Quality Dental Restorations in West Houston
With teeth being in such constant use, sometimes complications like cavities and tooth decay are inevitable. Although common, you should not ignore dental chips, cracks, and other types of damage to your smile. Fortunately, with the quality restorations Dr. Alma F. Payumo, DMD, provides, you can rest assured knowing your smile can return to its ideal health, form, and function in no time!
If you or a loved one are experiencing dental pain, sensitivity, or missing teeth, chances are you require restorative dental care. Let our skilled Houston team provide you will a renewed smile today!
CALL US: (713) 903-2556 REQUEST APPOINTMENT
Comprehensive Restoration Services in Houston, TX
At the the dental practice of Dr. Alma F. Payumo, DMD, we focus on providing high-quality dental services to meet your specific needs. Our time is dedicated to understanding your dental health, concerns, and goals. With strong communication, patient education, and a full understanding of your available treatment options, we can help you make the best choice for your smile.
Our restorative dental services include:
Why is Restoring Teeth Important?
Once you lose your baby teeth as a kid, your permanent, adult teeth erupt, and that’s it. You only get that final set of teeth for the rest of your life, so, if you lose a tooth permanent tooth as an adult, it won’t grow back. When teeth are broken, fractured, or severely damaged, they will not heal on their own.
Compromised dental structures should be restored and damage repaired to help preserve the health of neighboring teeth and the overall smile. Restoring teeth also helps correct bite alignment to encourage comfortable chewing and speaking.
Do I Need Full Dentures, Partial Dentures, or a Bridge?
Dentures and partial dentures are both designed to replace multiple missing teeth discreetly. However, the critical factor in determining which appliance is best for your smile is how many teeth are missing.
Our trusted outside lab fabricates full and partial dentures from digital images of your exact smile.
If you’re missing most, or all of your teeth, full dentures are often the ideal choice. However, if you’re only missing a few teeth, then we may typically recommend using a partial denture.
The base for a denture prosthetic is made of gum-colored resins that can rest on top of your natural gums. This base holds a set of artificial teeth crafted from realistic materials.
For situations where you may have some tooth loss, but have healthy natural teeth left, a dental bridge may be your best option. These prosthetics bridge the gap between missing teeth and healthy ones that remain. Bridges can either be supported by crowns attached to adjacent teeth or secured with dental implants for long-lasting durability.
How Can Dental Implants Fix My Tooth Loss for Good?
Dental implants are titanium posts that are surgically inserted into the jawbone. Their components are readily accepted by the body, so they fuse naturally with living tissue and bone in a process called osseointegration. It is this fusing that allows implants to serve as artificial tooth roots that are both reliable and long-lasting. Because dental implants are a complete and permanent solution, they can restore missing teeth from root to crown.
Why Replace Missing Teeth with Dental Implants?
In addition to repairing chips, crack, and fractures, restorations using dental implants makes it possible to replace one or many missing teeth from root to crown. Missing even one tooth can severely impact many aspects of your oral health.
Effects on Your Gums and Jawbone
When you lose a tooth, it disrupts the connection between the roots, the structure, and the underlying jawbone. Your gums and jawbone are no longer stimulated through the tooth root by chewing, so the jawbone begins to shrink, and your gums pull back. Gaps can also affect neighboring teeth as they begin to shift towards the site of the missing tooth, weakening the whole row, and increase the risk of additional tooth loss.
Effects on Your Appearance
Due to the lack of essential stimulation, the jawbone structure responsible for preserving facial features begins to shrink, causing facial structures to shift and sage. The lack of stimulation can lead to a sunken, aged appearance. The bottom line is, every tooth is important!
How Many Teeth Can Dental Implants Replace?
When custom restoration appliances are combined with dental implants, there is no limit to how many teeth can be replaced. We provide the following prosthetics supported by dental implants:
- Crowns for single-tooth replacement
- Bridges for restoring one to several lost teeth
- Dentures for multiple missing teeth
Our team has worked with the same trusted outside dental lab for many decades, allowing us to provide custom restorations with your specific needs in mind.
The Dental Implant Process
The first step is to take detailed x-rays and perform a thorough exam. In most cases, anyone healthy enough to undergo oral surgery can be a viable candidate for dental implants. However, for implants to fuse properly, gums should be free of inflammation and infection, and the jawbone should be healthy and dense enough to hold the implants in place.
After the targeted area is numb, the titanium implant is surgically placed into the bone and gum tissue. When the implant is secure, a second component called an abutment is set on top of the post. Depending on where your implant is located, you may need a temporary restoration installed. These components will remain in place during the healing process, which is usually three to four months.
After you have healed, we will take another series of impressions that will be used by the lab to create your custom crown. After this restoration is placed, you will have a fully functioning tooth that will last for many years with the proper care. Brush and floss daily and visit our office for routine exams so we can advise you if additional treatment is necessary.
Renewing Strength and Function with Porcelain Crowns
A crown is a prosthetic cover that is designed to look and feel like a natural tooth. We typically use crowns to restore teeth that have experienced damage that a filling cannot repair. Our team prefers to use porcelain materials to ensure your prosthetic matches your smile. Crowns are extremely popular because they’re versatile and can be used as a single service or added to many other treatments to help improve function and aesthetics.
Crowns can:
- Protect weak, worn, or damaged teeth
- Cover and support teeth with large fillings
- Hold bridges in place
- Replace a single missing tooth with a dental implant
- Renew misshapen or severely discolored teeth
- Preserve a tooth after root canal therapy
Why Do I Need a Crown After Root Canal Therapy?
After a root canal, crowns are needed because there is a higher risk of fracture to these teeth. This protection is especially important for back molars, or teeth that endure the full force of biting, chewing, and grinding. Each tooth has an inner chamber of blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissues, known as the pulp. When this chamber is exposed due to damage, there is a high chance it may become infected from bacteria.
How is Root Canal Therapy Done?
When performing a root canal, our experienced dentist carefully removes the damaged pulp tissue. This procedure is often the last line of defense to save your natural tooth from extraction, helping preserve as much structure as possible. Our first step of the procedure is to administer a local anesthetic and make sure you are comfortable.
Next we will make a small opening at the top of the tooth and remove the decay. Once we remove the infected tissue, we will then disinfect the tooth, and fill the chamber with antibacterial material, significantly reducing the chance for further damage. Root canal therapy is designed to help save teeth, ensure better overall oral health, and alleviate pain.
5 Benefits of Root Canal Therapy
- Quick pain relief
- Save a tooth from extraction
- Improve the look of your smile
- Restores proper function
- Protection against further damage
Patient-Focused Restorative Care You Can Trust!
At Dr. Alma F. Payumo’s dental office, we are proud to provide quality restorations from a team of skilled professionals you can trust. For more information about our restorative dental care procedures, please feel free to give our Houston, TX, office a call for prompt and compassionate care.
CALL US: (713) 903-2556 REQUEST APPOINTMENT
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