Smiling About Dental Implants

JORDAN PYSZ / iFoundMyDoctor.com
Edie admits she is smiling as much as possible to show off her implant-supported lower plate. The new bottom denture also makes eating easier.

Armed with a degree in fashion technology, Edith “Edie” Nicholson thrived for years in the garment industry in her native Pennsylvania. When she started a family, she chose to become a stay-at-home mom. After her children grew older, Edie returned to the workforce, but she didn’t revisit the fashion world.

“That’s not a field you can walk back into easily,” Edie notes. “But I could be a paraprofessional, like a teacher’s aide, without having to get more education. My degree was all I needed to qualify to be in the classroom. And I felt like I had good training to work with kids because I raised three children.”

Edie wound up working as a paraprofessional for 25 years, including eight years in Key Largo. It was a second career that she thoroughly loved.

“As a paraprofessional, you’re in the classroom with a teacher,” Edie describes. “You do anything necessary to prepare things for the teacher and assist with meeting the children’s needs. I just loved being with the children. I have always enjoyed spending time with small children.”

Working with kids made Edie happy. At the time, however, she was less than thrilled with the sorry state of her teeth, which she blames partly on cancer treatments and on herself for not caring better for her oral health.

“I had cancer 15 years ago, and the chemo and radiation badly damaged my bottom teeth,” Edie confirms. “But I probably didn’t have the best oral hygiene through the years. I wasn’t one to floss every day like you’re supposed to. The dentist gave me good guidance on how to take care of my teeth, but I ignored his advice.”

Over time, Edie’s dental woes worsened, and in 2020 she developed an abscess, or bacterial infection, in one of her bottom teeth.

“This happened just as I was preparing to leave Pennsylvania to come to Florida, where I spend the winter months,” Edie recalls. “So, as soon as I got to Florida, I called Venetian Dental because my partner had been there and had a good experience.”

Venetian Dental is the practice of Alexander Gaukhman, DMD, a general, cosmetic and emergency dentist who has offices in Venice and Osprey.

“The next day, they had me in the office, and they extracted the abscessed tooth,” Edie says. “After that, I continued to go there for my cleanings and routine care.”

Implant Advantages

In May 2023, while Edie was undergoing a routine cleaning, Dr. Gaukhman offered to tackle some other pressing issues for her.

“Because Ms. Nicholson was missing multiple teeth on her bottom jaw, she did not have proper biting pressure,” Dr. Gaukhman reports. “There were places in her mouth where there were no lower teeth to meet the upper teeth for effective chewing.

“In addition, her remaining lower teeth were failing, so I recommended extracting them and replacing them with a dental implant-secured lower denture, which would restore her bite function and eliminate her other dental issues.”

Dental implants are root-shaped, screw-like bodies that are surgically placed into the jawbone, where new bone naturally grows around them to form the foundation for an abutment and replacement teeth.

The replacement teeth can be a crown that is cemented or screwed onto the abutment, a partial bridge that can be affixed to one or more implants, or a full denture that can be fastened to a series of implants.

Unlike upper dentures, which fit securely in the mouth because the palate creates sufficient suction to hold the appliance in place, lower dentures often require implants.

“There’s no palate in the lower jaw due to the location of the tongue, so less suction is produced,” Dr. Gaukhman says. “Consequently, lower dentures tend to slip and slide if they’re not supported by dental implants.

“It’s rare that someone can wear a lower denture that doesn’t bother them or stays tight without help. Securing a lower denture with dental implants is the most effective way to stabilize it. That’s why I recommended implants to secure Ms. Nicholson’s lower denture.”

In addition to staying in place when patients speak and eat, dentures secured by implants provide added strength for biting and chewing, according to Dr. Gaukhman, who notes some other advantages of implant-secured dentures.

“Because the dentures are stable, patients experience better speech, better aesthetics and greater self-confidence,” he reports. “And they don’t have to worry about the denture coming out during dinner, conversation or activity. Also, while teeth decay, implants never decay.”

COURTESY PHOTO

Dentures in a Day

In most cases, Dr. Gaukhman offers patients Dentures in a Day, Venetian Dental’s single-visit smile-restoration technique. This process allows for the placement of implants on the same day the teeth are extracted. Typically, temporary dentures are created that day in an on-site laboratory.

“We begin by taking impressions of the teeth,” Dr. Gaukhman describes. “It takes a few hours for the lab to fabricate the dentures, but once they’re ready, we extract the teeth, seat the implants and place the denture right away. This way, the denture acts as a bandage to minimize swelling and bleeding. Moreover, patients do not need to walk around without teeth.

“The patient wears the temporary denture for three to six months following the implant procedure. The time allows the implants to integrate with the jawbone and for the tissues to heal. The temporary denture is then replaced with a permanent appliance that attaches to the implants. Once the permanent dentures are placed, we make any necessary adjustments to ensure a perfect fit.”

“Beautiful” Teeth

Dr. Gaukhman used this technique in treating Edie. He extracted her lower teeth, placed the implants and gave her a temporary denture to wear while everything healed.

“All of this happened while I was getting ready to go to Pennsylvania for the summer,” Edie explains. “But Dr. Gaukhman told me I would continue to have problems with my teeth if I didn’t address these issues.

“At the time, I was missing three teeth on the bottom, and a fourth was going bad. I also had lots of cavities in my bottom front teeth because of the chemo and radiation. I was losing bone in my jaw, and I was having trouble eating because my teeth didn’t match up.

“So, I made the decision to have all my bottom teeth removed and get implants and a full lower plate. I wore the temporary plate all summer, and when I got back to Florida in the fall, we started working on the permanent plate.

“I really enjoyed working with the gentleman that makes the dentures (Sergei Chemomorets). He was phenomenal, explaining everything along the way. He made a big impact on my care, as did Dr. Gaukhman.”

In November, Edie was finally fit with her permanent implant-secured lower denture. She’ says she is thrilled with the finished product and her outcome.

“I’m really happy with the way it looks,” Edie enthuses. “I sent pictures to my children right away, and my partner says I look really great. Now, I’m smiling as much as I can to show off these new bottom teeth, which look beautiful. Not only that, but having the plate has made it easier for me to eat.”
-Edie

One of Edie’s favorite pastimes is singing karaoke at the local VFW and Moose lodge. She initially had some concerns about singing with the temporary denture, but her anxiety was allayed after she received her permanent appliance.

“The biggest thing I was afraid of when I got all my bottom teeth out and got the temporary plate was that the plate would fly out of my mouth when I was singing,” Edie recalls. “It made doing something I love kind of scary.

“But the final plate clips onto the implants, which holds it steady. Now, I’m confident that I’ll do a good job at karaoke because this plate is secure. I don’t even have to use denture adhesive to keep it in place.”

Edie is more than satisfied with her implant-secured lower denture. She’s also impressed by the providers at Venetian Dental who made her positive outcome a reality.

“Dr. Gaukhman is very knowledgeable and efficient,” she raves. “If there’s business to be done, he does it; there’s no messing around. He did an excellent job extracting my teeth. I had no problems and no infection afterward. He placed two implants in my bottom jaw, and that process went great. He instructed me on how to care for my new plate as well.

“Everything at Venetian Dental has been great. I’m very pleased with my treatment and the hygienists that clean my teeth. They’re very knowledgeable and very good. The man who makes the dentures is really helpful. Everyone at that practice is wonderful.”