Chelsea Diamond, DMD

Sensodyne toothpastes may take up to 2 weeks for you to feel relief. I would starting using sensodyne 2 weeks before you start whitening and continue brushing your teeth with sensitive toothpaste for the weeks following the procedure. During the first 24 hours after whitening treatment, some patients can experience some tooth sensitivity or pain. This is normal and is usually mild, but it can be worse in susceptible individuals. Normally, tooth sensitivity or pain following a treatment subsides within 24 hours, but in rare cases can persist for longer periods of time. Sensodyne toothpaste can help minimize this discomfort.

You seem very knowledgable on the steps/procedure. It can get confusing, especially because there are two types of abutments placed throughout the process. One is by the oral surgeon and one is by the general dentist.
After the implant is placed and heals within the bone, the oral surgeon uncovers the implant and places a healing abutment. This abutment gets your gums ready for the crown so it looks natural. You usually see the general dentist 2 weeks after the healing abutment is placed for an impression to have a custom abutment and crown made for your implant. This abutment is the connector between the implant and the crown.

When you don’t replace a missing tooth, several things can happen in your mouth that lead to oral health care issues.
1. After a while, the teeth on either side of the gap will start to drift inward where the missing tooth used to be. This will throw off the alignment of the rest of your teeth and can lead to an increase chance of cavities and bite issues.
2. When there is a missing tooth, the bone is not being stimulated. This leads to bone loss in the area of the missing tooth and around the roots of the adjacent teeth, compromising them.

Caring for your veneers is simple. All you need to do is brush and floss regularly, and schedule regular visits with your dentist every 6 months. There is no special maintenance involved or special cleaning. All hygienists are trained to clean teeth with extensive dental work.

It’s important to communicate with your dentist and express your concern. Your treating dentist should be aware of your goals and what you hope to achieve with your new bridge. It’s hard to say how different your permanent bridge will be because I do not know your doctor’s work flow. However, temporary restorations do not feel like your final restorations, which will be smoother and more life like in appearance.

In my office, the temporary acts as a blueprint of where the teeth should be in terms of alignment, the size and the shape. It allows us to basically pinpoint areas of weaknesses or areas for improvement, so that when you get the final bridge, you’ll be exactly where you envisioned your smile to be.