Dental Implants
What are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are a permanent and appealing solution to replace missing teeth. They are the gold standard for tooth replacement due to their versatility, predictability, and biocompatibility. Implants look, act, and feel just like natural teeth without altering the other teeth in the mouth.
Implants are made of titanium, one of the most biocompatible materials available. The implant can function as the root of a tooth, part of a bridge to replace multiple teeth, or a component to improve the retention and feel of a denture.
Why Should you Consider a Dental Implant?
No detriment to neighboring teeth.
Look and function like natural teeth
Long term Solution
Prevent bone loss and tooth movement
Can be updated over time
Versatility
The Dental Implant Process
During your initial consultation, an examination and images will be taken to ensure the proposed area of implant placement has the necessary bone, gums, and spacing requirements. Your health history is considered, the process is discussed, and any questions answered.
On the day of placement, the implant is placed into the bone and the area is allowed to heal for a period of 3-6 months depending on the bone quality. There are specific times that a tooth may be placed upon the implant the same day but this is rare. This is reserved for the anterior teeth only in specific circumstances.
After the healing period, impressions for the final tooth are taken and the tooth is delivered on top of the implant. Your smile is complete!
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
With advances in technology, almost everyone is a candidate for dental implants.
Like you, we would like to keep the process as fast as possible but it is important to respect the timing of the human body and healing process. Bone healing takes roughly 3-6 months depending on factors such as age, medical history, medications, bone quality, previous infection, etc.
If there is no tooth present, the implant can be placed and the area is allowed to heal for an average of 4 months. The tooth can then be attached to the top of the implant.
If the tooth is still present, the tooth must be removed and the area is typically allowed to heal for 3-4 months. This makes the process on average 8 months in total.
For anyone that has not had an implant before, it is common for them to associate the process with discomfort. On the contrary, it is a regularity that patients are surprised at how easy the process was or how shocked a patient was with the lack of discomfort and swelling.
Bone itself has very little feeling. The only discomfort that typically comes from implant is the minor movement of the gums during the implant placement. This discomfort is easily controllable with mild medication although many of our patients do not need to take any medication following the surgery.