A Periodontist is a dentist who specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of periodontal (gum) disease and also places and maintains dental implants. Periodontists receive extensive training in these areas, including three additional years of education beyond dental school.
By choosing a specialist you will benefit from the latest procedures for treating periodontal disease and placing dental implants tailored to your needs. In addition, they can perform cosmetic periodontal procedures to help you achieve the smile you desire.
Our team of dental professionals is here to provide you with an insanely great experience every time you come into the office. From the moment you step into our office, we want you to feel taken care of and safe in our hands. Below you can see some of our staff and learn a bit more about the team that we are very proud of assembling to make your treatment at Southern Arizona Periodontics as good as it can get!
Susan B. Sharp, DDS has been practicing Periodontics in the Tucson, AZ area since 1989. She earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery at theUniversity of the Pacific School of Dentistryin San Francisco, CA. She completed her 3 year hospital residency in Periodontology atUniversity of Maryland in Baltimore. In 1996, she received her board certification through the Diplomat of American AcademyBoard of Periodontology.
Dr. Sharp has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and was on the University Running Rebel pom line dance team. She and her husband Gary Sharp have three children: Bryan, David and Mary Ann. Dr. Sharp is a proudAlpha Phialumni. Dr. Sharp enjoys growing rare plants and organic food in her green houses. She also is a cycling enthusiast.
We have an incredible staff of dental professionals that help make our office that include customer service and scheduling, billing experts, hygienists and periodontists that tirelessly work to help improve the quality of life for all of our patients.
Teeth can be lost for a variety of reasons such as decay, trauma, or periodontal disease. Dental implants are a simple solution for replacing a lost or missing tooth, or even many teeth. Research has shown from well documented studies the long term results and benefits of dental implants. If provided by an experienced periodontist, dental implants can last a lifetime.
Losing teeth can really influence your life in a negative way. It can become harder to eat the foods you once enjoyed, your speech may start to be affected, you might even lose more teeth as a result of losing one or two. Dentures can be a hassle to take care of and a cause of discomfort. Fortunately, dental implants are able to replace your natural teeth in a comfortable, healthy, and permanent way. Dental implants mimic the root and crown of your natural teeth to such an impressive degree that you wont even notice the difference!
Modern dental implants are easily the most impressive advancement in dental history. Being able to fully replace a tooth in both form and function is no small feat. The fact that its a permanent replacement that is capable of preventing bone loss in your jaw makes it even more impressive. As a result, the demand for dental implants has skyrocketed and the production methods have become more effective, resulting in a higher quality, lower cost product.
Implants are carefully placed into your jaw bone through a surgical procedure. This procedure can be performed in our office with the use of local anesthesia and oral, general, or IV sedation. In the vast majority of cases patients who have undergone the dental implant procedure can return to work the day after the procedure. Cases where patients ten to miss more work are ones in which the patient has multiple implants place in one day.
Once placed the implants will require several months to heal, during which time the bone in your jaw will grow around them in a process known as osseointegration. Once the bone has grown to a point that it can properly support the implants in the act of chewing it will be time to place the rest of the prosthesis on them. It can take anywhere from four to nine months to place the final prosthesis on the implant posts but there are situations where we will place them the same day. There are usually at few visits to our office in between placement of the post and the prosthesis in order to ensure that everything is healing properly.
Sometimes we are able to place implants and provide temporary prosthetic teeth at the same time. This is not a simple or necessarily common occurrence but it does happen occasionally. Make sure to inquire with us if this is something that interests you and we will see if you are a good candidate for this procedure.
Implant Site Preparation During the evaluation, we will determine whether or not you have enough bone mass in your jaw to support dental implants. If you do not there are plenty of ways that we can bolster your bone mass before beginning the implant procedure in order to give you enough bone to support your implants. In the event that we need to add bone mass to your mouth we refer to the process of doing so as implant site preparation. Here are some of the different kinds of implant site preparation procedures.
Extraction Site Preparation One of the more common forms of implant site prep, extraction site preparation happens while we are extracting teeth that are (typically) in the way of the prosthesis that we will eventually place. Site recovery can require up to six months to heal and allow for the bone to harden adequately.
Ridge Augmentation The ridge of your jaw is where the teeth sit. In the event that a patient has gone without teeth for some time, the ridge can suffer bone loss. Using ridge augmentation we build the ridge to prepare the jaw bone to receive an implant.
Sinus Augmentation The maxillary sinuses are located above your upper molars. The sinus cavities are the passages through which air travels from your nostrils to the back of your throat. They are short, winding passages that are lined with a thin membrane. It is important for us to take the sinus cavity into consideration when placing implants in the posterior roof of your mouth.
It sometimes becomes necessary to lift the sinus cavity out of the way of the implant, in order to avoid damaging any part of your sinus cavity and to ensure that the implant will have adequate support.
Vertical Sinus Augmentation When there is some bone remaining between the sinus and the planned implant site we can sometimes push it up toward the sinus and fill the void left behind using a vertical sinus augmentation. After the bone has been altered we can place a graft in the site where the bone was moved from. Implants are typically placed between 4 and 6 months after this procedure is finished.
Lateral Sinus Augmentation When there is very little bone left between the procedure sit and the sinus cavity/lining lateral sinus augmentation allows for the most amount of bone regeneration possible. We create a window to the side of the jawbone and expose the sinus membrane with it. The membrane is carefully lifted using this window in order to provide room for the bone grafting material that we will then place below it. Implant placement can sometimes follow immediately but often require 4-6 months to be placed following this procedure.
During this phase, we will place the titanium posts into your jaw. We do this in our office using a local anesthetic (Novocain) and oral or IV sedation, depending on what you prefer. We do offer a board-certified anesthesiologist for those who wish to undergo IV or general sedation just let us know what you would like ahead of time.
This is the most intensive portion of the procedure and will (typically) require a decent amount of recovery and healing time. Implants often sit submerged below the gum line and are difficult or impossible to see. Sometimes they are left exposed and look a bit like a round piece of metal that is flush with the gum line. During recovery, the bone around your implant is hardening and growing around the implant threads in a process called osseointegration.
During recovery from this procedure you can wear temporary prosthesis and may need to resort to a softer foods diet. You can usually return to work the day following the procedure. We prescribe medication to ensure your comfort as well as antibiotics.
If the implants are submerged in your gums while your recovery this will be a necessary following procedure. Once we are confident that the bone has integrated with the implant we can follow up with this minor procedure. We will uncover the implants and attach a healing collar to the top of them. The collar helps to keep them exposed while giving your gums a clear boundary of where the prosthetic will sit in order to prep the area.
After several week the soft tissues of your mouth will be healed enough for us to take some impressions of your mouth. We will use these impressions to fabricate the prosthesis that will be held in place by your implant. Implants can serve as the foundation for single teeth, dental bridges, even full dentures be supported in a permanent way by implants. It will take several weeks for the prosthesis to be fabricated.
Once healing is done and the prosthesis has been fabricated it will be time to attach the prosthesis. We place an abutment on top of the implant, which gives the prosthesis the surface area that it need to be attached firmly to the implant. We use a permanent dental cement when placing permanent prostheses.
When you have your finished implants and restorations placed, thats just the beginning of your life with your implant. Just like anything that you want to stay nice, you have to treat is nicely. Dental implants can last you many decades, even your whole life if they are cared for properly. Make sure to take care of your teeth at home and come in regularly for professional examinations and cleanings.