Santa Paula Dental Group

"By far the cleanest an best dental office I have been to. Staff and doctor very friendly and kind, had my crowns done they feel great, my husband will be going to them for implants. They have lots of technology and they seem very updated." says Maria on Google

After long time of contemplating, we are more than excited to have our own in-house milling system. Our brand-new just-out-of-the-box zirconia dry mill (Roland ...DWX-52D 5-axis), laboratory scanner (3Shape E3 complete restoration), 3D printer (SprintRay Pro 95 3D printer), and sintering furnace (KDF-Zircom) are here as part of our future workflow. These will supplement our existing i.o. milling machine and two intraoral scanners (Trios from 3Shape and iTero). A custom cabinetry was just built to accommodate them at a dedicated space in our building. We are all looking forward to it. See more

Clinical case of the day. Four conventional all-on-4 implants, two of them tilted, and two pterygoid implants. Pterygoid implants 4.2 x 18mm (right side) and 4....2 x 20mm (left side). Implants all Noris Medical. Having recently implemented pterygoid implants in our protocol, I wanted to elaborate on those in hopes of disseminating some thoughts and information to colleagues: Why implementing them? Well, if placed correctly, they can typically get a high insertion torque, 40 N/cm or higher, so by implementing two of them we adding-up 80-120 N/cm to the accumulating torque value which needs to be minimum 120 N/cm (Ole Jensen) for immediate loading. In my books, if 120 N/cm is minimum, anything more is better. All-on-4 none one 3. They provide a back-up in case tilted implants fail. We avoid sinus graft. IMHO there are two misconceptions some clinicians may have (I did have those myself as well till recently), so I wanted to take the initiative and address them to potential readers: The bone quality on the posterior maxilla is too soft. Well, pterygoid implants do not get stability on the maxillary bone, they pass through the maxillary bone, but they get in average 8mm of support at the pyramidal process of the palatine bone and the medial pterygoid plate of the sphenoid bone. They basically engage in 3 different bones. While the posterior maxillary area is typically very soft, the palatine and sphenoid bones consist usually of Type II bone quality and they offer superb primary stability. Pterygoid implants cannot be immediately loaded Well, this was a concept of the past, recent reports (see Dan Holtzclaw) support the implementation of immediate loading on pterygoid implants. They can bail you out in case bone quality in the anterior region is poor. Some tips for clinicians: 1. Typical length of pterygoid implants is 20 mm (see Nag using 25mm in most cases). Anything less than 18mm cannot reach to engage the palatine bone. Anything longer than 22mm if angled incorrectly may be flirting with the maxillary artery, this needs to be avoided at all cost. 2. Insertion area typically 10mm mesial to the distalmost area of the maxillary ridge. The more mesial you insert the implant the longer implant you will need to use to reach the palatine bone. 3. We chose to utilize Pteryfit implants from Noris Medical because they are designed exclusively and specifically for the pterygoid region; a specialized implant in my hands is very advantageous (i.e. 5mm of smooth cervical collar, very thin apical and much wider cervical area, lengths 18-25 mm, availability of a 45, 52, and 60 degree MUI). In the illustrated case, we fabricated a milled PMMA interim prosthesis to immediately load the implants. Much superior to any chairside conversion prosthesis, we have been having zero so far complications with those. We got superb torque in all anterior implants so IMHO if the accumulating torque value in the anterior region is 180 N/cm (45 for each implant) there is no need to immediately load the pterygoid implants; for those we followed the one-stage protocol by placing a MUA and healing abutments on top. This makes temporization much easier. The main limitations for implementing pterygoids: * There is a significant learning curve; the surgery is very technique sensitive even for the most experienced clinicians. * Prosthetics may be challenging too, will have a separate posting on this coming-up. Hope the above was useful; it was intended to stimulate some thoughts and share my experience on implementing pterygoid implants with colleagues. More to come shortly. See more

Always a privilege to complete cases like this when we have the opportunity to bring a smile, confidence, and a new life to patients. Regardless of the prosthetic design and technique elected, cases like this makes us feel blessed to have followed our profession. A total of 12 dental implants were placed to restore patient's failing dentition. A computerized protocol was followed to enhance predictability. Prosthetic teeth stay in place permanently but can be removed by the dentist/prosthodontist if needed.

"Everyone has great customer service skills!" says Melissa on Google

"Excellent service, if you need crown work or implants this is the place to go. New office, very clean, efficient service. They worked with my insurance so I can get my benefits, no pain during the work, implants and crowns on top fit perfect." says carlos on Google

Our NEW office brought a lot of excitement in our lives. We are eager to offer what we can do best: Premium quality of dental work at a comfortable environment. Our experienced doctors and staff are looking forward to welcoming you.