DENTAL IMPLANTS

Permanent solution to missing teeth
Dental Titanium Implants

Dental Implants can have many benefits over dentures or bridges. A dental implant can be used to replace a single missing tooth, restore and entire smile and provide a more permanent solution to replace other solutions to missing teeth like dentures or dental bridges. Periodontal disease can cause tooth loss and with tooth loss your self esteem is affected and your confidence is lost. Dental implants are a great alternative for people who are in generally good oral health that have lost their teeth due to an accident or have lost a single tooth or teeth due to peridontal disease. Single tooth implants actually rely on your other teeth for support so they can be a tooth saving solution in many ways.

Dental implants have improved drastically over the past decade with improvements to implant technology. Materials have improved and implant education is better than ever. What are dental implants? They are artificial teeth that are an alternative to dentures or dental bridges. They are a more permanent solution and have many benefits that far exceed the advantages of dentures or bridges. Do you experience some of the following issues with your dentures or bridges?

  • When eating foods do your dentures shift and click so that it is uncomfortable?
  • Have you ever been public speaking and had issues where your bridge or denture was shifting and making it uncomfortable to speak?
  • Do you wish you could eat more steak and comfortably bite into an apple without fear of your denture becoming loose.
  • Are you embarassed to smile?
  • Have you been experiencing bone loss or gum recession since wearing dentures or having a dental bridge?
  • Have your dentures ever cracked or made it uncomfortable to fit.
  • Do you feel like you've lost the smile you had when you had your natural teeth?
Benefits of Dental Implants

Appearance - dental implants look far more esthetic as they are situated in to the structure of your bone and will prevent bone loss and further gum recession. The implants look and act more like your natural teeth as compared to loose fitting dentures and ill fitting bridgework. Increased Confidence and Self Esteem- Lets face it those pastes and denture powders can be a pain to have to use on a daily basis. Think about it, have you ever been somewhere where you forgot your denture paste and had to make a last minute trip to the pharmacy. With dental implants you no longer have to worry about your dentures slipping and cracking while eating or speaking. The look and act like your natural teeth and are secure.

Reliabilty

success rates for dental implants are very high and the longevity of a implant restoration can be a lifetime. Of course good oral health, healthy gum tissue and good bone structure help increase the effectiveness.

Who Places Dental Implants?

Placing the titanium implant screws into your jawbone are often done by a Periodontist or an Oral Surgeon, however, some general dentists have taken extensive dental implant courses and perform their own surgeries. Other dentists choose to restore the implants that have already been placed by a specialist.

Dental implants

metal screws placed below the gums and infused to the jaw bone— serve as a foundation for dentures or removable bridges. The titanium posts anchor to the jawbone. Replacement teeth are then cemented into the posts. Initially, dental implant surgery involves placing the anchor. Dental implant surgery may take up to several hours. Patients can expect to wait up to six months for the bone to grow around the placed anchor and secure it. In some cases, a second surgery takes place in which a post is placed to connect the anchor to the replacement teeth. Other dental implant surgeries place the anchor and the post simultaneously. When the gums heal, artificial natural looking teeth are created and constructed to the post section of the anchor. This step in the surgical procedure may require a couple months to complete since the patient can expect several fittings. Dental implants require proper maintenance including regular brushing, flossing and dental visits.

Who is not a Candidate for Dental Implants?

The ideal candidate for dental implant surgery possesses good general and oral health. Candidates should also have sufficient bone in the jaw in order to support the implant.

Some medical factors limit a person’s chance of being a good candidate for dental implants. These factors include:

  • Uncontrolled Diabetes
  • Chemotherapy or radiation therapy
  • Parathyroid disorders
  • Blood disorders
  • Bone marrow cancer
  • Smokers

Those who are able to receive regular dental care can successfully use dental implants. Those who fail to possess sufficient bone may receive bone grafting procedures. Grafting procedures consist of substituting missing bone in the jaw with bone material from the patient’s body or an artificial or synthetic replacement. This grafting procedure may also aid the body to re-grow lost bone. The ideal site for the extra bone material stems from the patient’s own body, with the hip as the most common area. In severe cases, however, bone material can come from the patient’s mouth. In some cases, factors from the patient’s blood can encourage bone formation in the grafted areas.