Dental Implants Have Revolutionized The Process of Replacing Teeth

Dental implants have done a great deal towards changing how people view tooth loss. For too many years losing a tooth meant that you would have to deal with wires, dental cement, and gooey adhesives to hold your false teeth in place. Today dental implants have created a system that not only gives you a new fake tooth, which is known in dentistry as the crown, but also replaces the root of the tooth that has been lost as well. This makes dental implants the most sophisticated, and the most stable, way to replace your teeth when they have been lost to diseases, age, or accident. Since this is a new technology for many people, there is often a number of questions that patients have regarding dental implants. Mostly this springs from wanting to understand how the technology works, what is the process for getting dental implants placed, and if you as a patient are eligible for receiving dental implants. For the last question, it is a little bit more involved than a simple yes or no answer. Simply put virtually anyone can get a dental implant if they are able to meet certain physical requirements.

It is important to remember that dental implants are placed by an oral surgeon or a periodontist because it is a surgical procedure to place the dental implant directly into the jawbone. In addition, there are a few conditions that may preclude you from getting dental implants. Some of these include people who have untreated periodontal diseases, patients who are undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, and people who have a heavy addiction to cigarettes or alcohol.

From a success perspective, dental implants are among the most highly rated devices available for tooth loss. While conservative estimates place the success rate of dental implants between 92% and 94%, there are other studies that show a national trend of 98% success ratios. For us, we know that percentages are good but also like to look at success from the perspective of how many decades our patients are able to use their dental implants without any problems. To achieve these high set goals we are very diligent about the process and take a painstakingly careful approach to the preparation. As such your journey to get dental implant will begin with a two-step consultation.

First we will talk about dental implants, your goals, and what is involved, and then you will have an extremely comprehensive oral examination. The oral examination tells us how healthy your mouth is while dental imaging technology is used to determine the health and density of your jawbone. Using x-rays and a CT scan we can tell if your jawbone has the required density to support and provide stability to a dental implant. In many cases, patients have experienced a loss in jawbone mass due to resorption, which we can correct using an alveolar bone graft. Using an onlay bone graft, we can create a dense block of bone that can sustain a dental implant. Healing takes around 6 months, following which we will be able to place the implant successfully.

Oral Surgery  >  Cosmetic Dentist