Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Dental Implant News Scottsdale: Newer Procedure LESS Expensive Than Older Predecessors, PART 4

This five-part article series explains how the newer “All-on-4” dental implant protocol manages to vastly undercut the cost of more traditional techniques for full mouth reconstruction.

Overcoming the need for bone grafting surgery is a major benefit offered by “All-on-4” dental implants and it’s one of two reasons full mouth reconstruction (getting a brand new set of permanent teeth) is possible in just one surgical appointment!

Welcome to the fourth installment of this five-part article series on how the “All-on-4” dental implant protocol makes it possible for Scottsdale residents to save tens of thousands of dollars on the cost of new permanent teeth! We ended off Part 3 with the above-mentioned excerpt, which leads us into the second of two reasons it’s possible to get new teeth in just one day and the third way the “All-on-4” is thriftier than traditional dental implant techniques…

The “All-on-4” Saves Patients on the Cost of Surgery, Surgeon’s Time and Associated Resources

In Part 2, the very first “All-on-4” cost saving was explained and that was that the procedure only required four dental implants (per jaw) in order to provide Scottsdale residents with a complete set of teeth. What we didn’t mention at the time was that capability offers patients yet another benefit and another massive cost savings…

Traditional surgical protocols would typically require anywhere between 12 and 20 implants to provide patients with new teeth. However, in order to safely place this number of implants, Scottsdale dental implant surgeons would have to break the entire procedure down into a number of smaller and more manageable surgeries.

Can you imagine having 20 dental implants placed in a single sitting?

Not only would the risk of post-operative infection and implant failure be unacceptably high, but also recovery would be a monstrously painful affair. And so, patients signing up for traditional dental implant procedures would be required to undergo a series of surgeries – usually over the duration of 12 to 18 months - in which a smaller number of implants would be placed. The patient would then be required to recover and allow their jawbones to heal before the next set of implants could be placed.

One surgery on its own costs a lot of money, but that’s not the only expense faced by patients. With each surgery comes the need for additional X-rays, post-operative appointments and further treatment planning. In the end, it’s quite easy to see how the costs of traditional dental implant surgery stack up really quickly.


The “All-on-4” Difference: One Surgery, One Set of Expenses

With only four dental implants required to provide a patient with a new set of teeth, the “All-on-4” is easily done in a single surgical appointment: One treatment planning phase, one surgery, one recovery and one phase of follow-up consultations. Instead of covering the costs of multiple surgeries and all the associated bills that comes with, Scottsdale residents only have to do it all once AND – to boot – they get their
beautiful new teeth right away!

Stay Tuned for Part 5To find out the final way “All-on-4” dental implants can save Scottsdale residents tens of thousands of dollars on the cost of beautiful new teeth, stay tuned for the final installment of this five-part article series coming next week.




Friday, June 12, 2015

“All-on-4” Dental Implants: Newer Procedure LESS Expensive Than Older Predecessors, PART 3

This five-part article series explains how the newer “All-on-4” dental implant protocol manages to vastly undercut the cost of more traditional techniques for full mouth reconstruction.


All on 4 Dental Implants
 Previously, in many cases, patients would schedule an appointment with a dental implant surgeon desperate for an alternative solution after wearing partial or full removable dentures for many years. What they wouldn’t realize is – as a consequence of denture wearing - just how extensive the damage to their jawbone is and that this would typically require an additional surgery to correct before they can even be considered for implants.

Welcome to the third installment of this five-part article series on how the “All-on-4” dental implant protocol makes it possible for Sun City residents to save tens of thousands of dollars on the cost of a beautiful new set of permanent teeth! The opening paragraph is an excerpt from Part 2, which leads us nicely into the second way the “All-on-4” technique saves patients an incredible amount of money. Let’s jump right in…

The “All-on-4” Saves Patients on the Cost of Bone Grafting Surgery

One of the greatest problems associated with wearing dentures is jawbone atrophy. As we can see in the picture above, over time, the jawbone physically wastes away and this happens because the patient no longer has natural tooth roots to stimulate it and maintain its bulk and strength.

Few Sun City residents understand this very important fact when they have their failing dentition replaced with removable dentures, but your tooth roots play a fundamental role in keeping your jawbone healthy and strong. By transmitting the eating forces into the underlying bone, they help to keep it “exercised”. Bone tissue, just like muscle tissue, needs this stimulation to stay strong, or else it just becomes resorbed by the body in a process called “atrophy”.

This brings us to a crucial problem faced by patients and dental implant surgeons in Sun City:

As it was explained in the opening paragraph, in many cases, patients would have worn dentures for such a long period of time that their jawbones would have deteriorated too much for traditional dental implant procedures to be considered viable treatment options without first performing a bone grafting procedure. And so, the first step in treatment would involve a terribly invasive, painful and costly surgery and a lengthy recovery period before a patient could even begin thinking about getting dental implants.

Thankfully, this all changed with the advent of “All-on-4” dental implants, which was specifically developed by Dr. Paulo Malo and his team to overcome this hurdle in the treatment of edentulous (toothless) and near-edentulous patients.

The “All-on-4” Difference: Strategic Implant Layout Avoids Need for Bone Grafting

Sun City Dental Implant Surgeons
With the “All-on-4,” the layout of dental implants is carefully determined so as to maximize the support offered by the available jawbone volume, even in patients who have been wearing dentures for many, many years:

• Two implants are inserted in the front portion of the jaw, where the bone is more resistant to atrophy and is therefore typically bulkier.

• Another two implants are inserted at an angle towards the back of the jaw and this angulation provides them with greater stability and support.

Together, these four implants are almost always sufficient to provide a rigid platform to which a customized dental bridge can be attached.

What this means is that most denture-wearing Arizona residents can be considered candidates for “All-on-4” dental implants, which enables them to get a beautiful new set of teeth without the need for costly bone grafting surgery beforehand. This saves these people a lot of pain and many thousands of dollars! It also eliminates the several months of recovery that are needed before the implants can be placed.

Overcoming the need for bone grafting surgery is a major benefit offered by “All-on-4” dental implants and it’s one of two reasons full mouth reconstruction is possible in just one surgical appointment! We’ll explore the second reason in Part 4, coming next week…

Stay Tuned for Part 4

To find out how else “All-on-4” dental implants can save Sun City residents tens of thousands of dollars on the cost of beautiful new teeth, stay tuned for the fourth installment of this five-part article series coming next week.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Dental Implant News Arizona: Newer Implant Protocol LESS Expensive Than Older Predecessors, PART 2

This five-part article series explains how the newer “All-on-4” dental implant protocol manages to vastly undercut the cost of more traditional techniques for full mouth reconstruction.

All on 4 dental implants
Welcome to the second installment of this five-part article series on how the revolutionary “All-on-4” dental implant protocol makes it possible for Arizona residents to save tens of thousands of dollars on the cost of new, permanent teeth!

Gum disease and tooth loss is a major problem that affects the majority of Americans over the age of 50, and countless others before. The traditional solution to tooth loss has been removable dentures, but dental implants are known to be far more sophisticated, comfortable, aesthetic and comfortable.

Historically, however, the cost of dental implants has greatly deterred Arizona residents from that visit to the cosmetic dentist’s office and while this may have been warranted before, it isn’t any longer with the availability of the “All-on-4” dental implant protocol!

As we explained in Part 1, the “All-on-4” is a revolutionary dental implant procedure that makes it possible for patients to get a beautiful new set of permanent teeth with just one surgical appointment with a specially trained Arizona dental implant dentist. The question we now want to answer is how this procedure saves patients such an incredible amount of money.

So, without further ado, let’s begin!

The “All-on-4” Saves Patients on the Cost of Dental Implants

As the name suggests, the “All-on-4” dental implant technique only requires four dental implants per jaw to provide Arizona residents with a new implant-supported bridge, which looks and functions like a complete set of teeth. In the worst-case scenario of a patient requiring full mouth reconstruction, they’re looking at a maximum of eight dental implants.

Here’s the amazing difference: Traditional dental implant procedures could require as many as six, eight or even ten implants per jaw! So in the worst-case scenario, you’d be looking at having to cover the costs of as many as 20 dental implants, just to get a complete set of teeth again! And so, when you consider the cost of an individual implant, which is several thousand dollars, it’s very easy to understand why patients would rather opt to have dentures fitted, instead of fork out the money to undergo exorbitantly costly implant surgery.

Thankfully, the “All-on-4” secures Arizona residents much better and less risky surgical outcomes with fewer dental implants and already, a lesser cost. But, this is really only the tip of the iceberg as far as cost is concerned.

Previously, in many cases, patients would schedule an appointment with a dental implant surgeon desperate for an alternative solution after wearing partial or full removable dentures for many years. What they wouldn’t realize is – as a consequence of denture wearing - just how extensive the damage to their jawbone is and that this would typically require an additional surgery to correct before they can even be considered for implants… but we’ll explore this point in Part 3, coming next week!

Stay Tuned for Part 3

Stay tuned for the third installment of this five-part article series (coming next week) to find out how else “All-on-4” dental implants can save Arizona residents tens of thousands of dollars on the cost full mouth reconstruction.






Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Dental Implant News Sun City: Newer Implant Protocol LESS Expensive Than Older Predecessors, PART 1

This five-part article series explains how the newer “All-on-4” dental implant protocol manages to vastly undercut the cost of more traditional techniques for full mouth reconstruction.


The introduction and subsequent refinement of a new dental implant protocol known as the “All-on-4” has revolutionized the field of full mouth reconstruction, not only for the implant surgeons who provide Sun City residents with new teeth, but also for the patients themselves! Thanks to the incredible features of this newer procedure, patients can get new teeth in one day, with only one surgery and at a cost that undercuts traditional dental implant protocols by tens of thousands of dollars.

In this five-part article series, we’ll be taking a closer look at the rationale behind the cost of dental implants, how the “All-on-4” works and how it manages to save patients such an incredible amount of money on the cost of new permanent teeth.

Primary Patient Concern: The Cost of Dental Implants

Dental Implants Sun City
Just ask any Sun City resident who needs a tooth, several teeth or even ALL of their natural teeth replaced: their greatest concern with undergoing a dental implant procedure is the size of the dent it’s going to leave in their bank account. Since the introduction of dental implants to the mainstream market many decades ago, they have been the more expensive of the teeth replacement options provided by cosmetic dentists in Arizona.

This is not only because the materials dental implants are made of cost more than those that go into the fabrication of conventional bridges and removable dentures, but also because their placement requires extensive treatment planning, surgery, many X-rays and a lot of expert’s time. And even though the outcomes of dental implant surgery are infinitely better than those provided by older teeth replacement technologies, many patients would turn down the chance to have permanent teeth again, simply because they felt they couldn’t cover the costs.

That all changed with the introduction of a new dental implant procedure in the early 1990’s…

A Little Bit About the “All-on-4”

After many years’ worth of hard toil, seemingly endless research and clinical trials, Dr. Paulo Malo and his team of clinicians finalized the design behind a dental implant protocol that would forever change the field of fixed oral rehabilitation. They called it the “All-on-4” and its features made it possible for specially trained Sun City dental implant surgeons to overcome the many challenges that faced the older implant techniques. It was these capabilities that made dental implant surgery:

• Much quicker
• Much safer
• Less painful
• Less expensive

How it works is simple (see diagram)…

All on 4 Dental Implants
Only four dental implants are gently inserted into predetermined sites in the jaw. These implants are used to provide a strong and sturdy platform for a custom-fabricated dental bridge, which looks, functions and feels like a complete set of natural teeth. The implants aren’t visible at all when a patient smiles: just the extremely life-like teeth, thereby providing patients with new, non-removable teeth with which they can eat, speak and smile with absolute confidence!

Understanding the basics of how the “All-on-4” works provides you, the reader, with the context you will need to appreciate how this protocol saves patients such an incredible amount of money. We’ll begin looking at that next week…

Stay Tuned for Part 2

To find out how “All-on-4” dental implants can save Sun City residents tens of thousands of dollars on the cost of beautiful new teeth, stay tuned for the second installment of this five-part article series coming next week.

Monday, June 1, 2015

A Specialist Presents 6 Shocking Facts You Didn’t Know About Gum Disease PART 2

This two-part article series presents some pretty scary facts about a common disease many Arizona residents have, but don’t even know it: gum disease.

Welcome to the second half of this two-part article series on gum disease and the six surprising facts many Arizona residents didn’t know about this prevalent ailment. In Part 1, the first three facts were discussed and they were:
Fact 1: According to the CDC, 80% of Americans present with some stage of gum disease, whether it’s gingivitis or full-blown periodontitis.

Fact 2: Gingivitis is the beginning stage of gum disease and is characterized by bad breath, inflamed and swollen gums and gums that bleed when brushed and flossed.

Fact 3: If you don’t go to your dentist for gum disease treatment, you WILL ultimately lose all of your natural teeth.

Let’s take a look at the final three facts about gum disease…

 Fact 4: Gum disease is often left untreated because it doesn’t typically cause patients any pain.

Most of the time, Arizona residents will wait out an illness, rather than spend any money seeing a doctor. However, the number one symptom that provokes patients to seek medical attention is pain and this is the problem with gum disease: it doesn’t usually cause any!

“Gum disease can cause your gums to be uncomfortable, to bleed easily and to feel a little tender when brushed, but this discomfort is rarely enough to compel patients to see the dentist for professional treatment,” says a gum disease specialist. “Without urgent symptoms from which patients need relief, gum disease can be left without treatment for many years, by which stage the damage can be irreparable.”
Remember, avoiding the doctor out of a concern for cost might work with the common cold, avoiding professional treatment for dental problems does not. You will only end up with more extensive damage and more expensive bills. 

Fact 5: Gum disease puts you at risk of a suite of serious illnesses, including heart, respiratory, liver and kidney disease.Your mouth is the portal through which your body receives it’s life-giving air and nutrition, so if it heavily diseased and infected, what do you think’s going to happen to the rest of your body?

“There is a great volume of scientific literature on the connection between oral health and general health and as far as gum disease is concerned, there are some greatly alarming truths for patients to come to terms with,” says a gum disease treatment expert. “For instance, patients with gum disease are at a far greater risk of developing diabetes and heart disease than those who have healthy gums. A greater prevalence of liver and kidney disease and respiratory disease are also linked with a chronically unhealthy mouth.”

So, neglecting to look after your teeth and gums isn’t only a death sentence for your smile, it could literally be a death sentence for you too!

Fact 6: Gum disease is easy to prevent, but it has devastating effects if left without treatment.

And so we can see from the fact that gum disease (1) shares a relationship with a host of potentially fatal systemic diseases and (2) can totally destroy your smile if left without treatment that this ailment is indeed truly devastating. The good news is it’s easily preventable and treatable. It’s only in cases of profound neglect and ignorance that gum disease is left to inflict the full caliber of damage it’s capable of.

So, be sure to brush and floss thoroughly every day and see your dentist and oral hygienist at least once every six months for a dental check-up and cleaning!




6 Shocking Facts You Didn’t Know About Gum Disease, PART 1

This two-part article series presents some pretty scary facts about a common disease many Arizona residents have, but don’t even know it: gum disease.


Chances are you’ve heard of gum disease, whether it’s from your dentist, the warnings on the back of a packet of cigarettes or from a friend or relative who’s received a diagnosis for it. And while you may be aware that gum disease makes your teeth rot, your breath smell and your smile look positively awful, most Arizona residents know little else about the disease that’s ravaging the state’s oral health.

That all changes in this two-part article series, in which an experienced gum disease specialist explains six really important facts we didn’t know – but should know – about gum disease. Let’s begin!

Fact # 1: 8 Out of 10 Arizona residents have gum disease



This may sound like an exaggeration - after all, you wouldn’t say the majority of the people you share your life with have rotten teeth! But according to the Center for Disease control, as much as 80% of the population suffers from some degree or stage of gum disease. This is a shocking statistic that really brings home how staggering our neglect for good oral hygiene and routine preventative care is.

“If your gums bleed when you brush or floss them and if they’re red and swollen, as opposed to pink and firm, then you may have gum disease,” explains a treatment specialist in Arizona. “You may not have full blown gum disease, but you may certainly be suffering from the beginning stages known as gingivitis. It’s not normal for gums to bleed when you brush or floss them: that’s a sign of infection.”

Fact # 2: Gingivitis marks the beginning stages of gum disease

Many toothpaste ads boast their ability to fight the germs that lead to gingivitis, so the word means something to most Arizona residents. But did you know that gingivitis is actually the beginning stages of gum disease and is marked by a bacterial infection of the gums surrounding the teeth?

“Gingivitis is an infection of the gums caused by prolific bacterial activity, which is typically brought on by a lack of oral hygiene and routine professional healthcare,” says a gum disease treatment expert. “Frequent and thorough brushing and flossing and twice-yearly visits to the dentist are crucial for preventing the progression of gingivitis to full-blown gum disease, at which stage it becomes known as periodontitis.”



Fact # 3: Gum disease can cause you to lose ALL of your teeth

Most Arizona resident who have lost all of their teeth and who now wear dentures, had to have their natural teeth extracted because they had gum disease, which they ignored for many years.

“This is not a condition that goes away on its own,” says a gum disease specialist. “You’ve got to receive professional care and you’ve got to change your oral hygiene habits and lifestyle.”

The message is simple: if you don’t receive prompt gum disease treatment, you WILL ultimately lose all of your teeth!

Stay Tuned for Part 2

To find out more shocking facts on gum disease, stay tuned for the second half of this four-part article series.