Sinus Augmentation in Easton, PA

If you lose any of your posterior teeth, known as premolars or molars, it can increase the amount of force placed on your remaining teeth and negatively affect your bite and oral health. This makes replacing extracted teeth incredibly important, and dental implants provide a long-lasting solution to these gaps in your smile. However, there isn’t always enough room in the upper jaw for dental implants to be placed. When this lack of space is caused by the position of the sinus or because of bone loss, Dr. Alan Dilsaver can perform a sinus augmentation at our office in Easton, PA.  

A sinus augmentation—also called a sinus lift—is performed by repositioning the sinus floor and adding bone so that there is enough space for a dental implant to be inserted. A variety of grafting materials are used to encourage bone to grow more quickly into the area and help stabilize the dental implant.

The bone used in a sinus augmentation may come from the patient’s own body (autogenous bone), a donor (allogeneic bone) or from cow bone (xenograft). Dr. Dilsaver will cut the gum tissue where the missing back teeth used to be in order to expose the bone. Then a small oval window is opened in the bone to gain access to where the sinus meets the jaw, and the sinus floor is pushed up and away from the jaw. Granules of bone-graft material are then packed into the space where the sinus was, adding several millimeters of bone to the jaw.

Once the bone is in place, the tissue is closed with stitches and left to heal. Implants are usually installed four to nine months later after the grafted material meshes with your bone.

Whether you need a sinus augmentation or not, if you are looking to receive dental implants, we can make it happen at Lehigh Valley Smiles. To schedule an appointment, call (610) 252-7414. For more information, please visitwww.lehighvalleysmiles.net. 

Wisdom Teeth Extractions in Easton, PA

Your third and final molars to emerge are your wisdom teeth, which usually come in when you are between 17 and 25 years old. While many people do not experience problems with these new teeth, many others find that theirs must be removed. If your mouth does not have enough room for these molars to come in, a wisdom tooth extraction is necessary, and at our office in Easton, PA, Dr. Alan Dilsaver can determine whether a wisdom tooth extraction is the best course of action for you.

Wisdom teeth are usually removed because they become impacted, which means that the tooth does not have enough room to come in straight through the gums and instead emerges at an angle. This can cause pain, damage to the jaw and a more crooked smile. Additionally, the site of impaction can become a bacterial hotspot since impacted wisdom teeth are hard to clean.

Wisdom teeth extractions can range from removing a single tooth to removing all four teeth at once. Dr. Dilsaver will let you know what he thinks is best for you. For the procedure, he will use either a local anesthetic to numb the area or a general anesthetic to sedate you while the teeth are extracted. The tooth will then be accessed through an incision in the gums and wiggled until it is loose enough to be lifted out. If the tooth is too deeply embedded to be removed this way, it will be broken up into pieces before being removed.

Whether you are already feeling pain due to impacted wisdom teeth or have not yet felt them come in, we can determine if your wisdom teeth will cause problems for you. To schedule an appointment at Lehigh Valley Smiles, call (610) 252-7414. For more information, visit www.lehighvalleysmiles.com.

Crown Lengthening

A dentist’s first goal is always to save your teeth, which means that dental professionals have developed many dental procedures that help prevent tooth extraction. One such procedure is crown lengthening, which we use at Lehigh Valley Smiles in cases where decay has decimated a tooth to a point where there is not enough tooth structure left upon which to fix a crown.

If a tooth has broken below the gum line or if decay has developed underneath an existing crown or filling, crown lengthening allows a new crown to be placed rather than extracting the tooth.

While called crown lengthening, this common surgical procedure does not actually lengthen the crown. What it does is lower the gum line, and it does this by removing gum tissue, bone or both to expose more of the tooth and provide a foundation for the crown.

The procedure is performed with a local anesthesia to numb the area. When the area is fully numb, Alan Dilsaver will make cuts to pull the gums away from the teeth and expose the roots and surrounding bone. In some cases, removing a little of the gum tissue will expose enough of the tooth for placing a crown. However, it is more likely that some bone will also have to be removed from around the roots of the teeth. After removing the necessary amount of tissue and bone, the area will be washed and the gums stitched.

Our office works hard to always protect your teeth and to provide the best quality of dental care available. For more information about Dr. Dilsaver and his services, visit www.lehighvalleysmiles.net. Call (610) 252-7414 to schedule an appointment at our office in Easton, PA.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a serious disorder that affects the way you breathe while sleeping, causing your breath to become interrupted for 10 to 20 seconds at a time and jolting you out of your natural sleep rhythm multiple times a night. As a result, your energy, mental acuity and productivity can suffer. Over time, sleep apnea can even lead to serious health problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and weight gain.

At Lehigh Valley Smiles, we use oral surgery to treat sleep apnea and increase the quality of sleep and life for patients.  Oral surgery relieves sleep apnea symptoms by removing the blockage caused by excess tissue, which vibrates and blocking the upper air passages. Once way this is done is through UPPP, or uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, which involves removing excess tissue from the upper mouth and throat while under general anesthesia. Maxillomandibular advancement is another procedure used to treat sleep apnea. This procedure moves the lower jaw forward, away from the rest of facial bones, which allows more room behind the soft palate and reduces any obstruction.

If these treatments fail to relieve your sleep apnea, a tracheostomy can be performed. A tracheostomy is when a tube is inserted into your throat to allow breathing. The tube is covered during the day while you are awake and then opened at night while you sleep.

If you believe you have sleep apnea, call (610) 252-7414 to schedule an appointment. For more information, visit www.LehighValleySmiles.net.