Dr. Steve Horne began his career at Brigham Young University obtaining his BA in English. He earned his doctorate of dental surgery in 2007 from the University of Southern California where his pursuit for academic excellence landed him on the dean's list. He was recognized for his superior clinical skills and invited to help teach other dental students in courses on restorative dentistry, prosthodontics, and tooth anatomy. During dental school, he provided dental care for underserved populations of Los Angeles and Orange County, Mexico, and Costa Rica with the international volunteer organization AYUDA. After graduation from USC, Dr. Horne entered active duty with the U.S. Army and practiced dentistry at Fort Knox, Kentucky, for four years. During this time, in 2010, he was deployed as part of a medical unit to Baghdad, Iraq, to provide dental and triage support to military and civilian workers who were involved in the effort there. During his military service, he received multiple Army Achievement Medals, the Army Commendation Medal, and served as company commander. After leaving the Army in 2011, Dr. Horne joined a private practice in La Jolla, Calif., and became credentialed with Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla as a dental consultant. Health and education are of paramount importance to Dr. Horne, and since 2012, he has been writing dental articles for MedicineNet and WebMD to provide accurate information about oral health to the public. He is a member of the American Dental Association (ADA), Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), California Dental Association (CDA), and the San Diego County Dental Society and American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD). He is a preferred provider with Invisalign and spends countless hours each year pursuing continuing education in order to maintain a standard of excellence in dentistry. Dr. Horne has been married for 15 years to his wife, Christy. They have 3-year-old twins, Camille and Trent, and very recently welcomed their third child, Colette Elise, on July 6! The heart and soul of the family is Roscoe, their chocolate Labrador.
Should I Get Dental Implants?According to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, statistics show that nearly 70% of adults aged 35 to 44 years in the United States have at least one missing tooth due to an accident, tooth decay, gum disease, or dental fractures.Dental Implants or Dentures?But there’s no need to go through life with missing teeth. These days, many good alternatives are available. Dental implants and dentures are the most common options. Dentures are false teeth, and although their quality has improved, they’re not ideal for everyone. If not secured with denture adhesive, dentures might slip out of place while eating or speaking, which could be embarrassing, and partial dentures might promote infection and decay in other teeth if they aren’t fitted properly, which may increase the risk that you would need a tooth filling on the abutment (adjoining) tooth. That said, dentures may be the best choice for people whose gums and jaw are weak or unhealthy.Should I Get Dental Implants?If you are missing teeth and your gums and jaw are healthy, you may benefit from dental implants, which are replacement teeth that are implanted surgically into the jawbone. With good oral hygiene, dental implants can last for 20 years or more without the need for replacement. Dental implants are often a popular choice for people who have only one or two teeth missing, but they can be an alternative to dentures if you have several missing teeth. As long as your gums and jaw are healthy, two or more implants can serve as a base of support for several replacement teeth.
Only his assistant - she did his job great. But I didn't pay her. I paid him. He nonchalantly walked down the hall not even stopping to take a look at my jawline that's showing. I love my immediate dentures. But the money I paid. I think I should have a decent dentist that is interested in helping his patient with care. My Medicaid dentist treats me better and he doesn't get paid so much.
WORST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO GO TO BELIEVE ME. THEY PULLED 10 TEETH. That's where everything started to go south. I purchased the ultimate dentures. So first you start off with economy set. 5 plates later nothing fit, Some bizarre looking teeth, Lots of pain sores. Nothing fit right. Every time it went to lab came back crooked, warped, and fit worse. One set the was very crooked they as they said Mcgyvered it to fit in my mouth. What a joke. I kept hearing different excuses on why they did not fit. Some blamed my jaw bone, others my bite, and kept trying to sell me implants as that was going to help the upper fit. Some blamed the lab. Many times the lab was behind as they are short staffed I was told multiple times.
The fabrication of a set of complete dentures is a challenge for any dentist/denturist. There are many axioms in the production of dentures that must be understood; ignorance of one axiom can lead to failure of the denture. In the vast majority of cases, complete dentures should be comfortable soon after insertion, although almost always at least two adjustment visits are necessary to remove the cause of sore spots. One of the most critical aspects of dentures is that the impression of the denture must be perfectly made and used with perfect technique to make an accurate model of the patient's edentulous (toothless) gums. The dentist or denturist must use a process called border molding to ensure that the denture flanges are properly extended. An array of problems may occur if the final impression of the denture is not made properly. It takes considerable patience and experience for a dentist to know how to make a denture, and for this reason it may be in the patient's best interest to seek a specialist, either a prosthodontist or denturist, to make the denture. A denturist is a trained and licensed professional who sees patients in need of dentures, partials, relines or repairs. A denturist not only takes the impression, but makes the entire denture in his or her own laboratory. The denturist then schedules a date for the delivery of the finished dentures to the patient. A general dentist may do a good job making dentures, but only if he or she is meticulous and experienced. Many dentists no longer make dentures themselves. but instead take an impression of the patients' mouth and then either send the impressions to a dental laboratory, which could be anywhere in the world, or send the patient to a denturist. Once the laboratory receives dental impressions of the patient's mouth, the laboratory creates plaster molds from them. The laboratory uses the molds to create the wax rims used to register the patient's bite. These wax rims are returned to the dentist, who uses them to register the patient's bite. The dentist may assist the patient in choosing the correct size of teeth for the dentures, or simply make the selection himself. Once bite registration is completed and the teeth are selected for the dentures, the wax rim is usually returned to the dental laboratory in order to have the denture teeth set into the wax. Once the teeth are set into the wax rim, the result is a prefinished denture that looks almost like the finished product. This prefinished denture is usually returned to the dentist's office and the patient usually has a chance to approve the setup (for immediate or standard dentures) or to try the denture before it is finished. After approval by the patient, the dentist returns the pre-denture to the laboratory for final processing. The finished denture is then returned to the dentist's office for delivery to the patient.
Teeth can fall out for a number of reasons, ranging from genetics to drug abuse. Most commonly, teeth are removed or fall out on their own due to severe tooth decay. Neglect to upkeep oral hygiene or not seeking proper treatment for damaged teeth, can lead to the onset of decay which in turn leads to loss of teeth. Visiting you dentist in 6 month intervals is a good preventive measure to spot any early signs of decay.
