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April 12, 2023 When you lose one or more teeth, it affects your quality of life in several ways. Fortunately, there are a number of treatments available that can restore missing teeth, with dental implants widely considered to be the gold standard. At Mercer Island Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, one of the most common questions we receive is how long dental implants will last. They are often touted......

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April 12, 2023 It is the goal of every oral surgeon to help you keep your natural teeth for as long as possible, hopefully for the entirety of your lifetime. However, some situations may emerge in which a tooth is either too damaged or too diseased to be salvaged, in which case the best option is to extract and replace it. At Mercer Island Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery,......

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April 5, 2023 Having your wisdom teeth removed temporarily changes aspects of your daily life while you recover. There are certain things you cannot do, should not do, and should do while healing. One of the things you should not do is drink from straws. Drinking from a straw while recovering from surgery can wreak havoc on your oral health and cause a lot of pain and discomfort.......

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March 29, 2023 Sometimes, despite your best efforts to take care of your teeth, you may encounter a situation requiring your teeth to be extracted (or pulled). Tooth extraction is a serious procedure that is not taken lightly by oral surgeons. Dr. Streelman would only recommend extracting a tooth for specific medical reasons. Severe Decay Severe tooth decay occurs when acid and plaque build up on your teeth.......

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March 29, 2023 Following dental implant procedures, you have to be careful about what you eat. The implant sites need time to fully heal in order to avoid infection. Implant posts also need time to fully integrate into your jawbone. Therefore, you should avoid chewing at the dental implant site when possible, which affects what you can safely eat after implant placement. Here’s what to eat following a......

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March 22, 2023 On average, around 5 million Americans undergo wisdom teeth removal every year. It is a very common procedure with a comparatively short recovery time. However, there is still a recovery process that may temporarily affect your diet, your ability to work, and your exercise regimen.  If you are preparing for wisdom teeth removal, you may wonder just how much recovery time you will need before......

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March 15, 2023 Every surgical procedure comes with its own recovery process, and corrective jaw surgery is no exception. You might be surprised to learn that recovering from corrective jaw surgery is not as difficult as it may seem. Here is more information on recovering from corrective jaw surgery. Types of Corrective Jaw Surgeries There are many different types of jaw surgeries that can address health conditions and......

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March 8, 2023 Corrective jaw surgery is a reconstructive procedure that fixes issues with the alignment of your jaw.  When your jaw is misaligned, your smile may appear crooked, but there are potentially far worse problems brewing under the surface. Misaligned jaw bones can contribute to a host of health issues affecting how you eat, how you sleep, and the overall health and longevity of your teeth. If......

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March 1, 2023 If you are preparing for wisdom teeth removal, you may be wondering what foods you will have to cut out while you recover. You want to be careful about what you eat and how you eat to help your healing process be as smooth, easy, and quick as possible. Recovering from Wisdom Teeth Removal When recovering from wisdom teeth removal, you should wait a minimum......

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March 30, 2022 One of the ultimate goals of dentistry is to help people keep their teeth for as long as possible. Sometimes, natural teeth may become so damaged or decayed that there is no viable way to salvage them. In these cases, the best clinical approach may be to extract the teeth and replace them with dental implants. Here again, longevity is a foremost concern: Dentists, oral...

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March 23, 2022 Dental implants are one of the most popular options for replacing lost or extracted teeth. They are durable and robust, replicating the look and feel of natural teeth while providing long-lasting results. Dental implants are effective because they are made from high-quality materials. To better understand the composition of dental implants, it is worth looking at the three basic elements: the implant itself, the connecting......

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