How Do Dental Implants Work to Restore Your Smile?

So, I’ve been a resident of Livermore for 10 years and my family and I have been coming to this practice for about the entire time that we’ve lived here. We really appreciate how they make us feel comfortable here. They take really good care of us, myself and my family. We’ve always appreciated the feel and the courteousness and the efficiency of the staff, and they’ve really done a great job with our whole family. So now we’re at the Downtown Livermore location and I’ve felt really comfortable here since I walked in. It’s just a great environment and got a tour. Felt really good about the equipment, and it’s just really high tech. It’s really a great place to get your teeth taken care of. I think that this would be a great place to come if you’re looking for a dentist, because of the family feel, because they make you feel really comfortable and because they’re really good at what they do.

Dr. Ross:  Stewart is an amazing gentleman with an amazing story. He had been without teeth for a long time. He did have some fragments of teeth left, and those were infected. So, he was uncomfortable. He didn’t smile, he didn’t want people to see his mouth or his, his teeth or his situation.

Stewart: I came to Dr. Ross, was referred to her by a friend of mine. I had come in because I had serious oral problems. I was down to two and a half teeth and it was basically an introvert. So, basically I’ve I endured an oral procedure about 20 years ago at a hospital, county hospital. And it was very traumatic. And I had decided at that point in my life that I was no longer going to endure that type of pain and had made up my mind that I would spend the rest of my life working around that, eating basically baby foods, mashed potatoes, that sort of thing. I came to Dr. Ross to help my smile, to help my self-esteem, my self- confidence, and to overcome my fear and anxiety related to that.

Dr. Ross: So, we talked through all the options for Stewart, from everything from a traditional denture to an all-on-x fully fixed solution. He picked middle of the road. He wanted the stability that a snap-on denture could provide so that he could eat and speak without things shifting around. He wouldn’t get as many sore spots from a movable denture, but it was, it fit best with his financial situation as well.

Stewart: So, I came down and met with the crew here, Dr. Ross and Robin and everybody, Elizabeth. And they very much put me at ease, right off the bat. And I explained to them my situation. They listened and were very attentive to my needs and my fears and basically guided me through the process. And anytime I had any feelings of uncertainty or fear during the process, they, would stop and reassure me and listen to my needs and my problems and an amazing chairside manner. So, I’ve never been through this type of process before. Didn’t know what it was going to entail, was scared, when it first happened. They took all of my fears and anxiety and put it to bed, and their performance of their duties and really reassured me.

Dr. Ross: And seeing him with teeth in for the first time was amazing. We all had tears in our eyes.

 Stewart: At the time when it happened. I broke down and, and cried and my legs would wouldn’t stop shaking. And it was like such a relief to find somebody that would actually care enough about me to take care of that. And, it was really hard for me to walk through that process and, and they made it super easy. I’m so grateful. It’s like, I feel like a new person, and I’ve got a whole new life ahead of me. I gain my self- esteem, my self-confidence. I can go out into public again and smile like a normal person. I can eat foods that I haven’t been able to eat in a long time.

Dr. Ross: So, Stewart has, is amazing. He’s always made a point to choose an attitude of gratitude as opposed to bitterness or frustration. But as he’s gotten teeth in his life, his smile is just, it’s amazing. It’s big, it’s bright. He has a fantastic laugh and he lights up a room when he comes in.

I’ve been seeing another dentist for about 45 years. They did a great job taking care of me, but I needed something closer to home, and so I decided to start looking around and I was aware of, I’d heard good things about Lori Tijereno as a dentist, so I decided to make the switch to their practice about three years ago. The staff was very attentive. They don’t miss a thing. They’re always on top of things. I had the privilege to see them move into this new location here Downtown last week, and they gave me a tour of the facility and I was just very impressed with everything they’ve done here. All the new technology that they brought into the facility. I have probably been in at least seven or eight dental offices and I have never seen a facility so well laid out and designed to accommodate every need a patient would experience.

I’ve lived in Livermore pretty much my whole life. I’ve been coming to Sycamore probably for about 10 years. The staff is super friendly. You can’t go wrong with any dental hygienists that you get. The faces when you first walk in are always happy, friendly, joyful. They really greet you generously and kindly, and they remember your name. So, I love coming back here because of that and just the atmosphere that they have created here. The facility is just gorgeous. The paint colors are different. They’re calming. It’s beautiful. There’s clean lines. It just feels really welcoming. It’s like a big hug. If you need a dentist office, definitely this is the place to go, not only for the quality care, but also for the quality people that are here.

Susie: Hi, I am Susie. I had five implants and three veneers and Dr. Ross did my procedure.

Dr. Ross: So, Susie came to us from a difficult office. She didn’t have a good experience there. She knew she had several teeth that were failing that weren’t going to be able to stay with her for any longer. And the teeth that were left, she didn’t love how they looked. So, we needed to come up with a strategy to get the unhealthy teeth taken care of, address her aesthetic concerns and keep her smiling throughout the whole process.

Susie: Dr. Ross discovered it. It was the roots of my teeth were being reabsorbed. I mean, I struggled with whether I was going to have them all five done at the time or if I was going to break it down into two different procedures. Because I didn’t know how I could handle five teeth being extracted all at once.  

Dr. Ross: So, some of her challenges were just emotional and mental. Losing teeth is always an emotional process and she really, we had to talk through it to help her to understand how that process would work, how she could continue to function and work and speak and smile with her friends and family throughout this process. And just get a sense of the timeline that it would take to get there.

Susie: It was better than I expected. I had been given the choice that Dr. Ross didn’t pressure me into doing them all at once or separate it. But actually, I spoke to Robin at the front desk and she recommended on personal experience that I should do it all at once. The staff here is very, very supportive. It’s definitely like a family here. I’m very happy that I came to Dr. Ross. I initially came just for general cleaning, but she’s really kind of changed my life. She made me feel comfortable that I was in good hands. Before the procedure my confidence wasn’t very high. And after the procedure, I feel much more confident in myself with my smile.

Dr. Ross: She is definitely more confident in her smile. She likes the way they look, which always goes a long way to making somebody feel more self-confident. She’s also not worried about things breaking or falling off, which makes it much easier to go out to dinner with your friends or have lunch at the office and go to family events where food is always a part of the fun. So, she’s definitely smiling bigger these days.

Susie: Yes, lots of selfies with my girlfriends. I have absolutely no regrets. I would do it again and I would recommend Dr. Ross to anyone.

Patient: Is that it wasn’t much of a smile. I had great big front teeth when I was young. And in fact in Spanish, they called me a bunny rabbit because I had big front teeth, broke one, removed it never replaced it because the gap was too big. And one thing led to another over the years, and that’s when I ended up going to dentures. But I wouldn’t smile for photographs. I had dentures for about 10 years.

Dr. Ross: So, he was in dentures for many, many years, and he was super frustrated because of the process of taking them in and out. He didn’t like the way it felt on the roof of his mouth. He didn’t enjoy the plastic covering that area. It affected how he could eat, it affected his speech, and he was very frustrated with that. Add onto that, that the few teeth he had left were also not doing well. They’d had bone loss. They were starting to break, they were getting decay. So, he needed a new approach.  

Patient: Well, I can’t say they were awful. They were better than what I had before that, which was all kinds of, I had peritonitis. And so, I was having all kinds of trouble with my gums and, and teeth and everything else. And that’s what made me go to the dentures to begin with. Yeah, more than once. I had an issue with breaking dentures. And with no warning whatsoever. I mean, I bit into a sandwich, a soft sandwich, not even a hard roll. And the denture, I broke a tooth or I broke a piece of the denture off. And so, then it was a hassle getting temps put in while they made a new denture, and that kind of thing. And I just got tired of all that. And so, I decided that, did my homework and that the implants were the way to go.

Dr. Ross: So, he went towards a full arch solution with implants so that the dentures would no longer come in and out. He was able to have the roof of his mouth uncovered. His smile looked more natural. He didn’t have to worry about things shifting or coming loose. And he just, he enjoys going out to find dining now.

Patient: And so, coming here, and the whole facility is relaxed, comfortable, roomy. I’m a big guy. I need to have comfort, so that’s just kind of what I like about it. I really enjoy the environment.

Dr. Ross: So, Al loves to travel. He loves fine dining. He loves good wine. He, he just enjoys life. And once he was more confident in his, his dental situation, he was able to just go at it even more full force. And he hasn’t looked back.

Patient: I am enjoying food again, which is dangerous for me. I really enjoy food. But it’s nice to be able to taste it and eat anything that I want. And I honestly believe that if you don’t do it, you’re kind of foolish, because it’s something you’ll complain about always, otherwise, and I don’t have that. Not anymore. I enjoy again, everybody here I’ve had very candid conversations with, with Dr. Ross on anything I had a concern about. And she made me very comfortable with it. So, I’m really happy about it.