OCO Biomedical – Implants By Paresh

Mini Dental Implant Article on Mini Dental Implants for Crowns published in DentalTown Magazine

February 17, 2012/in Blog /by Paresh Patel

Dr. Paresh B Patel article on OCO Biomedical's mini dental implant for crowns is published in DentalTown magazine.

It was a huge honor for me to have my clinical case write up published in DentalTown. I hope this shows the vast use for implants to help our patients have a more fulfilling life with 'real teeth'.

To see the full article please view the Feb 2012 edition of DentalTown magazine.

Paresh B Patel DDS

mini dental implants

dental implants Charlotte NC

miniMARK Dental Implant Seminar – Online Restorative Presentation

May 6, 2011/in Blog /by Paresh Patel

To view Part 1 The miniMARK Placement Protocol click the blue text.

So we left with the patient done with the miniMARK implants in his lower jaw.

A set of Locator impression caps were placed over the miniMARK mini dental implants. These look like champange glasses and will communicate to the lab the exact location of the one piece Locator miniMark implants.

A good impression is taken to ensure that all pertinent landmarks are captured in the impression. Land areas, retromolar pad, frenal attachments and of course the Locator impression caps.

Wax Rim

Master cast with the Locator retention caps placed on the lab analogs. These 'snaps' will be processed into the denture.

Final processed denture with the metal frame incorporated. If the denture is too retentive then different nylon rings can be placed to decrease the retention. Or if it is not tight enough stiffer rings can be placed to increase the retention on the miniMARK implants.

My patient has had the lower denture now for 4 weeks and loves how stable and retentive it is. This case utilized some of the best technologies avaliable today for implant overdentures. The Locator attachment, a metal frame incorporated into the denture, high quality composite denture teeth and lab processed attachments.

To use these kinds of materials and mini dental implants unfortunately has one setback: COST for the patient. This case is about 2 timesthe cost of a o-ball mini dental implant solution. Certainly something for the dentist and patient to discuss and come to the best solution that will fit every ones desires and needs. There are several good implant and mini implant systems out there….check them out and help your patients by getting the best system for you.

Paresh B Patel

Mini Dental Implants

Dental Implants Mooresville Lake Norman Charlotte NC

Dental Implants Lenoir Hickory Boone Asheville 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

Mini Dental Implant Dentures ~ IMTEC MDI, OCO Biomedical, Intra Lock

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

Do you have a loose denture? If you have around an hour of time a few mini dental implants can be placed to secure that upper or lower denture.

3 out of 4 mini dental implants placed in the lower jaw to anchor in a snap in/out denture. Mini Dental Implants can typically be placed without cutting the gums, so less surgery, less healing time, less discomfort and less cost for the patient.

This also allows medically compromised patients, such as diabetics or patients on blood thinning medicines, to be potential candidates for mini dental implants.

Four snaps inside the existing denture. In this case we were able to use the patients denture and fit the retentive snaps inside the lower denture. These snap on top of the 4 mini dental implants.

About an hour later the mini dental implants are in place and the denture is fitted with the snaps. An easy and cost effective way to help patients suffering from loose or ill fitting dentures.

Paresh B Patel DDS Mini Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Mini Dental Implants Lenoir Hickory Asheville NC

Dental Implants Charlotte NC

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

Dental Implants Hickory Boone Wilkesboro Asheville NC

Snap in Denture with OCO Biomedical Mini Dental Implants

December 9, 2010/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

No ridge of bone left on your lower jaw? Suffering with a loose ill fitting denture? Tired of gluing down your denture and then still having it move around when you eat or talk?

Then you should ask for Mini Dental Implants to help create a snap in denture. In one or two visits you can now go back to eating the things that you enjoy. Have the security of loose dentures not falling out when you speak or sing.

Our next patient example is very typical of what we do.

Lower jaw where the teeth have been missing for years. The jawbone has been worn away by the lack of teeth and the lower denture constantly rubbing over the gum tissue. You can see the ulcer in the gum tissue where the denture rubs the tissue when the patient is trying to eat.

Example of a Mini Dental Implant. There are several reputable manufacturers of mini dental implants such as OCO Biomedical, Intra Lock, IMTEC MDI, and HiOssen. Any of these would be a good choice as all are FDA approved and have long term clinical success.

Patients existing lower denture. It is almost FLAT as there is hardly any ridge of bone for it to sit on.

4 OCO mini dental implants in the lower jaw ready to hold and secure the denture with snaps.

These 4 mini dental implants were placed in about 30 minutes. This case was a bit more difficult that most due to the extremely thin ridge of bone that was left.

Existing denture is relined with a soft material. Normally I would fit the snaps into the denture the same day. In this case we are making a new denture so I will let the soft reline material condition the tissue around the mini dental implants and will put the snaps in the new denture.

Final x-ray with the 4 OCO Biomedical mini dental implants that will secure in a snap in lower denture.

Paresh B Patel Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implants

Can Mini Dental Implant Crowns & Bridges Look Good and be kept clean?

November 23, 2010/in Blog /by Paresh Patel

I get asked this question a lot from both dentists and patients. I think the answer is most likely yes. Lots of variables contribute to the successful outcome of any implant and the crown or bridge that goes over the top of it. Tissue type, bone level and sometimes how much time and funds the patient has to invest.

But for the most part I think patients, if given all the information, can be happy with the aesthetic outcome with mini dental implants and the crown or bridge they support.

My next patient was in for her normal 6 month cleaning appointment. She stopped me to tell me how happy she was with her fixed crowns on her mini dental implants in her upper jaw.

These crowns and mini dental implants have been in for 1 year now. This case used Intra Lock mini implants. But as I state in most of my posts any well constructed mini dental implant such as the OCO Biomedical mini or micro, IMTEC MDI, or HiOssen mini are appropriate. Even as a dentist I think I would have a hard time figuring out which ones are regular crowns on teeth and the mini dental implant crowns.

This patient is able to keep her mini dental implant Crowns by First Impressions Dental Lab clean with a normal toothbrush, floss, and/or a water pick. The two crowns are connected together and are supported by 3 mini dental implants. The hygienist and patient both can floss between all the mini implants.

Paresh B Patel DDS Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implants

OCO Biomedical Mini Dental Implant for a Molar Crown ~ 1/2 the Cost & 1/2 the pain

November 11, 2010/in Blog /by Paresh Patel

1/2 the time, 1/2 the cost, 1/2 to no surgery needed and less pain? This is what my patient asked me. She said, 'Are you sure about this?'

She was reading from a poster in our office touting the benefits of mini dental implants. I told her in most cases YES. Well she told me….I don't really care about most cases I care about mine!

With that in mind we went to work. Yes I recognize the open margin on the molar behind the missing tooth. The patient is aware and will address that tooth as time and $$ allow.

X-ray of the missing lower tooth molar. I had extracted a failing root canal tooth about 4 months ago and packed the extraction socket with some Foundation bone preservation material. The area looked well healed and ready for some 'painless' mini dental implants.

I gave her 1/2 a carpule (shot) of dental anesthetic and placed 2 2.2 x 10mm OCO Biomedical Micro Implants. Less numbing than I give for a lower tooth filling.

OCO mini dental implant impression caps in place to take a traditional impression.

Final X-ray of OCO mini dental implants

Lab model from First Impressions Dental Lab showing the mini dental implants and the soft tissue silicone.

PFM Mini Dental Implant Crown to fit over the OCO mini implant

Although this case shows the use of a OCO Biomedical mini dental implant; it could have been done with any reputable mini (IMTEC MDI, Intra Lock MDL, HiOssen etc…)

OK…its been a few weeks and the patient is ready to get her crown. Here are the clinical photos of the mini dental implant crown over the OCO mini implants.

Paresh B Patel DDS General & Implant Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implants

OCO Biomedical Mini Dental Implants ~ Improved Zest SaturnO-ring

November 11, 2010/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

Is it difficult to get 6 mini dental implant o-ball attachments to line up for an upper full denture plate?

Several mini dental implants in the upper jaw with more than 5 degrees of divergence (off angles)

Is it sometimes hard for patients to line up that many snaps and figure out how to get the denture fully seated?

Well…..sometimes yes. As the dentist we have to put the mini dental implant where the bone is, or do another surgical procedure to make the bone ready to have all parallel mini dental implants. To make it clear, most of my patients decline to have this additional procedure done and we work with what bone is available.

As the patient the answer is sometimes yes as well.

Transistor sockets Transistor and the socket it fits in. You can imagine how difficult it becomes to line up the pins to fit into the socket if they are not all in line. Even with one off angle you have to figure out which one goes in first to make the pin and socket fit together. Very similar to the upper denture and 6 mini dental implants.

But hang on….now with the new Zest SaturnO-ring its a bit easier to handle off angle mini dental implants. These new o-rings allow for up to 30 degree of correction between mini implants. This is possible due to the housing having a Titanium Nitride race that allows the rubber o-ring to pivot inside.

OCO Biomedical should have the Zest SaturnO-rings available to ship. I have tried them and am sold on their ability to make snap in dentures easier for both the mini implant dentist and patient. These o-rings will fit on most mini dental implants, (IMTEC MDI, Intra Lock, Hiossen,OCO etc…)

Paresh B Patel DDS Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Mini Dental Implants

Zest SaturnO-rings for Mini Dental Implants ~ Upgrade your Snap in Dentures

November 10, 2010/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

After the hundreds of mini dental implants I have placed to secure upper and lower dentures I would have thought there could be a better snap for the O-ball attachment.

But thanks to Paul Zuest there is one now, the SaturnO-ring. Released in late October it offers up to 30' of angle correction. The standard o-rings that come with most mini dental implants(Intra Lock, IMTEC MDI, OCO Biomedical) offer around 5' .

It has a TiN coated race that allows the rubber

o-ring to rotate freely inside the metal housing.

Wow…great engineering and a great idea… I wish I had though of that.

Picture on right shows the race pivoted up inside the housing.

Zest offers a standard size Saturno for a 2.25mm Ball and a Micro size Saturno for a 1.8mm Ball attachment.

Standard on left and

Micro on right

There is also a neat little o-ring tool so when you need to replace those worn out black rings you don't damage them with a sharp dental instrument getting them in the metal housing.

I had just the case to try out these new Zest SaturnO-rings. My patient had 6 mini dental implants (Intra Lock) placed in the upper jaw to secure in his full upper denture plate. As much as we tired to make it easy for him to remove it was just too tight. He struggled to get it in or out. Some of the issue I am certain was the divergent angles of the mini dental implants. I fitted him with one of his bag full of old dentures with a lab processed Molloplast soft liner over the 6 mini dental implants.

He was comfortable with that molloplast liner and it did provide some grab on the mini dental implants but of course I wanted to give the SaturnO-rings a try.

I reamed out his horseshoe upper denture, taking away the old standard housings.

In the mouth were fitted 6 micro housings, they were picked up inside the upper denture with some self cure pink acrylic. They worked great! I thought I was done. But darn it, he still could not get that thing in and out like he wanted to a few days into it. Poor guy was just getting older and I wanted to make him happy. I think most of it was he just wanted to feel like he could accomplish this task for himself.

So I reamed them out again and decided to try the idea of using the larger SaturnO-ring on the mini implants to give him some retention but not quite as much.

The SaturnO rings snapped over the 1.8mm ball like I expected and had less retention. There were 3 mini implants that touched each other with the housings so I placed 3 standard housings for those areas.

We picked them up just like normal. Less retention…yes. Enough retention? Charlie said two thumbs up. He was able for the first time now to put them in and out….without a Mirror! Even I was impressed. He was smiling ear to ear.

Thanks to some clever engineering at Zest Anchors we as have another choice to make patients lives better with mini dental implants.

Paresh B Patel Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implants SaturnO rings for Intra Lock IMTEC OCO Biomedical

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