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Dental care

How does a dental abutment work?

A dental implant’s abutment serves as a base for your crown after it has been installed by your dentist. With one side attached to your jawbone and the other fitting onto the crown, it serves exclusively as a connector.

Titanium is one of the most common materials used for abutments, but zirconia and gold can also be used. Zirconia is especially popular since it is similar to the color of your natural teeth. It is therefore less noticeable within your mouth than titanium.

Fitting the Abutments
There are two types of dental implants that can be attached to your jawbone by your dentist. It takes about six months for gum tissue to heal around the abutments. In order to fit the crown, your dentist will cut the gums open.

Attaching a healing abutment is the second option. In addition to being attached to the external surface of the implant, the healing cuff also occupies space within the implant. The implant is much wider than the crown, and the crown can be fitted over it while the gums heal. Healing cuffs are often preferred by patients since they eliminate the need for additional surgeries.

The healing cuff is removed after your dental implant has completely fused with your jawbone. A crown will then be placed. Because the space created by the healing cuff doesn’t always match the size of the crown, your gums might need to be reshaped.

Healing Abutments – Why you may need them
Unlike implants, which are placed below your gums, Abutments are placed above them. Hence, some people choose not to undergo healing implants because they do not wish to have the abutment protruding through their gums while they wait for the implants to bond with their jaws.

Multiple surgeries can be avoided with healing cuffs. Otherwise, your dentist would have to reopen your gums again once the implant has fused to your jawbone in order to attach the crown. In the case of the healing abutment, the gums around the crown need to be reshaped to ensure a natural fit.

Dental Implant and the Crown
A crown is a dental prosthetic that resembles a natural tooth. The crown attaches to the implant via an abutment. The crown is secured to the implant with dental cement. Connecting the crown to the implant is relatively simple after the implant has been installed.

Schedule your appointment with a dentist today and get the treatment on time!

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Dental care

What are the dangers of root canals?

There is no doubt that root canal treatment is one of the most controversial topics in the field of dentistry. Dental cavities that affect the roots of the teeth usually require a root canal.

In contrast to having a tooth extracted, root canals allow you to keep the tooth. Root canals are safe if done correctly. If the tooth becomes infected, this dental procedure has been known to cause many serious diseases.

The following three are the possible threats and side effects of root canal treatment:

  • Causes damage to the side canals: An endodontic treatment removes the infection that is causing a toothache and replaces it with a filling. During the procedure, the dentist does not touch many of the tiny side canals. After the tooth root is removed, the side canals rot and die. They become breeding grounds for bacteria and infections.
  • Infected pulp cannot be completely removed: Complete removal of infected pulp or dead tissue is impossible. As a result, infections travel through the microtubules of the tooth structure. The dentist’s tools cannot reach all the microscopic crevices and tissues of the tooth structure, so it’s impossible to remove all the bacteria.
  • Infection leakage: Because the infection or bacteria cannot completely be removed during the procedure, part of it will remain inside the tooth. In addition, the filler substance cannot be permanently attached to the decaying tooth. As a result, the bacteria are cut off from oxygen and blood supplies and begin to live off of dead tissue. Eventually, this bacteria begins to spread throughout the body.

After the surgical procedure has been performed, bacteria still remain in the body. Visit your dentist if you feel similar symptoms after a root canal.

Schedule your appointment with a dentist today and get the treatment on time!

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Dental care

Can You Still Have An Infection After a Root Canal?

A root canal therapy is an alternative treatment to dental extraction. It is undertaken when a bacterial infection seeps through the dentin to reach the soft pulp. A root canal treatment entails drilling a hole in the infected tooth to reach the root canal and cleaning it by removing the dead, decayed, and infected pulp. Root canal therapy is a fairly standard procedure in the USA, with almost 41000 people undergoing it every day. Likewise, statistics reveal that 97 percent of all root canal treatments are successful. However, all medical procedures come with occasional failure, and a root canal is no exception. 

Top Four Reasons for Root Canal Failure

  1. Untreated Root Canal: Some teeth like the morals have multiple root canals. Hence, there is a slight chance that the dentist may have missed one or two infected root canals, thereby causing the root canal therapy to fail.
  2. Root Fracture: An undetected tooth chipping during or after the root canal therapy can cause re-infection, hence the failure of the procedure. 
  3. Breakdown of the Seal: As we have already discussed, root canal therapy involves drilling a hole in the infected tooth, cleaning it, and finally sealing the hole. At times, the sealing material or gutta-percha may break down, allowing bacteria to re-invade the root canal. 
  4. Abscessed Gum: A new gum infection after a root canal treatment can fail the previous treatment.

Signs That a Canal Therapy Has Faile

  • Persistent pain for weeks or even months after a root canal therapy
  • Sudden onset of pain long after a root canal therapy
  • Swelling around the involved tooth
  • Oozing out of blood or pus from the area involved
  • Tooth mobility

It is essential to remember that a root canal failure is not the end, and retreatment is a feasible course of action. 

Schedule your appointment with a dentist today and get the treatment on time!