Why See a Prosthodontist?
Not All Dental Implant Training Is the Same
Dental Implant & Reconstructive Center in Duluth MN
WHAT IS A PROSTHODONTIST?
Prosthodontics is a dental specialty focused on the diagnosis, treatment planning, and restoration of patients with missing teeth, damaged teeth, dental implants, and complex restorative needs.
After completing dental school, a prosthodontist completes three additional years of full-time, advanced specialty education in an accredited prosthodontic residency program. This training includes complex treatment planning, dental implants, restorative dentistry, removable and fixed prosthodontics, occlusion, esthetics, and the management of patients requiring extensive oral rehabilitation.
WHO IS PROVIDING YOUR IMPLANT CARE?
Dentists can pursue many different paths to incorporate dental implants into their practices. The type, duration, and depth of that training can vary considerably.
For patients considering complex implant or reconstructive treatment, it is reasonable to ask about a provider’s education and experience:
- Was their implant training part of a formal, full-time specialty residency, or obtained through continuing education after dental school?
- How much experience do they have treating complex or full-arch cases?
- Who is responsible for the diagnosis and treatment plan, not simply placement of the implants?
- Who designs and restores the final teeth?
- If complications occur, does the provider have experience managing both the surgical and prosthetic aspects of treatment?
TRAINING IS THE FOUNDATION. EXPERIENCE BUILDS ON IT.
Dr. Roxanna J. Esguerra is a board-certified prosthodontist with more than 18 years of clinical experience in restorative and implant dentistry.
Her advanced education included a three-year Prosthodontics residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Surgical implant training is an important part of advanced prosthodontic education, providing a foundation in both the surgical and restorative phases of implant treatment.
Dr. Esguerra also chose to complete a Master of Science, adding graduate-level research and publication to her specialty training. Over the 15 years since completing her residency, she has continued to build on that foundation through clinical practice focused on surgical and prosthetic dentistry.
Today, Dr. Esguerra has restored more than 10,000 dental implants and more than 1,800 full-arch implant-supported prostheses.
WHAT DOES BOARD CERTIFICATION MEAN?
Completing an accredited Prosthodontics residency makes a dentist a prosthodontist. Board certification is an additional, voluntary credential.
The American Board of Prosthodontics is the recognized national certifying board for the specialty of prosthodontics. Its certification process independently evaluates a prosthodontist’s knowledge, clinical skills, and clinical decision-making.
Dr. Esguerra became board certified in 2015 and successfully completed recertification in 2023. American Board of Prosthodontics certification is not a one-time credential: active Diplomates are required to complete continuing education and successfully recertify during each eight-year certification period.
For patients, board certification provides another objective measure of a specialist’s commitment to maintaining proficiency in the specialty.
RESTORATIVELY DRIVEN IMPLANT PLANNING
In prosthodontics, implant treatment begins with the planned final teeth—not simply the available bone or a location where an implant can be placed.
Dr. Esguerra uses a restoratively driven approach to implant treatment. The desired position, function, appearance, bite, cleansability, and long-term maintenance of the final restoration are considered first. Implant number, position, angulation, surgical requirements, and prosthetic design can then be planned around the intended result.
The implant is the foundation. The restoration is the reason for placing it.
Because Dr. Esguerra is trained and experienced in both the surgical and restorative phases of implant treatment, these decisions can be considered together from the beginning.
COMPLEX CARE IS WHAT WE DO
Complex dental problems rarely exist in isolation. Missing teeth may occur alongside bone loss, infection, failing restorations, changes in the bite, esthetic concerns, or existing dental implants and prostheses.
Dr. Esguerra’s practice is limited to surgical and prosthetic dentistry, with particular emphasis on dental implants and complex oral reconstruction. Her experience includes individual implant restorations, implant bridges, removable implant prostheses, fixed full-arch implant-supported prostheses, full-mouth implant treatment, and the evaluation and management of existing implant restorations and complications.
You do not need to know whether your dental problem is “complex enough” to see a prosthodontist. If you have questions about your teeth, dental implants, bite, previous dental treatment, or a treatment plan you have received elsewhere, we welcome the opportunity to help you understand your condition and your options.
When treatment involves other areas of dentistry, Dr. Esguerra collaborates with your general dentist and other dental or medical specialists as needed to coordinate your care.
TEACHING, RESEARCH & PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
Dr. Esguerra has spent a significant portion of her career not only practicing prosthodontics, but teaching it.
She served for five years as full-time faculty at the National University of Singapore and currently teaches in the University of Minnesota Graduate Prosthodontics Program, contributing to the education of dentists completing advanced specialty training in prosthodontics.
She is also a published researcher and invited lecturer in prosthodontics, implant dentistry, digital technology, and complex restorative care.
Learn more about Dr. Esguerra’s Lectures, Research & Professional Presentations.
PROSTHODONTICS & THE DENTAL LABORATORY
The laboratory phase of treatment is not separate from prosthodontics—it is part of the specialty.
Prosthodontic training includes dental materials, laboratory procedures, prosthetic design, and the relationship between the clinical and technical phases of treatment. Dr. Esguerra remains personally involved in diagnostic and laboratory procedures that require prosthodontic education, experience, and clinical judgment.
Our in-house laboratory is managed by Jessica, our Senior Dental Laboratory Technician, whose technical education has included structured training using U.S. Air Force Dental Laboratory Technician training manuals.
Together, Dr. Esguerra and Jessica bring more than 45 years of combined clinical and laboratory experience to the planning and fabrication of dental prostheses.
Having the clinical and laboratory teams working together also allows communication about design, materials, esthetics, function, and technical details to occur directly throughout treatment.
EXPERIENCE MATTERS. SO DOES WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR CARE.
Dental implants are tools. Successful treatment requires much more than placing an implant in bone.
It requires diagnosis, treatment planning, surgical judgment, prosthetic design, an understanding of function and esthetics, technical execution, and a plan for long-term maintenance.
When considering complex dental or implant treatment, ask who is planning the final result—not simply who is placing the implants.