January 24, 2022

The spine is among the most fragile body organs. Damage to the spine may lead to complications affecting your body function. Different factors may lead to spine interference, including sports injuries, accidents, health conditions, and others.

Scoliosis is the most common disorder of the spine that alters your health and life quality. Dr. McNulty of scoliosis in Las Vegas is an orthopedic and spine surgeon. Dr. McNulty can help to provide the care you need to relieve your symptoms. Contact McNulty Spine today to schedule your consultation.

What is scoliosis?

Scoliosis is a condition where your spine develops an abnormal curve like a C- or S-shape. Usually, scoliosis may not show any symptoms; however, it may become severe when not treated.

Scoliosis may show the following signs.

• Rotating spine
• Uneven hips
• Uneven breasts or chest wall
• Breathing problems
• Uneven shoulders
• Back pain
• One shoulder blade sticks out more than another
• Getting shorter

Similar to many health concerns, early diagnosis can help prevent the condition from becoming severe.

What are the causes of scoliosis?

Scoliosis occurs in different forms. It can be either structural or nonstructural. Some of the causes of structural scoliosis include:

• Injury
• Degeneration
• Congenital abnormality

Nonstructural scoliosis involves the postural curve of the spine, which may occur due to a significant leg length discrepancy.

Scoliosis can occur as degenerative, congenital, idiopathic, and neuromuscular.

Idiopathic scoliosis has no known cause and occurs in about 80% of scoliosis cases in children. The curves may not show any symptoms but then cause problems later in life when age-related degeneration occurs.

The age-related degeneration may also lead to scoliosis, causing difficulty standing up straight, making daily life hard.

Congenital scoliosis usually occurs at birth due to a spinal deformity.

Neuromuscular scoliosis occurs when the neurologic system or muscles of the spine have abnormalities. Some conditions may also lead to neuromuscular scoliosis, including

• Muscular dystrophy
• Cerebral palsy
• Spina Bifida and other congenital abnormalities

Poor posture and heavy backpacks cannot lead to scoliosis, your child probably had the condition at birth.

What are the treatment options for scoliosis?

Dr. McNulty performs thorough diagnosis and examination to identify the exact cause of scoliosis and provide personalized treatment. Your treatment option depends on the extent of your condition, your age, and the cause.

Dr. McNulty may recommend wearing a brace for children with a 25-40 degrees curve to prevent it from worsening. Dr. McNulty suggests regular checkups with X-rays to observe your condition for mild spinal curves in children and adults.

For severe cases where the spinal curve is around 40 degrees or higher, your provider may recommend spinal fusion surgery to correct the spinal curve.

Dr. McNulty performs spinal fusion surgery using metal rods and bone grafts, and cable anchors to correct and fuse the scoliosis curve. The treatment applies to all children, teens, and adults.

Younger patients may benefit from the new FDA-approved Tether system that corrects the curve while allowing motion and preventing fusion reconstruction. When necessary, the surgery provides exceptional results in correcting the curve and relieving the scoliosis pain.

Consult a scoliosis specialist today

If scoliosis affects your daily life, Dr. McNulty might be able to help you. Contact McNulty Spine today to book your consultation.

Several factors can make you lose a tooth or some teeth, even if they are designed to last a lifetime. However, you can still live as you have never lost a tooth by getting dental implants in Campbell. The tooth replacement option stands out from other alternatives like bridges and dentures by far. With a highly-skilled professional and trusted dental implant brands, you can effectively restore your teeth’s beauty and function to boost your confidence. Dental implants offer more benefits than you may have imagined. Here are several benefits you can gain from the innovative option.

Get a Permanent Solution

Although you can replace your lost teeth with dentures and dental bridges, dental implants offer a more permanent solution to your issue. Other tooth replacement options will need repairs or replacements periodically, but you only get dental implants once, and they serve you a lifetime provided you take good care. Once you get your implants, you can forget you even had lost teeth and aim to learn better ways to maintain your new teeth. The best part is that the teeth act just like your natural teeth, and you will not need much effort to maintain them.

Avoid Bone Loss

Staying without replacing a lost tooth or teeth can cause bone mass loss. When a tooth is in place, it stimulates your jaw bone, enabling it to maintain its mass. When getting dental implants, your provider must first ensure you have enough bone since the implants are firmly attached to your bone through artificial roots that act like your natural tooth root. Other tooth replacement options cannot restore jawbone stimulation loss. Still, dental implants replace your natural teeth in all ways meaning they will stimulate the bone to maintain the bone mass.

Your Bite Force is Restored

Dental implants function almost like your natural teeth since they are firmly anchored to your jaw. You will be able to bite with almost the same force as your natural teeth, meaning you will not be restricted much on a diet. But other tooth replacement techniques sit on top of your other teeth, and your bite force is restricted. You might have to avoid certain foods to maintain your smile and avoid complications, but you can eat your favorite foods with dental implants.

Avoid Facial Appearance Changes

Teeth are vital not only for your smile and digestive purposes but also for supporting your facial structure. If you lose some teeth, you will note that your appearance might gradually change before you get a teeth replacement. You might appear older than you are, lowering your confidence and self-esteem. But dental implants will act like your natural teeth in supporting your facial structure, and your appearance will not change.

Get a Natural Speech

Missing teeth can affect your speech negatively. But dental implants will also enhance your speech, and you can talk ideally like with your natural teeth. Other treatment options like dentures may impact the way you speak, like pronouncing words correctly, and you might not speak easily and naturally, making you less confident.

No Cavities

You will yet need to take care of your artificial teeth after the implant surgery to avoid oral health complications. However, cavities are not among the complications that can arise after you get dental implants. The material used to make artificial teeth cannot decay.

Get your dental implants at Ueno Center Dental Specialists today and enjoy the fantastic benefits accompanying the treatment. Your dental implant specialist will evaluate your needs to figure out if you are a good candidate.