Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Specialists, Colorado Springs. Ron Thoman, DDS and Thomas Hebda, DDS. Board certified in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
Procedures
Implants

Implants have revolutionized the ability for dentists to restore function and form to patients that otherwise would have few options available in the past. Implant care continues to evolve, allowing patients to replace missing teeth with a permanent restoration that is close to being as functional and esthetic as the original teeth.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons are the only dental specialty that has the training and ability to provide all surgical aspects necessary in the arena of implant care. Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons are trained not only in the careful placement of implants, but also in all the surgical disciplines necessary to replace missing bone and soft tissue. All these disciplines are needed to provide high quality and long lasting implant restorations.

Dr. Thoman has 17 years of experience in implant surgery. He has trained with some of the leading expert in the field of implant treatment. He is proud to provide his patients with the highest quality, scientifically sound treatment available today. He is strongly committed to keeping abreast of the latest advancement in the area of implant treatment.

Dr. Thoman is able to provide implant treatment in a comfortable and supportive environment. His experience extends not only in the area of standard implant placement with bony and soft tissue reconstruction, but also in more recent techniques such as Nobel Guide Tooth in an Hour, All on 4 technique, and Zygomatic fixtures. These newer techniques allow more patients to have permanent teeth replacement with less invasive surgery.



Implants


Before Implants
After Implants


Taking That Extra Step For His Patients
<< Click to download PDF brochure >> Providing the highest scientifically sound care for his patients is Dr. Thoman's first priority. One way of providing this care is by using the Ostell Unit to assess implant stability. Dr. Thoman is the only implant surgeon in Colorado Springs to use the Ostell measuring device to assess the initial stability of the implants. Nearly all of the scientific literature available that assesses the long-term success of earlier loaded implants uses the Ostell unit, which measures the resonance frequency of an implant. The resonance of the implant has a direct correlation to whether an implant is stable enough to proceed with earlier function. Other ways of assessing implant stability are less predictable due to the absence of good scientific studies. Since Dr. Thoman has obtained a greater than 98% success rate with his implants over the past 17 years, it is important for him to provide predictable results for his patients.

Bone and Soft Tissue Replacement
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons are the only dental specialty who have the training to provide all options for bone and soft tissue replacement involved with implant treatment.

Bone Replacement
Many times there is inadequate bone available to support the implant during healing and long term function. This problem may be due to inadequate thickness or height of the bone, or a combination of both. There are various techniques available to the implant surgeon for correction of these problems. The goal should not only be to provide a better base for implant support, but to also provide a viable graft that will osseointegrate with the implant. The gold standard in bone replacement still remains using the patient's own bone. This usually involves utilizing intra-oral bone. Occasionally with very large defects, bone from the hip or tibia may be used to provide adequate support for the patients implants. Dr. Thoman has developed techniques to obtain these grafts in a way that minimizes the discomfort the patient may experience. Other graft sources available are banked bone, specially prepared bovine bone, and more recently genetically engineered proteins (Infuse or rhBMP-2) that induce new bone formation without the need for a graft material. Dr. Thoman has extensive experience with the use of these different options. PRP or platelet rich plasma is many times added to these graft materials to enhance their healing.

PRP - Platelet Rich Plasma
PRP or platelet rich plasma is a recently developed technique used to enhance the strength and speed of healing of both bone and soft tissue grafts. PRP is essentially a technique that allows the surgeon to obtain and concentrate the patient's own platelets from the blood. These concentrated platelets are then infused into the graft to assist in its healing. Platelets are small cells found in the blood stream, which initially were thought to only assist in the stoppage of bleeding after an injury. Through research of the body's natural healing process, scientist found that the platelets were full of proteins that are the key messengers that direct the healing and repair of bone and tissues. By concentrating these platelets into a certain tissue we have found that the healing process is greatly accelerated and improved.

Dr. Thoman has been using PRP in his clinical practice very successfully since 2001. He has seen a dramatic improvement in the speed and quality in healing of his bone and soft tissue grafts. This has lead directly to improved long term implant success. Dr Thoman uses the Harvest Unit to obtain his PRP. As a part of his uncompromising commitment to the care provided his patients, the Harvest Unit is the industry leader for obtaining high quality PRP. PRP is easily obtained with almost no discomfort to the patient. Since it is obtained from the patient's own blood, there is no chance of disease transmission or foreign body reaction. This allows improved healing by using the patient's own natural healing process.



All on 4 describes a technique used by surgeons to provide patients the option of having a non-removable denture supported by a minimum of 4 implants while in most cases avoiding the need for more extensive surgery such as bone grafting. This allows the patient to have a quality denture with less pain and in many cases, less overall cost. This procedure can be done in a staged manner, or combined with computer-simulated surgery (Nobel Guide), which enables the surgeon and restorative dentist to precisely place the implants and seat the final denture in one procedure. Ask Dr. Thoman if you are a candidate for this exiting new technique.




NobelGuideTM or Tooth in an Hour is a revolutionary new technique available that allows the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and Restorative Dentist to deliver the patient with their implants and their final prosthesis in a single appointment. This is accomplished by a ground - breaking technique that allows the surgeon and dentist to, after obtaining a proper x-ray of the patient, to perform virtual surgery on a computer. During this virtual surgery, the surgeon is able to calculate the ideal position to place the implants, while the restorative dentist sets up the ideal prosthesis. Once this is completed the treatment plan is sent to Sweden where a precision surgical guide is fabricated for use by the surgeon. This allows the surgeon to place the implants exactly in the position previously planned during the simulated surgery. A final prosthesis is also fabricated to precisely fit over the implants. This is placed at the same time as the implants are placed. Since the procedure is carefully treatment planned before the actual surgery, there is no need for exposure of the area, and subsequent sutures. This decreases patents pain and swelling following surgery. Although the patient has his permanent teeth the day of the surgery, they must maintain a soft diet until the implants are completely stable.

Dr. Thoman has received special training to be able to provide this revolutionary technique to his patients. If you think that you may be a candidate for this procedure, please don't hesitate to talk with Dr. Thoman.