As the aging population life expectancy continues to increase, tooth loss that can occurred with increased aging changes, like decreased salivary flow can have long term effects of the facial structure around the upper and lower jaws. These changes happen when teeth are lost and not replaced, which also leads to bone loss. With continued bone loss, the facial structure begins to change, resulting in a premature aged appearance resulting in a collapse of the upper and lower face and lip support.
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Osseointegrated Dental Implants in Houston, TX

Patients who are missing teeth have a variety of tooth replacement options from which to choose, spanning the entire spectrum of restorative dentistry and oral surgery. At Piney Point Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Houston, Texas, Dr. Koo and Dr. Weil offer a comprehensive menu of restorative services that help patients reclaim their complete, healthy smiles and full function of their dentition, including osseointegrated dental implants.
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The future of implant dentistry appears bright for 2014 and beyond appears undisputed with no foreseeable replacement in technology foreseen in the next 10 years. However, implant dentistry will continue to evolve. Better oral hygiene with patients overall is expected to improve leading to evolution of more single tooth replacement, than full mouth replacement. Patient in turn will want better information on dental and overall health and treatment options. Technology will drive implants treatment planning to be more streamlined, blending different imaging technologies together. More implants will be done on each successive years but more complications will arise partially due to the increase in general dentists attempting more dental implants. Implant dentistry will be more prosthetic driven, meaning esthetics of how the tooth looks predominates. This is possible because of improvements in dealing with soft tissue and boney defects.
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This is a question that the surgeons at Piney Point Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, get often from our patients that live near Houston, Bellaire, Briargrove, Bunkerhill Village, Galleria, Hunters Creek Village, Lamar Terrace, Meyerland, Stafford and Sugarland. Obviously, many patients are anxious about the missing tooth and want to get a tooth replacement for the lost tooth as soon as possible. The answer to this question depends on a multiple of factors and can be broken down into 3 categories:
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The answer is an easier one : (more…)

INSURANCE FOR DENTAL IMPLANTS

The verdict is out on whether your dental insurance plans do cover implants. Our office finds that some insurances do cover dental implants in some cases. In the most highly covered plans, we find these to be plans in which our office has a negotiated agreement with. Some insurances cover only a portion of the implants costs. However, most insurance however do not cover dental implants because they consider the dental implants to be an elective procedure. In addition, many insurances also allow an annual limit for services rendered. Other the patient will have used up some of their benefits with routine services like cleaning, restorations, and x-rays. While dental implants are usually not covered, the crowns may be considered as basic services under most dental insurance plans providing the annual limit has not been reached
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At Piney Point OMS, our surgeons specialize in the management of various complications related to their dental implant treatments. Such complications can have a significant negative impact on the patients’ lives and their hopes of by causing them a multitude of bad experiences which include: less confidence, less money, and less bone. These patients often have had their poor experiences as traumatic, frustrating, painful, and difficult, leaving them less trusting for the next doctor.
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