Quality Control for Your Dental Implants

Patients and general dentists would both agree we couldn't live without oral surgeons for a number of reasons. They provide surgery with safe general anesthesia and sedation. They make the most challenging surgeries a success. Most patients know that a surgeon is important to getting implants accomplished. They are highly trained in placing dental implants. But in order to replace teeth, it's not just the oral surgeon that matters. The entire process from your tooth removal to your final implant crown determines the best results for chewing and smiling.

To get the best results with dental implants, you need to first talk with your general dentist about your goals. Dentists are the "general contractors" for implant projects. They need to have up-to-date knowledge, equipment and the skills to plan your tooth replacement with implants from the ground up. Since the standard of care for tooth replacement is with implants, dentists should be experienced with the planning and placement of different types of implants and teeth. If your implants are going to succeed, they will have to examine the bone, gums, and your teeth that need to be replaced. They will need to design a "blueprint" for your final teeth before surgery ever happens.

Today, the most successful plans are usually designed with the aid of a CT scan of your jaws and teeth, and the dentist uses software to create the final results before the implant surgery even begins. Once the "blueprint" is finished, the surgery can be executed more accurately and predictably.

In some cases, your dentist may be in the best position to perform your implant surgery. Not only do they understand how implant teeth need to be be built and look, they also know where the implants need to be placed at the time of your surgery. Your dentist can have complete control of the project, from design, to ordering materials, to installation and finishing of the implant teeth. Quality control can remain with your "general contractor" at every step.

At Cascadia, Dr. Rafoth has been taking this approach, providing implant surgery for his patients since 2000. He uses Simplant technology to plan their cases. And he offers a wide range of dental implants, crowns, bridges, and dentures to fit the unique situations of every patient. Call us today for a free consultation!

Happy Summer 2010

It's been a while since you saw a post from us. Dr. Rafoth has been in the mountains and on the coast all summer with his family and friends. Here's a shot of him doing what he loves best--climbing in the Cascades. He recently returned from a successful climb up the north side of Mount Adams.

We hope you have been enjoying your summer, and maintaining excellent health. We look forward to seeing you at the office for your next checkup!

Let us know how we're doing

Yelp is an excellent tool for sharing your opinions about our service. Please head to our page at www.yelp.com/biz/rafoth-chris-dds-stanwood

We do high-tech oral surgery, too!

Just wanted to let all of you know that we support space-age tooth extractions.

Implants for hopeless teeth

Patients who have failing teeth get concerned that it will be tough to chew when they lose them. Molars are like your thumbs--they are really handy for eating a proper diet of fresh foods. Without them, you're a bit handicapped.

The other part of losing useful teeth? Once the tooth is gone, the bone support atrophies, or disappears, soon after the tooth is removed unless something is done to preserve the bone.

That's where implants can help. If placed immediately after tooth extraction, supporting bone is preserved, and the process of restoring a useful tooth begins right away. Here's a case where that happened.

The tooth at center has a hopeless outlook, becasue the root has split, and an abscess is starting on the left root. The patient really wanted to chew with that tooth--it is his favorite chewing side.

We removed the tooth and immediately secured an implant in the site.

We then restored the stable implant with a crown 2 months after extraction, seen in the lower right corner of the x-ray.

Implants can really change your life. Call us for a free consultation with an exam and x-rays (Value $205) to discuss how we can help you!

One-day smile makeover--direct veneers

This patient was graduating with her doctorate in about a week, and wanted to eliminate the gaps and "the snaggle tooth" from her smile before she moved home. We recommended direct composite resin veneers. This treatment was done in a single visit, and is the most conservative aesthetic choice for improving smiles. It did not involve any cutting of teeth.

Direct composite veneers are much less expensive than costly veneer treatments which usually require cutting or trimming tooth structure. She was thrilled with the outcome, and so were we! Call us today for a free consultation (value $165) to find out if direct veneers a re the right choice for you.

Fellowship Achieved for Implant Dentistry

Dr. Rafoth recently received his fellowship degree from the American Dental Implant Association!

This advanced degree in implant surgery and implant dentistry was presented after he completed an extensive hands-on training program. Although he has been performing implant surgery since 2000, Dr. Rafoth wanted to continue his education and improve his surgical techniques with ongoing training.

Our office is providing the latest advances and procedures for implant dentistry, including computed tomography (CT) imaging, computer-aided implant placement, mini dental implants, bone grafting, and more.

We are certain that implants can change the lives of our patients, becasue we have seen the results with many patients we have treated! If you want to feel confident about eating, speaking, and smiling again, call our office today for a free consultation (value $205) to see how implants can help you.