Courtesy of Tampa Bay Smile Makers
You can go to the dentist every six months to clean yourself, but sometimes that just isn’t enough to meet your dental needs. At Tampa Bay Smile Makers, Dr. Michael McNeill and his team offer tailor-made, long-lasting hybrid implants (or implant-borne prostheses) to replace missing teeth and restore the full functionality of your smile.
“Your teeth are designed to last a lifetime, but sometimes not,” says Dr. McNeill. “Replacing missing teeth is important to your overall health and the health of your other teeth. Not only do you lose chewing ability when a tooth is lost, but unreplaced teeth can cause other teeth to be lost, tilted, or overcrowded, and cause subsequent problems. There are also the obvious problems of bad appearance and loss of self-esteem caused by one or more missing teeth. “
Dental implants are replacements for the roots of missing teeth. They serve as an anchor for a replacement tooth or a “crown” or a set of replacement teeth. Implants are also considered to be more predictable than bridges and resin-bonded bridges, and are a good next step in dental care when a root canal fails.
When looking at implants, Dr. McNeill started using a state-of-the-art 3D CAT scanner to get a realistic representation of a patient’s jaw and help them plan the best treatment options for each person.
“Implants may be the right choice for anyone who is missing one or more or even all of their teeth due to injury, disease, or tooth decay,” says Dr. McNeill.
One of the newest treatment options from Dr. McNeill are immediate or same-day implants that can be placed on the same day a tooth is removed. Dr. McNeill offers a wide range of cosmetic dental treatment options, including veneers, crowns, bonds and tooth reshaping. His practice also includes Dr. T. Gregory Jacobs, an in-house board certified prosthodontist who specializes in complex dental implant cases.