Comprehensive Dentistry,Phase Two Treatment
Thursday, May 27th, 2010Previously, I have discussed dental goals, for the most part everyone has the same goals: teeth that look good, feel good, chew well and last a long time.
The first phase of treatment is phase one treatment, where the object is to stabilize the existing teeth and gums. This is achieved by placing fillings where there is decay, treating gum disease and stabilizing the bite.
After phase one treatment, it is time to move to phase two treatment. This is where, missing teeth are replaced, damaged teeth are restored to optimum function and any esthetic improvements are made.
To maintain proper function and stability, it is important to replace any teeth that are missing. While it is true that many people are missing teeth and get along quite fine, this is more to do with the adaptive nature of the human body than the fact that the teeth are not necessary. The teeth are arranged in an arch, disruption of the continuity of the arch results in aberrant biting which must be compensated for. Loss of an opposing tooth will result in the opposite tooth drifting down. If you have a tooth that has lost the tooth in front of it, this will result in tipping forward of the back tooth. Over time this changes the bite and may result in excessive wear, TMJ symptoms or further tooth loss.
Teeth can be replaced with either dental implant supported crowns, fixed bridgework or removable bridgework. The rule is, fixed is better than removable, an implant is better than a bridge.
Teeth that have been badly broken down by decay or wear, or teeth that have excessively large fillings can be restored with crowns. A crown is much like an outside filling. It is cast and becomes a solid unit that fits over the damaged tooth, it is shaped and acts like a tooth. A crown can be either gold, porcelain fused to gold, milled ceramic or cast ceramic. What material is used depends upon the situation.
Esthetics can be improved by using whitening, bonding, veneers or crowns, again depending on the situation.
While sometimes simple and sometimes complex, there are very few dental conditions that modern dentistry cannot improve. If you want to enjoy a comfortable, functional mouth that also looks great, ask your dentist for more information.
