Office Location: 540 East Main Street, Lexington, KY 40508
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Archives for April 2019

Emergency Dentist for Implant Pain?

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Yesterday the area around my dental implant felt tender. I wasn’t too worried because it is surgery and does take time to heal. This morning, however, I woke up to that side of my face swollen. As it is the weekend, should I call an emergency dentist or do I need to wait until Monday and see my actual dental implant dentist?

Marina

Dear Marina,

Woman grabbing her jaw in pain, in need of an emergency dentist

It sounds like you have an infection brewing and a strong one at that. Any time there is pain, it is considered a dental emergency. So, yes, you need to be seen as soon as possible and not wait until Monday.

Infection is the leading cause of dental implant failure so you don’t want to put off getting this seen. Because it is regarding your dental implant, you need to call your office first. Most dentists have protocols in place for emergency situations such as yours.

If for some reason yours does not, you can do an internet search for an “emergency” dentist in your area. At the very least, they can call you in some broad spectrum antibiotics to hold this infection at bay. Though, I’d see if there was a dentist who sees emergency patients who also has experience in implant dentistry.

If the Dental Implant Fails

If you end up with the unfortunate result of your dental implant failing, that’s not necessarily the end of hope. Instead, you can try again. The only difference being you would need to have bone grafting done. This will build back up the bone lost during the procedural failure. Then, when that is healed you can try again.

Sometimes a dentist can do everything right and the procedure still fails. Everyone’s body responds differently to surgery. However, when done by an experienced implant dentist, the success rate is 98-99%. Those are good odds.

This blog is brought to you by Lexington Dentist Dr. John Weaver.

Can I Get All My Work Done at Once?

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I need a lot of dental work done. I need three root canal treatments with dental crowns and four other cavities to fill. I’d like to get it done all in one appointment to avoid multiple trips to the dentist. Sort of take a personal day at work and be done with it. Is that possible.

Elliot

Dear Elliot,

Woman asleep from dental sedation
Sedation dentistry is sometimes called sleep dentistry…for a reason.

You are a brave person. Most people try to avoid dental work and you’re ready to jump right in there all at once. Every dentist has different policies when it comes to how much work they are willing to do at once.

You will find that the dentists who are willing to do the most in one sitting are sedation detnists.

For the level of work you are looking at you’ll want a dentist who does oral conscious sedation. This will make you very sleepy. Most patients sleep through the appointment, which is in part why you can have so much done in one appointment.

However, the sedation is so strong you’ll need someone to drive you to and from your appointment. You’ll also need them to stay with you while you recoorperate throughout the day. You’ll want them there until you are lucid and able to easily get around.

Cosmetic Considerations

You’re having a lot of work done, including dental crowns. You didn’t say where the crowns were. In case they will be visible when you smile, I want you to be aware about coloring.

The color of the crowns created for your teeth undergoing the root canal treatment is permanent. If you are pleased with the current color of your teeth than there is nothing further to think about.

However, if you’ve ever toyed with the idea of whitening them, the time to do it is before your have your dental crowns made. This saves you the money of having to re-do them after you whiten them later.

I know you like doing things quickly, so ask your dentist about in-office teeth whitening. This whitens your teeth completely in just one appointment.

Best of luck to you.

This blog is brought to you by Lexington, KY Dentist Dr. John Weaver.