His work is done. I have regained a full set of teeth after months of waiting for a freshly inserted bone matrix to mesh with my upper jawbone and rear gums and fully heal.
Readers might recall from previous columns about having implants placed on both sides of my rear upper molars that I promised to keep you informed of the process from beginning to end. Many men and women my age and younger (who can relate) are choosing to replace missing and failed teeth with implants.
I realized early on the process would be, well, just that. There was a considerable time-consuming healing and rebuilding for Dr. Derrick Johnson to oversee at his highest-tech Integrated Dentistry offices in Bentonville and Mountain Home.
But the time has arrived to celebrate the successful challenge of returning this 71-year-old mouth to where it was in my 20s. And it’s been worth the journey in every way.
Those who’ve lived at least 60 years need no explanation of how our teeth, among other body parts, are among the more frequent to fail. We either wear them plum out or they become sparse, infected or unattractive.
By late 2016, it had become frustrating and painful to chew food. Enjoying meals in a peaceful setting becomes one of life’s most satisfying pleasures as we age. It’s also a gratification we realize in earlier years we’d taken for granted.
But no longer for me, thanks to the methodical and precise Dr. Derrick (what I like to call him) who specializes in dental implants and restorative skills.
After months in and out of Integrated Dentistry chairs in his comfortable offices, I came to understand how much he and his helpful staff (registered nurse and soon-to-be-wife Monica, Noel, Bonnie, Britta, Shannon and Sharron) genuinely cared, and how thoroughly he’d mastered his profession.
It’s still difficult for me to believe the engaging Dr. Derrick was a student at Ohio State University School of Dentistry in 1993 when I was heading the Kiplinger master’s degree program for professional journalists located just across that sprawling campus.
Back to the process, as he’d explained upfront, I’d say the initial phase of my restoration proved the most challenging, especially considering how cowardly I can be.
First, I had to have the four molars removed to clear a pathway for the implants. While not that uncomfortable or painful (Dr. Derrick has a wondrous device called a Comfort Syringe, which with a topical administered beforehand reduces most discomfort by diffusing medication only as needed), I nonetheless knew I was surrendering original body parts that had served me for decades. Further validation that everything we mortals possess eventually wears plum out.
Afterwards, he skillfully applied a syringe to insert toothpaste-like bone matrix through incisions that exposed my upper rear jaw. Adding the mixture is necessary to insert most upper implants because sinus cavities make our natural bone relatively thin. It was a much simpler process than I’d imagined, followed by a few stitches later removed.
In ensuing months, Dr. Derrick took pains to continually check how well the inserted bone had adhered, as he continued planning how the implants would align precisely with my exiting lowers. Once enough bone was solidly attached, he inserted the posts that would secure my completed teeth and we waited to make certain they were firmly anchored with help from the new bone.
That was followed during a later visit by inserting provisional samples of my implants before the final versions were created at an Illinois dental laboratory and returned.
Once the implants were securely turned into place, he began using digitized paper to mark areas on the teeth that required minor grinding to create the perfect bite. “Tap, tap, tap,” he said as I repeatedly bit firmly on the paper until everything met perfectly. The special paper was linked to a high-tech computer screen I watched along with him that revealed any points of remaining pressure.
When all was completed, the porcelain implants felt like they’d always been with me.
Well, initially it did feel slightly awkward having molars where none had been for well over a year. I’d grown accustomed to using front teeth to chew and gumming much of anything else into submission. Suddenly with a mouthful, my tongue had been pushed back to its rightful territory after having acres to roam the back 40.
Dr. Derrick said to expect that reaction and advised to chew slowly until my mouth refamiliarized itself with again hosting molars. “You might have an initial tendency to accidentally bite the sides of your tongue or cheek if you eat too fast,” I believe is how he cautioned. Believe me, that only happened once. Now I’m just pleased to be feeling 28 again, inside my mouth, anyway.
The journey from our extensive initial consultation where we examined my X-ray and CT scans as he laid options and plans for rebuilding my mouth had been all I’d hoped it would be. And I was healthier to boot with no more chronic tooth infections that can prove dangerous to anyone’s overall health.
In reflection, much like having my right hip replaced in 2003 by Dr. William Hefley of Little Rock, after my finale in Dr. Derrick’s motorized chair, I felt like he’d become part of my family.
More than anything I left feeling the process and results had been worth it in every way, knowing for the first time in quite a while I’d again be fully savoring a thick T-bone.
Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist. Email him at [email protected].