Dental Implants Chicago» Pain & Dental Implants?–Patient from Glen Ellyn

Pain & Dental Implants?–Patient from Glen Ellyn

Thomas Gibbs — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:44:29 +0000

Are having dental implant placed surgically a painful? You might find this short patient feedback video useful. It is from one on my favorite patients, Jesse “pain-free” Abrahams, a patient for over 10 years now. He does answer the question of “Are dental implants painful?”
Jesse will talk about his cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, and his “painless dentistry. ” He had a couple of dental implants with dental sedation, and has been a pleasure to work with!

Visit to the Dentist–Harvy Corman Classic Video–Fear of Dental Shots?

Thomas Gibbs — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:25:57 +0000

I was attending a meeting of the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology in Las Vegas this last weekend where one of the lectures showed this video of Harvy Corman. I think it was from the Carol Burnett show. Very funny!

It certainly shows a fear that many patients I see have–Concern of the dental needle, or shot. This of course make fun of the subjest–and humor certainly helps! Would you believe that the groups that I see the most phobia in requiring dental sedation is nurses and physicians! If you are concerned, visit our Glen Ellyn dentist website or Wheaton dentist blog site for more information about how your visits can be more comfortable.

Dental Conscious Sedation–Oral and IV Sedation

Thomas Gibbs — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:54:27 +0000

Here’s a question I’ve been asked about—“What is dental conscious sedation?” Valid question as the 2 words seem to be contradictory as if you are sedated how you could be conscious!
The dictionary defines sedation as the “reduction of anxiety, stress, irritability, or excitement by administration of a sedative agent or drug.” It does not specify the degree of reduction.
In the dental setting there are a number of levels of sedation. Light sedation can be achieved with nitrous oxide gas (Laughing gas), or oral conscious sedation. For more information of the different levels see our blog site on sedation dentistry, or dedicated website on conscious sedation.
But why do we say conscious sedation? Done properly with conscious sedation, the patient may not be aware of what is going on in the dental office, but the patient is still able to respond to verbal commands such as to open their mouth. Most important, they are completely comfortable and have no memory of their dental visit (just what they were hoping for!).
This can often be accomplished with oral conscious sedation. However very often the level of sedation is not predicable with oral sedation. Most states prevent the dentist from giving incremental doses of medication without the dentist having their IV sedation license. Oral sedation medications require 30 to 60 minutes to take effect, the scheduled procedure is not able to be completed if additional oral sedation medication is needed for patient comfort. IV medications require just minutes to take effect and patient comfort and adequate can be maintained.
So what is the conclusion? If sedation is simply by “a reduction of anxiety…” most drug regiments will satisfy the definition. My experience is the “Patient’s definition” of sedation is that they are completely comfortable and amnesic (no memory) of the dental procedure. This may be accomplished with dental oral sedation, but is much more predicable with IV dental sedation.

Losing Teeth Emotional Aspect of Dentures, Dental Implants, and Missing Teeth

Thomas Gibbs — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:03:12 +0000

Losing Teeth—the Emotional Aspect—what happens emotionally
I just ran across this article from the British Journal (Jan. 1998). They found that these people exhibited:

1) Bereavement—the feeling of loss was often as severe as the feeling of losing a spouse or child!

2) Lowered self esteem—many people felt lower personal value as they had “gone down the socio-economic scale”!

3) Altered self confidence—this was most dramatic in people losing all the teeth or getting partial or full dentures. The loss of self confidence was evenmore pronounced one to years after.
4) Inability to discuss this “taboo” subject—This goes across the back drop of lower self esteem and fear of social situations.
5) Behaving in way that keeps the tooth loss secret—many reported holing their hand over their mouth or changing the way they smile. Some reported even refusing to smile in public.
6) Altered behavior in socializing and close relationships—again, changing their ability to smile. Not eating in public was found in many people as they reported fear of food getting between the teeth, or even worse having false teeth come lose while eating or speaking.
7) Premature aging—this feeling that they had aged “before their time” was common in the group, and was greater as the number of teeth was larger.
Wow! Losing teeth is more than the cost of extractions and replacement. Dentistry has so many ways to replace missing. Dental bridges, dental crowns, dental implants, partial dentures, and even full dentures can replace missing teeth. The advances in dental implants especially can permanently correct the tooth loss problem.

Conscious Dental Sedation–Sedation Dentist & Sedation Dentistry

Thomas Gibbs — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:01:06 +0000

Here’s a question I’ve been asked form a patient from Wheaton looking for a sedation—“What is dental conscious sedation?” Valid question as the 2 words seem to be contradictory as if you are sedated how you could be conscious!
The dictionary defines sedation as the “reduction of anxiety, stress, irritability, or excitement by administration of a sedative agent or drug.” It does not specify the degree of reduction. In the dental setting there are a number of levels provided by the sedation dentist . Light sedation can be achieved with nitrous oxide gas (Laughing gas), or oral conscious sedation. For more information of the different levels see our blog site on sedation dentistry, or dedicated website on conscious sedation.
But why do we say conscious sedation? Done properly with conscious sedation, the patient may not be aware of what is going on in the dental office, but the patient is still able to respond to verbal commands such as to “open their mouth.” Most important, they are completely comfortable and have no memory of their dental visit (just what they were hoping for!). Done improperly they can remain alert and remember everything.
This can often be accomplished with oral conscious sedation. However very often the level of dental sedation is not predicable with oral sedation. Most states prevent the dentist from giving incremental doses of medication without the dentist having their IV sedation license. Because oral sedation medications require 30 to 60 minutes to take effect, the scheduled procedure is not often able to be completed if additional oral sedation medication is needed for patient comfort. IV medications require just minutes to take effect and patient comfort and can be adjusted maintained throughout the distist visit.
So what is the conclusion? If sedation is simply by “a reduction of anxiety…” most drug regiments will satisfy the definition. My experience is the “Patient’s definition” of sedation is that they are completely comfortable and amnesic (no memory) of the dental procedure. This can sometimes be accomplished with nitrous oxide sedation or dental oral sedation, but is much more predicable with IV dental sedation. Also, some patients want different levels of sedation depending on the procedures–for exmaple nitrous may be sufficient for one hour tooth whitening, but they want IV sedation for more difficult procedures like dental implants.

Implant Supported Bridge to Avoid Dentures–Case in Carol Stream, Warrenville

Thomas Gibbs — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:05:34 +0000

So how does it feel to have dentures. We had a lady form Carol Stream, working in Warrenville, in the position of losing all her remaining top teeth. She had many dental crowns and dental bridges some of which had failed over time.

What she hated was the prospect of having plastic on the roof of her mouth and not being able to taste food. She was equally concerned about continuing to lose bone as the teeth were lost, and wrinkles developing on her face. She said she didn’t want a “dental wig.”

Some of these problems can be particularly more common in women, who have softer bone in general than men (especially post-menopausal). All on four and Teeth in a Day were not an option due to the amount of bone and softness of the bone. She elected to have to full option of the implant supported bridge. Due to the softer bone it required 7 implants.

And what did she look forward to having when the case was completed? Bagels! We bought her a dozen at the completion of the case.

If you would like more information on dental implant alternatives to dentures, give our office a call at 630-858-8800. You may also go to our dental implant website and request additional Free Reports and LiveWithoutDentures.com

How it Feels to Get a Dental Implant–Wheaton Man Relates his Story

Thomas Gibbs — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:48:22 +0000

So what is it like to have a dental implant placed? This short video shows a man from Wheaton describing how it was to have the implant surgically placed, ant the subsequent crown placed.
His dental implants were placed using the more modern “flapeless” approach, vs. the older method where the gums had to be “pulled back” to place the dental implants. Most patients report that they “just took a couple of asprin that night,” or “their dental implants were painless.” Better methods of pain control and surgical technique have greatly diminished pain and discomfort in dental implant surgery. This case was for a single dental implant crown to avoid having a dental bridge. More involved cases now utilize complex CT scans and imaging software to use this “flapless” approach.

All on Four, Teeth in a Day, & Teeth in a Hour–Uses and Abusess

Thomas Gibbs — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:55:51 +0000

Many patients have asked about heavily marketed dental implant options such as Teeth-in-an Hour, All-on-Four, or Teeth-in-a- Day. This a procedure where a person with a denture is able to have four dental implants placed and walk away wearing an implant retained denture replacement. Dr. Gibbs recently attended an update seminar on these concepts, so let me share my assessment:
1) Most marketing efforts on these concepts show a person chewing an apple right away. In the vast majority of cases they are using a temporary restoration with the permanent restoration being made in 3 to 4 months.
2) Placing an dental implant supported restoration immediately is great, and I can do this in many cases, however, it adds considerably to cost, with no additional long term benefits.
3) All though there is a high success rate once the permanent restoration is finished. For the very high price of All-on-Four (one large “chain” of dental implants charges about $30,000 per arch), I personally like additional stability with more support than four implants (think table legs).
4) Avoiding bone grafts by placing implants at an angle is appropriate, in instances where implants are long enough and cross-splinted for mutual support.
5) Immediate placement restorations cannot be placed in areas where tooth have just been extracted. Temporary restoration and bone healing must occur first.

6) Special caution should be exercised before thinking that complex implant problems can be solved in “cookie-cutter” solutions such as All-on Four.” The number of implants required is HEAVILY dependent on other factors such as parafunction (clenching, grinding), shape of the jawbones, nature of opposing teeth (dentures vs. natural teeth, individual facial aesthetic, bone density, systemic disease, and many other factors. Both patient and practitioners should use caution not to over-simplify.
7) The most important aspect of these restorations is the use of sophisticated software that uses CT bone scans to image the bone in 3D. This allows more accurate placement, less healing time, and more comfort for the patient. For you “techies” out there go to my website and look at how we do this for complex cases under the implant or advanced technology sections!
All technology has uses, abuses, and limitations. I do use this technology, but I do believe some mass advertising of this is misleading-ask us if you questions!

The Hidden Dangers of Missing Teeth & Dentures–The Helath Importance of Replacing Missing with Dental Implants

Thomas Gibbs — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 02:51:40 +0000

I am constantly amazed that most dentists (apparently) do not tell their patients what can and will happen when they lose teeth. I was asked to produce a educational series on dental implants, and felt compelled to start with a section of the problems that patients are not aware of—and probably were not informed about. Personally, I think that all dentists have the LEGAL and MORAL obligation to tell people about these problems!

Issues such as
1)   The vast amount of bone loss that follows tooth loss and progresses over time
2)   Facial wrinkles resulting from the atrophy of the facial muscles
3)   Social embarrassment and fear of social situations
4)   Inability to chew food properly contributing to nutritional problems, obesity, and diabetes
5)   Perpetual and progressive inability to use full and partial dentures (also pain!)
6)   Bone loss beneath convention bridges resulting in food impaction and increases gum disease on additional tooth loss
7)   Decrease mobility
8)   Increased incidence of neurological disorders from denture adhesives
9)   Increased incidence of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Even pancreatic cancer!
10) Bite collapse of the back teeth resulting in more tooth loss, inability to chew food, and a “flaring out” or loss of the front teeth!

And the list goes on-and on with more problems being discovered almost every day. Watch this enlightening video!

Dental Phobia, Needle Phobia, “Hate the Needle”, & “Can’t get Numb”!

Thomas Gibbs — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:19:50 +0000

OK—so who in their right mind likes to get stuck with a needle? Reality tells us though that going to the physician or dentist that might happen. So how can we make the visit comfortable—and what if you at the far extreme and are needle-phobic with an extreme fear of the needle? Here are your options:

Caring understanding staff & dentist. You’d be amazed of some the stories my patient’s have told me!
Wand electronic anesthesia that uses a microprocessor controlled device to deliver the anesthetic. No more “Civil War” era dental syringe!
Better topical anesthetics that “pre-numb” the area. “Painless” can’ be promised-but we dramatically closer!
Advances in anesthetic solutions make numbing more comfortable and much more effective. No older “Novocain.”
Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) helps many patients “feel they are somewhere else.”
Hypnosis is a lengthy procedure, but it can help with some people.
Ever have a painful dental cleaning or gum therapy? We now offer needle-free anesthesia to numb the gums for comfortable dental cleaning and periodontal therapy!
Oral pill sedation works wonders with many patients. Often “just a little pill” and many people actually snore though the visit and remember almost nothing! We often use this for long difficult restorative or dental implant visits.
I.V. (intravenous) sedation uses an I.V. catheter to deliver the sedative medication so that the sedative can be triturated, or adjusted, to the needs of the individual patient. Most patients experience amnesia of the visit. Sedation can also dramatically raise the pain threshold for those difficult to numb patients.

For the truly phobic and “I can’t get numb” people, by far the most effective is use the oral sedation prior to starting IV sedation. The oral sedation is very easy, no needles, and will usually produce sufficient amnesia so that when the IV is started the patient is amnesiac with no memory of the entire visit! (This is what we call a desired “side effect.”)

Roughly about 2% of general dentists are fully licensed and certified for this procedure.

PS—In case you ever wonder—my most phobic group are physicians and nurses!