Prosthodontists: A Pathway to Smile Longevity

Before the Pi Dental Center became known as a mecca for superior dental implant care in suburban Philadelphia, it enjoyed a robust reputation for very esthetic, comfortable and long lasting restorative dentistry, accomplished with notable time efficiency.  Dr. Tom Balshi, the founder, always an architect and sculptor at heart, designed and built crowns and bridges that could never be recognized as anything but natural teeth.  More importantly, these restorations, whether a single tooth or the restoration of an entire arch, always went off the charts with longevity, often lasting the patients years beyond predictability while conserving both their funds and their time spent in a dental chair. Read this blog called Prosthodontists: A Pathway to Smile Longevity.

One of the pleasures of restoring smiles lies in the mail that the Pi Dental Center steadily receives from patients who are genuinely grateful for our care.  Last week we received a handwritten letter from a former patient, now eighty-seven years of age, and living across in the state in Western Pennsylvania.  Dr. Balshi restored her entire mouth with crowns exactly thirty years ago.  Visiting a new dentist for a teeth cleaning and check-up, she wrote to tell us of his amazement that her thirty year old dental work was still in pristine condition with perfect margins and no underlying decay.  She was writing to express the pride she felt in Pi’s behalf and the gratitude she felt for her comprehensive care that has richly endured.

The pathway to smile longevity is the mantra of the prosthodontist.  The additional training in “precision” that a prosthodontist receives translates directly into the quality of restorative dentistry.  When crowns and bridges fit like a glove and the “bite” that is established is as perfect as possible, the teeth stand up to the most rigorous attacks of bacteria and trauma.  A well designed and engineered smile tends to be a healthy smile, and a healthy smile impacts whole body wellness.  The prosthodontist is committed to that pathway and will try to steer all patients in the direction of long term function alongside natural esthetics, whether with crowns, bridges or today’s state of the art dental implants.

By Joanne Balshi