Fort Lauderdale Surgeon Offers New Dental Implant Option
POSTED: Friday, May 11, 2007
UPDATED: 3:07 pm EDT May 14,
2007
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Dental implants are so popular it's estimated that in the year 2011 it will become a billion dollar industry.
Implants can replace teeth that have fallen out, but this can only be done if there is bone on which the implants can be attached.A Fort Lauderdale surgeon is using a unique procedure to help rebuild bone and therefore rebuild smiles for many patients.Peter McGuire, 68, has a lot to smile about these days. He has a new set of teeth after living years without them."When I was younger I played sport and I had them knocked out and some of them got rotten and they've been out for a while," said McGuire.McGuire has new implants but they didn't come easy.Previous mini-implants did not work."They weren't a success because I had no bone left," said McGuire.Oral and maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Todd Sawisch was able to help McGuire using a new procedure that can rebuild the jawbone."I use a combination of methods one which we call PRP or platelet rich plasma where we harvest blood from the patient," said Sawisch.Then plateletes from that blood are mixed with bone harvested from the patient's body."The doctor took some bone out of my left leg," said McGuire."We know today that platelets are not just good for clotting but they also contain growth factors. These platelets with the growth factors are added into the bone graft or the tissue graft to enhance healing and speed up the recovery time," said Sawisch.It takes about 6-9 months to regenerate bone.The technology produces amazing results."We were able to reconstruct the lower jaw with a permanent denture that is not removed and the upper jaw has a removable denture that he can take out and clean," said Sawisch.Because McGuire's case was so detailed it took a total of a year and a half to get his new smile.But he said it was well worth the wait."I can eat much better. I'm not afraid to smile," said McGuire.McGire said he was surprised there was little to no pain during the entire process.To contact Dr. Todd Sawisch call 954-772-2000.
| See The Story On Local 10 at 6:25 a.m. and noon Thursday |
Copyright 2007 by Local10.com.
All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten
or redistributed.
A crash on U.S. 27 Tuesday morning kills one person and dozens of animals.
The NFL star convicted of dogfighting says speaking to youth groups, including the Overtown Youth Center, as part of his probation is "not just an obligation."
Call it a miracle. Doctors are treating a man who appears to have survived 27 days buried in the rubble following the earthquake in Haiti.
A man who was arrested last month after a crash in Key Biscayne that killed a bicyclist is back in jail.
Tourism officials are happy with the constant exposure the Super Bowl brought to South Florida, but they want to know: Where were the beauty shots?
02/08/10 A local doctor is treating a condition he calls 'text neck' that stems from the use of hand-held devices.
A man accused of running down a bicyclist while drunk had his bond revoked.
A man arrested last month after, police said, he hit and killed a bicyclist on Key Biscayne is back in jail Monday.
While NFL teams compete on the field, these cheerleaders entertain the fans from the sidelines.
It has been 25 years since the debut of the hit comedy "The Breakfast Club" in theaters. What are the stars of the film up to today?
People who illegally owned exotic animals -- such as pythons, lemurs or tortoises -- hand them over to wildlife officials. But what happens to the animals now?
One day after a victorious showdown at Sun Life stadium, the New Orleans Saints are on their way home to Louisiana.
Email Alerts
RSS News Feeds
Mobile
Live Streams
Slideshows
Video
Search
