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Revitalize your smile with precision-crafted dental implants, restoring confidence and functionality for a lasting, natural-looking solution.
Transform smiles: durable, natural-looking dental implants for lasting confidence
What is a Dental Implant?
A dental implant is a screw-like post placed surgically in the jaw bone to replace a missing tooth root. An abutment and crown are placed over the implant to replace the lost tooth crown.
Who needs a Dental Implant?
Anyone who has lost a tooth due to a cavity or infection will be a candidate for an implant. It is always best to discuss with your dentist if you will qualify for the implant procedure.
Consequences of Missing Teeth
Missing teeth can lead to various consequences. Functional challenges like difficulty chewing and speaking may arise. Adjacent teeth may shift, causing misalignment. Jawbone loss can occur due to lack of stimulation. Aesthetically, gaps affect appearance, impacting confidence. Speech problems might emerge, and oral hygiene becomes challenging. These issues contribute to potential psychological and social impacts. Fortunately, addressing missing teeth with solutions like dental implants helps restore function, prevent complications, and enhance overall well-being. Seeking timely dental care is essential to mitigate the consequences and maintain oral health.
Frequently Asked Questions
Restoring a missing tooth with an implant is a multi-step process.
- Initially, your dentist will evaluate your oral cavity, update your medical history, and take the required X-rays and a CBCT scan to ensure you are an ideal candidate for the procedure.
- On the day of the surgery, we will apply Local anesthesia to numb the area of the procedure. We will place the Implant in the missing tooth site inside the jaw bone. A healing screw is placed over the Implant, so the gums can heal and form around the screw.
- You will have a follow-up visit to the office in 2 weeks for a checkup.
- You will return to the office in 3-4 months to evaluate the healing and integration of the Implant with the bone. We will use an X-ray for this evaluation.
- We will place An abutment upon successful integration and take impressions for the crown. We will send those impressions to the lab for processing.
- When we receive the crown from the lab 10-14 days later, we will call you for the final visit, where you will get a porcelain crown to replace the missing tooth.
During the surgery, you will be receiving local anesthesia to numb you so you do not experience any pain during the procedure. After the anesthesia wears off, you will experience some mild pain and discomfort, which you can manage with over-the-counter pain medications.
Since the procedure is multi-step, we will split the cost for each significant step. The overall cost also depends on factors like the case’s complexity and any additional procedures that may be required and unique to the patient. We’ll discuss the cost and offer payment plans for the procedures you’ve done during your consultation visit.
Most dental insurance does not cover the implant procedure. We will check with your insurance for any coverage available, and we may send for a pre-authorization. Whether insurance provides coverage, we will provide affordable payment plans for your procedures.
The success rate of an implant is about 95%, as per the American Academy of Dental Implants.
Dental implants are long-lasting with proper care and maintenance. They look and feel like natural teeth and help prevent bone loss. We do not compromise adjacent teeth to replace a missing tooth.
There are various complications, among which bleeding from the implant site, infection, and pain are early complications of an implant. Dental implant failure is quite common. Lack of osseointegration during early healing, infection of the peri-implant tissues, and breakage are the reasons for implant failure. Smoking, Diabetes, low-density bone, etc
can add to an increased rate of implant failures.
There are few contraindications for implant placements. The contraindications of implant placement are patients with epilepsy, children, and adolescents, patients having endocarditis, a history of osteoradionecrosis, smokers, and diabetic patients. Absolute
contraindications are patients with a history of myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, patients with a history of bleeding, a history of heart transplant, immune suppression, active treatment of malignancy, drug abuse, and psychiatric illness.
(FROM NIH.GOV)