C4
ADVERTISING FEATURE
FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2022
timescolonist.com | TIMES COLONIST
e xpl or e FA R M F R E S H / S H O P S / L O C A L E AT S / W I N E R I E S / WA L K I N G T R A I L S
Ask The Dentist! by Dr. C Ross Crapo DDS
A Bridge Too Far Q: I am a thirty five year old man who has led a very active life as a child, teenager and adult. I’m interested in and play most sports. Five years ago I lost four front teeth playing hockey when I caught a stick fighting for a puck behind the net. They tried to save the teeth but they were too badly broken so they had to come out. At that time I decided to go with a removable partial because I didn’t want to spend a lot of money only to have an expensive bridge knocked out. I’ve decided recently to spend more time as mentor and coach to my three boys and one daughter so it’s time to get my teeth fi xed. I know about the fi xed bridge option but I have enough bone for implants.
do a conventional bridge using your own teeth as the anchor teeth you not only cut down natural teeth but you will have to (most likely) use two bicuspids (teeth behind the eye tooth) on the right side and your lateral incisor and le eye tooth in order to have enough strength for stability and longevity. The roots on most bicuspids and lateral incisors are not strong enough to take the forces generated at your right eye tooth location so in time the bridge will fail. Placing an implant in the right eye tooth position and one in the le central incisor position to create a bridge would work. You would get great service from it. Because this area of your mouth is in
My dentist said that two implants would do to make an implant bridge and that would be best because the teeth on each side of my gap have no fi llings. When I asked about replacing each tooth with an implant and a crown he said it wasn’t necessary. What would you advise? By the way I lost my upper right eye tooth and three other front teeth beside it, only my le lateral front tooth and the eye tooth remain. A: You are fortunate to have retained good bone volume. Accidents like yours o en cause severe bone loss. I would recommend you not do a conventional bridge. The eye tooth takes tremendous force in the mouth. If you
I
the aaesthetic zone of your esthetic zone of your smile, over time the bridge might appear less aaesthetic because your underlying bone will shrink. The strongest and most aesthetic option is four implants and four crowns. It is the most esthetic option and the most expensive, but it will prevent bone shrinkage and you will develop papilla (gum between the teeth) which will give you a natural
look. Strength, beauty, and preservation of bone makes this the best option. Use what you’ve got today to prevent loss tomorrow
If we can help, we’d like to. Call for a consultation. Based on actual patient cases
VICTORIA IMPLANT CENTRE 778-410-2080 VictoriaImplantCentre.com
Let’s Talk Earwax
’ll admit, most of the stuff our bodies excrete grosses me out. Earwax, which you can call cerumen if you’re feeling fancy, is the exception. Generally, people don’t spend much time thinking about their earwax, but it’s actually pre y interesting stuff. Firstly, earwax isn’t wax. Cerumen is made up of a combination of sebum (an oily substance produced by your body’s sebaceous glands), skin cells from the ear canal, sweat and dirt. Secondly, cerumen has an important purpose. The ear produces it to clean and protect itself. It has natural antimicrobial properties to prevent bacterial infections. It also traps dust and other particles before they can get
deeper in your ear canal and cause bigger problems. When you chew or talk, the muscles in your ear canal push the cerumen, and the debris trapped in it, outward to exit the canal. Another interesting fact is that not all earwax is the same. It’s greatly controlled by genetics. Cerumen can be either wet or dry, with most people having wet earwax because it’s the dominant gene. The consistency of cerumen can change based on your environment and diet. Despite how cool cerumen is, you can have too much of a good thing. Excess wax can cause issues such as earaches, temporary hearing loss, ear infections, and even a persistent cough if it happens to stimulate the branch of the vagus nerve
that runs near the ear canal. If you have too much wax, sticking co on swabs, bobby pins or paper clips in your ear is not a good idea. You’ll likely just end up pushing the wax in further, past the point where your ears can excrete it naturally. Generally, wax can be safely removed by your physician or you can contact your audiologist to set up an appointment to have it taken care of. At Hear Inc. our audiologists are certified to remove cerumen using irrigation (flushing the canal with water), instruments (stainless steel cure es or forceps), or suction (a small vacuum specifically designed for this purpose). Call 778-351-1145 to set up your appointment at Hear Inc. for all of your hearing needs.
Looking to grow your business on the Saanich Peninsula? CONTACT: Saskia Elias 250.380.5288 selias@timescolonist.com Ramona Maximuk 250.995.4414 rmaximuk@timescolonist.com
g n i d i h p o t S e l i m s r u o y Welcoming New Patients
FAMILY • RESTORATIVE • IMPL ANT & COSMETIC DENTISTRY
✆ 778 410 2067 #206-4400 Chatterton Way • drcrapo.com