Waterford, MI Dentist
Lloyd H. Alpert, D.D.S.
4025 Highland Road
Waterford, MI 48328
(248) 682-6010

My Blog

Posts for: July, 2012

By contactus
July 25, 2012
Category: Dental News
Tags: Implants  

 

Important Facts to Help Make Your Decision

Many people are unaware of the consequences of losing their teeth or the effects of wearing partial or full dentures upon their jaws and bones. When teeth are lost, the surrounding bone immediately begins to shrink [atrophy]. Implant treatment, for tooth replacement therapy, can be the optimal treatment plan. Here are some important facts to take into consideration.

•Wearing dentures [plates] accelerates bone loss, and old dentures become loose because of this bone loss. It is possible to watch and wait for bone to disappear to the point where treatment success of any kind is in doubt.

•At the end of a five-year period, only 40% are still wearing the original partial denture made for them. This is not a great testimonial for value and utility. Those lucky enough to have a functioning partial denture after 5 years are still losing valuable supporting bone.

•Of those patients who wear a partial denture, 50% chew better without it.

•One study showed that after 8 years, 40% of the supporting teeth [abutments] that the partial hooks onto were lost through tooth decay or fracture.

•Patients with natural teeth can bite with about 200 pounds of force. Denture wearers can bite with approxiametly 50 pounds of force. Those wearing dentures for 15 years or more can bite with only about 6 pounds of force, and their diet and eating habits have had to been modified accordingly.

•The average lower full denture shifts from side to side during chewing and is a significant problem that new denture wearers must get use to and accept.

•Denture wearers have decreased nutritional intake, a ten year shorter life span, and 30% of denture wearers can only eat soft foods.

•The single tooth implant success rate is above 98%, and unlike a bridge, the teeth adjacent to the implant are no more at risk than if no teeth were missing.

•Implant-supported bridges or dentures have 95% success rates over 10 years without the severe loss of supporting bone.

For bone maintenance, the health of adjacent teeth, the longevity of the restoration and patient comfort, implant therapy is the treatment of choice. Implants can restore chewing function to the equivalent of someone with natural teeth. If you have questions or want to know if you are a good candidate for implant tooth replacement therapy, please call our office.

  


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By contactus
July 18, 2012
Category: Dental News
Tags: Insurance Benefits  

Time flies…we are almost through 2012. The end of the year will be upon us before we know it; and with the end of the year comes the end of your yearly dental insurance benefits.

Did you know that each year insurance companies make millions of dollars off patients who forgo necessary and preventive dental care? Many individuals who are paying for dental insurance do not realize that their plans provide coverage up to a certain dollar amount annually. Consequently, some patients are not scheduling the dental treatment they need, deserve, and have insurance to cover. Thus, the insurance revenues allocated to pay dental claims on many patients are never used, and, unfortunately, those dollars cannot be carried over year-to-year. The bottom line: What the patient does not use they lose. Clearly, it pays in many ways to schedule the preventive care or other dental treatment that you need.

We want to make sure that you take full advantage of any remaining benefits your family might have. Many times you may be able to save money by completing your treatment before year's end and avoid having to pay a new deductible next year.

We are here to help you secure the insurance coverage available to you on every dental procedure you schedule. Give us a call today, and together let's make sure you are in excellent dental health. We look forward to seeing you again and sharing some of the many innovative means we now have available to provide you with superior dental health care.

If you have any questions about how much actual coverage remains on your insurance benefits, please call our office so that we can check on that for you. At that time, we can schedule you at the earliest available appointment to ensure you take full advantage of all the insurance benefits you pay for.

Please call or email us to make an appointment before the end of the year. We are scheduling November and December appointments at this time.

Please don’t wait until the last minute! Our schedule usually fills very quickly in the last quarter of the year. 


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By contactus
July 11, 2012
Category: Dental News

About 80 million people in North America snore, and approximately 12 million Americans have sleep apnea. So what’s the difference, and why does it matter?

Snoring is caused by the vibration of the soft palate and uvula, occurring when the airway becomes obstructed during sleep. Several things can obstruct the airway and cause you to snore, including allergies drinking before bed, being overweight and having large tonsils or a deviated septum.

If you snore now and then, you probably have nothing to worry about. But chronic snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea, a more serious sleep disorder. People with sleep apnea stop breathing in their sleep – sometimes up to 100 hundred times an hour – for one minute or longer. Left untreated, sleep apnea can increase your chances of serious health conditions like high blood pressure and heart disease. At a minimum, you may feel groggy in the morning or unable to concentrate during the day.

The good news is sleep apnea is treatable. The two most common ways to treat sleep apnea are continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, which is administered by a physician, and oral appliance therapy, which is administered by a dentist. CPAP therapy can be very effective for people with sleep apnea, but some find it difficult to sleep with a mask. More people are increasingly turning to the oral appliances administered by dentists. Oral appliances are small, flexible devices that look like mouthguards. They increase the airway space and reduce air velocity and soft tissue vibration (snoring) by moving the lower jaw into a forward position. Patients who have tried both say that oral appliances are more comfortable to wear, easier to care for and very cost-effective.

  


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By contactus
July 05, 2012
Category: Dental News
Tags: Chipped teeth  
If you have a chipped tooth, you're not alone! In fact, chipped teeth are the most common dental injury today. But don’t let that little-known fact fool you into ignoring a chipped tooth; any type of dental trauma deserves immediate attention. A small chip may not cause you pain, but there could be damage underneath the surface of the tooth. Our dentist can rule out cracks or internal tooth problems that aren’t visible to the naked eye. And in many cases, your chipped tooth can be repaired in just one visit.
 
Options, Options
 
Chipped tooth treatments vary according to the amount of damage. Depending on your situation, any one of these chipped tooth treatments may be an option for you:
 
Dental Bonding -- Most chips can be corrected with dental bonding. Dental bonding is an efficient, durable and cost-effective way to correct minor chips.
 
Enamel Shaping -- Often used in conjunction with dental bonding, enamel shaping can also correct small chips or surface flaws. During enamel shaping, a small portion of the tooth's surface is removed or recontoured to smooth out imperfections.
 
Dental Veneers – If the chip is significant and dental bonding or enamel shaping can't be used, you may need a veneer. These thin, porcelain wafers completely cover the surface of the tooth and are often used for front teeth.
 
Root Canal – Pain in the location of the chip can be a sign that the nerve is exposed. If that's the case, a root canal may be necessary to save the tooth.
 
Dental Crown -- A dental crown is used to completely cover larger teeth or to cap a tooth after a root canal.
 
Tooth Extraction -- If the tooth can't be saved, a tooth extraction may be necessary. The good news is a dental bridge or dental implants can replace missing teeth.

 


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