Ask Dr Gerald Tan: Missing Teeth and Dental Implants

Hello Z, In Singapore, general dentists are trained to remove wisdom teeth. You can see your general dentist to have an assessment of the position of your wisdom teeth with X-rays and determine the difficulty of removing the tooth. If your dentist feels that there may be difficulty e. g, the wisdom tooth is dangerously close to a nerve, then your dentist will refer you to an appropriate specialist. If there are no problems anticipated with your tooth, then your general dentist would be well able to remove it. Certainly, you can see a specialist directly to remove your wisdom tooth.

Thank you for your question. I am sorry to hear about your accident. “What dentistry procedures would you recommend to replace the tooth? Is implant the best option? ” I assume that the teeth in question are your 2 front teeth? The methods that you can consider to replace your front tooth would be: Dental Implant: Most stable and aesthetic if done well, highest longevity if well maintained. However it is costly and there is a need for surgery. (Dental implant costs are Medisave claimable for the surgical component) Bridge: Good aesthetics achievable.

The answer to the question truly depends on a number of factors. The most important thing is about what your dad wants. For example, if he does not want any form of surgery at all, then a denture or perhaps a dental bridge may be instead a better option for him. Whilst a denture would be suitable for him to regain confidence and smiling, there is a difference in terms of bite strength a dental implant has over a denture. It would be possible to bite into an apple with a denture, however it would be far much easier if he had dental implants to eat harder food.

Hi there, The need to replace a second molar depends on the bite and the neighbouring teeth. Basically, if there are teeth around it then replacement would be ideal to to prevent the movement of the neighbouring teeth. Teeth tend to drift into a space if it is present. If the opposing second molar in the other jaw is present, the lack of an opposing second molar would result in an overgrowth of the that tooth as it has no partner to bite on. This will not happen slowly, it happens over the next couple of years.

“What are mini implants? ” Mini dental implants, as its name suggests, are generally of a smaller diameter (<3mm), thus they are thinner than that of normal implants. They normally come with the abutment and the implant as a piece, whereas for conventional dental implants the pieces are separated. You could picture the mini implants as nail screws and traditional implants as bolt and cap nuts. “How does it differ from traditional dental implants?