMTEC, Intra Lock, OCO Biomedical all make excellent mini dental implants for lower and upper dentures at a more attractive price point. With a lower price point more patients can move forward with implant retained dentures…something just not possible with the mini mark implant system.

The competitors to ACE Surgical mini mark implants offer surgical setups that allow Dentists to place a wider assortment of dental implants. I must ask why any Dentist would want to invest several thousand dollars into a system that limits their ability so much? With that kind of investment you could place minis to small diameter to larger size implants and not have to have several placement kits.

I encourage any Dentist who does not place dental implants to learn how. There are several good one day seminars on how to place mini dental implants. These include seminars from Todd Shatkin, Ben Oppenheimer or mine ( OCO Biomedical Mini Dental Implant Seminar ).

Paresh B Patel Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Mini Dental Implant Dentures

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Dental Implants to get rid of a Upper Partial Denture

February 1, 2011/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

If you are missing a few teeth and wear a partial denture I can empathise with your situation.

Who wants to wear all that metal and plastic in their mouth if there was another option?

Typical design of a cast metal partial denture.

Metal hooks that are visible around the teeth that it holds onto.

If this describes your situation then you should consider dental implants – mini dental implants or traditional.

My patient without her upper partial denture in. She is missing her front three teeth and the tooth behind her canine tooth.

4 mini dental implants were placed with minimal surgery (no cutting of the gum, no stitches) The temporary crown is on the mini dental implant behind the canine tooth (right side of picture).

Temporary crowns in place over the mini dental implants. My patient gets to leave without her partial denture. I will let her 'test drive' the temporary crowns for a few weeks. Any changes we want to make to the look of the crowns can then be communicated to the dental lab that will make the final mini dental implant crowns. The 'test drive' period also allows me to assess the function and phonetics (how her speach is).

X ray of the OCO Biomedical mini dental implant used to replace the missing premolar tooth.

Paresh B Patel Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Mini Dental Implants

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