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Our practice
offers multiple services including simple and complex extractions (including
impacted wisdom teeth), surgically aided eruption techniques, cancer screening
and biopsies, maxillofacial surgery and jaw reconstruction, bone and soft tissue
grafting, and the use of I.V. sedation and general anesthesia. Beyond these
areas, our practice specializes in dental implant reconstruction with many
special services directly related to this area.
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Dr. Wheeler has
been actively involved in researching and placing dental implants for close to
two decades. With thousands of implants placed successfully, he has become an
international lecturer on the subject and has published many articles in
peer-reviewed journals. He has helped to pioneer several bone grafting
techniques, and is still actively engaged in investigating new treatment
protocols for several implant companies.
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We believe that it is absolutely essential for the well being of our patients that we exceed the acceptable standards of care and our unconditional commitment to quality care extends to an investment in a new state-of-the-art facility.
Our new office
was designed to assist us in providing the highest quality surgical care and
includes modern operating rooms and the most advanced technology available in
surgical, sterilization and x-ray equipment.
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We have installed
one of the first fully digital x-ray systems in San Diego County, which allows
us to process all of our x-rays, including panoramic and facial films digitally.
This process has many benefits, including:
 | A decrease in radiation exposure up to 90% |
| No chemicals
used for developing or processing film (environmentally friendly) |
| Faster processing |
| The ability to
manipulate the digital image, making it lighter, darker, bigger, or colorized… (less need to retake x-rays) |
| The ability to
make digital measurements for greater accuracy in interpretation |
| An enhanced
ability to archive, retrieve, copy and transmit images |
| The ability to
interact with other digital images, including 3-dimensional CAT-scans |
Sterilization
In addition to
our Ritter Ultraclave, we have added a new Miele Dental Disinfection Unit to our
sterilization area. The latter allows our staff to wash, rinse, disinfect and
dry instruments in cassettes without having to touch the instruments manually
prior to final autoclaving. This not only is more efficient and safer for our
staff, but also protects our patients with two sterilization cycles instead of
just one.
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Special Services - Dental Implants
Due to the extent
of our involvement in dental implant reconstruction, we have a dedicated Implant
Coordinator on our staff, who has over 20 years of surgical experience.As
Implant Coordinator Nancy Thomas works exclusively with our implant patients,
educating them about implant treatment, coordinating appointments throughout the
entire treatment sequence and answering any questions they may have. In
addition, she serves as our patients' personal liaison between our office and
the referring dentists' offices. Nancy also has a dental implant to replace one
of her molars, which makes her an excellent resource to answer personal
questions regarding the treatment experience.
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Over the past 20 years, Dr. Wheeler has collected information on numerous dental implant systems and techniques including promotional materials, procedural manuals, journal articles, video tapes, CD-ROMs, clinical slides and digital video. All of this information is available to patients and their dentists in our consultation/resource center.
Dr. Wheeler also
teaches surgical courses in his office for several implant companies throughout
the year, and has a fully interactive digital audio/visual network set up as
well. He is presently involved in pioneering new techniques for use in sinus
grafting and bone regeneration for esthetic implant reconstruction.
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In addition to newspaper and magazine articles, Dr. Wheeler has had several clinical and research papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Copies of these articles are available upon request.
1. "The Use of IMZ Osseointegrated Implants in Partially and Completely Edentulous Patients: Success and Failure Rates of 2,023 Implant Cylinders up to 60+ Months in Function", Fugazzotto, P.A., Gulbranson, H.J., Wheeler, S.L., Lindsay, J.A., Ther International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants; Vol. 8, No. 6: 617-620. 1993. Download Article
2. "Success and Failure Rates of Cylinder Implants in Type IV Bone", Fugazzotto, P.A., Wheeler, S.L., Lindsay, J.A., Journal of Periodontology; Vol. 64, No. 11: 1085-1087, November 1993. Download Article
3. "Cosmetic dentistry and implant prosthetics", Carrick, J.L., Current Opinion in Cosmetic Dentistry 1994: 93-98 (I was the surgeon involved in this case presentation which involved bilateral sinus lift grafts and nine osseointegrated implants.)
4. "Maintenance Problems and Protocols", Panel discussion in the proceedings from Osseointegration, 10 years in Private Practice, held October 9, 1992. Published in Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants, Volume 9,1994. Wilson, T.G., Reiser, G., Wheeler, S.L., Baurngarten, H., and Parel, S. pp. 75-84. Download Article
5. "Interaction of Laboratory Technician and Restoring Dentist in Foot-Form Implant Cases." Vogel, R.E., and Castellini, R.C., Dental Implantology Update, Volume 5, Number 6, June 1994. (I was the surgeon in this case.) Download Article
6. "Six Year Clinical and Histologic Study of Sinus Lift Grafts," Wheeler, S.L., Holmes, R.E., Calhoun, C.J., Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants, Volume 11, No.1:26-34; 1996. Download Article
7. "Eight Year Clinical Study of Titanium and Hydroxyapatite Coated Cylinder Implants", Wheeler, S.L., Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants, Volume 11, No. 3: 340-350; 1996. Download Article
8. "Complications: Learning from the Past and Avoiding Future Mistakes," Wheeler, S.L., Implant Dentistry, Volume 5, No. 6:130-131 ;1996
9. "Six-Year Clinical and Histologic Study of Sinus-Lift Grafts," Wheeler, S.L., Holmes, R.E., Calhoun, C.J., Quintessence Dental Implantology (in Japanese), Volume 3, No. 4;105-114; 1996.
10. "Clinical Controversies in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: Sinus Augmentation for Dental Implants: The Use of Alloplastic Materials," Wheeler, S.L., J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 55:1287-1293, 1997. Download Article
11. "Restoration of Congenitally Missing Lateral Incisors: A Case Report," Vogal RE, Stephen L Wheeler SL, Casellini RC, Implant Dentistry, Vol. 8, No. 4, 390-395, 1999. Download Article
12. "Tissue Preservation and Maintenance of Optimum Esthetics: A Clinical Report," Wheeler SL, Vogel RE, Casellini R, Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants, 2000; 15:265-271. Download Article
