www.blunstondentalgroup.com - Blunston Dental Group

Calgary Dental Implants and other Solutions by Thayne Blunston D.D.S., M.S.D.

Solutions

Cosmetic Gum Enhancement Procedures

In addition to procedures to treat periodontal disease, we also perform cosmetic procedures to enhance your smile. Oftentimes, patients who pursue cosmetic procedures notice improved function as well. Cosmetic procedures include:

Crown Lengthening: Do you have a gummy smile? Many people mistake this problem thinking that they have short teeth. On the contrary, you may have pearly white tooth structure underneath an overgrowth of gum tissue. Dr. Blunston has performed hundreds of gingevectomy and crown lengthening procedures to help her patients show a beautiful smile that's hiding underneath that gummy smile.

Soft Tissue Grafts: Perhaps you wish to enhance your smile by covering one or more of these roots that make your teeth appear too long. Exposed tooth roots are the result of gum recession. Your gums may have receded for a variety of reasons, including aggressive tooth brushing or periodontal disease. Dr. Blunston expertise in this area may restore that healthy looking gum tissue, while improving sensitivity and stopping destructive recession in its tracks.

Ridge Augmentation: Sometimes when you lose one or more teeth, you can get an indention in your gums and jawbone where the tooth used to be. This happens because the jawbone recedes when it no longer is holding a tooth in place.

Not only is this indentation unnatural looking, it also causes the replacement tooth to look too long compared to the adjacent teeth.

Dr. Blunston can fill in this defect with a procedure called ridge augmentation, recapturing the natural contour of your gums and jaw. A new tooth can then be created that is natural looking, easy-to-clean and beautiful.

Call to schedule a smile consultation. We can evaluate your smile and provide a range of treatments available to help achieve the look you want.

Periodontal Therapy to Treat Infection: Reducing pocket depth and eliminating existing bacteria are important to prevent damage caused by the progression of periodontal disease and to maintain a healthy smile. Eliminating bacteria alone may not be sufficient to prevent disease recurrence. Deeper pockets are more difficult for you and your dental care professional to clean, so it's important for you to reduce them. Reduced pockets and a combination of daily oral hygiene and professional maintenance care increases your chances of keeping your natural teeth - and decreases the chance of serious health problems associated with periodontal disease.

Don't wait to control your periodontal disease. Dr. Blunston and her caring staff will be happy to meet with you to review your treatment options for a beautiful, functional smile that will last a lifetime.

Calgary Dental Implants to Replace Missing Teeth: You may be missing one or more teeth as a result of periodontal disease or trauma. You know that your confidence about your teeth affects how you feel about yourself, both personally and professionally. Perhaps you hide your smile because of spaces from missing teeth. Maybe your dentures don't feel secure. Perhaps you have difficulty chewing. If you are missing one or more teeth and would like to smile, speak and eat again with comfort and confidence, there is good news! Dental implants are teeth that can look and feel just like your own! Under proper conditions, such as placement by Dr. Blunston and diligent patient maintenance, implants can last a lifetime.

What Calgary Dental Implants Can Do: Replace one or more teeth without affecting bordering teeth; Support a bridge and eliminate the need for a removable partial denture; Provide support for a denture, making it more secure and comfortable

See us for consultation to see if you are a candidate for implant dentistry. Dr. Blunston works closely in conjunction with your restorative dentist for the most aesthetic, functional result.

Periodontal Restorative Solutions to Assist the General Dentist

Regeneration: If you have already lost too much bone, Dr. Blunston may recommend a regenerative procedure when the bone supporting your teeth has been destroyed. These procedures can reverse some of the damage by regenerating lost bone and tissue.

During this procedure, Dr. Blunston folds back the gum tissue and removes the disease-causing bacteria. Membranes (filters), bone grafts or tissue- stimulating proteins can be used to encourage your body's natural ability to regenerate bone and tissue.

There are many options to enhance support for your teeth and to restore your bone to a healthy level. Dr. Blunston and her staff will discuss your best options with you.

Crown Lengthening: Whether you have crown lengthening to improve function or esthetics, patients often receive the benefits of both: a beautiful new smile and improved periodontal health - your keys to smiling, eating and speaking with comfort and confidence.

Grafting: Soft tissue grafts can be used to cover roots or develop gum tissue where absent due to excessive gingival recession. During this procedure, Dr. Blunston takes gum tissue from your palate or another donor source to cover the exposed root. This can be done for one tooth or several teeth to even your gum line and reduce sensitivity. A soft tissue graft can reduce further recession and bone loss. In some cases, it can cover exposed roots to protect them from decay. This may reduce tooth sensitivity and improve esthetics of your smile.

Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy

Non-surgical philosophy: We can use modern techniques to help rebuild lost bone support. The emphasis in Dr. Blunston's practice is conservative periodontal therapy. Our hygienists (Natalie Miller, Melissa Conklin) have advanced periodontal skills to achieve the highest level of care for their patients. They will also include a personalized program of care to maintain your healthy gums and smile. By exercising proper home care and having frequent periodontal maintenance treatments, we will help protect your periodontal health.
Root Planning: Many times, the early stages of periodontal disease are best treated with non-surgical periodontal therapy. This usually consists of placing a fine ultrasonic tip in between the tooth and gum tissue to remove any plaque and calculus below the gum line. This procedure is called root planing. Four to six weeks later, periodontal pockets are eliminated due to gum shrinkage. Then the patient can personally maintain these areas with routine brushing and flossing.

Even in most severe cases of periodontal disease, non-surgical periodontal therapy most often precedes surgical therapy. This is done so that the overall tissue quality is improved prior to surgery and also limits the areas of required surgery.

Oral pathology and oral medicine

The inside of the mouth is normally lined with a special type of skin (mucosa) that is smooth and coral pink in color. In addition, each tooth is surrounded by a collar of tissue containing a specific fluid. Any alteration of the tissue appearance or fluid chemistry could be a warning sign for a pathological process. Dr. Blunston uses the latest diagnostic tools such as DNA probe, microbiological testing to identify the infection and the disease process. Such information provides relevant information on the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the pathogens. The most serious threat to our patients is oral cancer.

The following can be signs of the beginning of a pathologic process or cancerous growth:

Reddish patches (erythroplasia) or whitish patches (leukoplakia) in the mouth
A sore that fails to heal and bleeds easily
A lump or thickening on the skin lining the inside of the mouth
Chronic sore throat or hoarseness
Difficulty in chewing or swallowing

These changes can be detected on the lips, cheeks, palate, gum tissue around the teeth, tongue, face, and/or neck. Pain is not always necessary to define a pathology. In order to properly diagnose these conditions, a thorough medical history must be taken, including a review of all of your medications.

Following a complete examination, certain laboratory tests may be required as well as a small tissue biopsy, which can be examined under a microscope. Since many of these diseases look similar clinically, the biopsy is often the most critical factor in a proper diagnosis.

Guided tissue and bone regeneration

In the past, the treatment of periodontal (gum) disease was considered to be painful and disfiguring. For many years, the best way to achieve the ultimate goal of therapy (shallow, maintainable pockets) was to do resective surgical procedures that often resulted in the exposure of sensitive root surfaces and the appearance of long teeth.

Today, periodontists are often able to restore or regenerate missing bone and attachment around teeth subjected to long-standing periodontal disease. In addition, if you have lost a tooth due to trauma or disease, we can restore or regenerate bone prior to the placement of bridges or implants.

Guided tissue regeneration (GTR) refers to procedures that attempt to regenerate lost periodontal structures (bone, periodontal ligament, and connective tissue attachment) that support our teeth. This is accomplished using biocompatible membranes, often in combination with bone grafts and/or tissue stimulating proteins.

Guided Bone regeneration (GBR) refers to procedures that attempt to regenerate bone prior to the placement of bridges and implants. This is accomplished using bone grafts and biocompatible membranes that keep out tissue and allow the bone to grow.

Dr. Blunston, IACA and LVI Dentist - Providing services in cosmetic dentistry to the areas of Calgary, Alberta (Canada).

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