Dental Implants
North Dallas
Want to replace your missing teeth? Dental implants replace your lost teeth, whether you have lost one tooth or all of your teeth. Dentists worldwide have been using dental implants for nearly three decades. If you are missing some teeth and need guidance about your lost teeth, here is some information from Dallas Oral Surgery Associates about restorative dentistry and dental implants. Contact us to schedule a consultation.
What Are Dental Implants?
You may not have heard of dental implants, but dental implants represent the best way to replace your missing teeth. All dental implants consist of three separate parts. Dental implant screws are implanted into your jawbone to anchor your prosthetic tooth, much like your natural tooth is anchored to your jawbone by tooth roots. Your prosthetic tooth is connected to your implant screw by a connecting piece called an abutment. Dental implant screws and abutments are made from titanium, which is a strong, light metal. Most prosthetic teeth are made from porcelain, which closely resembles real teeth. You may have to replace your prosthetic tooth in a couple of decades, but your dental implant screws and your abutments should last throughout your lifetime.
Benefits of Choosing Dental Implants Over Other Tooth Replacement Options
As long as adults have been losing teeth, there have been alternatives to missing teeth. In the past, people replaced their missing teeth with wooden dentures, precious metal dentures, and even dentures made of animal bone. Now, dentists use dentures and bridges in addition to dental implants to replace missing teeth. While both dentures and bridges are suitable tooth replacement options, there are some advantages to choosing dental implants.
Because dental implants can imitate your natural teeth, your body believes your teeth are still in place. That means your remaining natural teeth stay in place rather than shifting to take up the space where your missing teeth used to be, which can lead to both crooked teeth and jaw pain. Also, unlike dentures and bridges, dental implants allow you to eat nearly anything you want, from steak to corn on the cob. With dental implants, you can resume your normal diet and smile or laugh without worrying about your missing teeth.
The Dental Implant Procedure: What to Expect
If you are thinking about getting dental implants, you will want to know about us, our practice, and what to expect. First, if you have any broken teeth or severely diseased teeth that cannot be saved, you may need to undergo a tooth extraction. Once you have the tooth removed, our dentist will determine if your underlying jawbone is intact or if you will need to undergo bone grafting procedures. In a bone graft, our dentist will make an incision around your gumline to access your jawbone. Then, they will place bone tissue into your jawbone and close the incision with a membrane or sutures. Once your bone grafts heal, you will be ready for the next step in the process.
Whether you need a bone graft or not, the next step in the implant procedure is placing dental screws. Our dentist will again access your jawbone by making an incision into your gum tissue. They drill a hole into your jawbone to place a dental implant screw and close the incision with sutures. In general, it takes from three to six months for your implant screw to heal and fuse with the rest of your jawbone.
Once your implant screw is fully healed, our dentist will place an abutment, or a connector, to connect your implant screw to your prosthetic tooth. In general, your abutment will only take a few weeks to heal, and then the dentist attaches the prosthetic tooth to the abutment, and the implant process is complete.
Types of Dental Implants: Single, Multiple, and Full Arch
There are different dental implants depending on your needs. You can choose to have single-tooth dental implants through the process we described above. You can also have multiple-tooth implants as well as a full arch restoration.
In a multiple-tooth implant, you can choose to have several teeth replaced by single-tooth implants, or if your missing teeth are next to each other, you can choose to have an implanted bridge that uses two or four implant screws. If you are missing all of the teeth in one or both of your jaws, you can choose to have arch restoration. In an arch restoration, all of your teeth are replaced by an implanted denture, usually using two or four implant screws. The healing time for multiple-tooth implants and full arch restorations is about the same as it is for single-tooth implants -from three to six months.
How to Care for Your Dental Implants: Tips and Best Practices
Once you get dental implants, you will need to care for them. You can begin by making sure you brush your implants as well as your natural teeth twice a day every day. Some people with implants choose to brush their teeth each time they have a meal or a snack. Be sure you are either brushing with a very soft toothbrush or a toothbrush that is made specifically for implants. Your toothpaste also needs to be anti-abrasive so that you do not scratch your new implants.
You also need to make sure you floss daily. Be sure that you floss underneath your implants because food particles and plaque can become trapped underneath your implant, which can cause issues with your surrounding natural teeth as well as your gums. If you find flossing underneath your implant difficult, you may want to try a water flosser, which uses jets of water rather than string floss to release trapped food and plaque.
Also, make sure that you visit one of our dentists every six months for your cleaning and dental exam. Not only will your natural teeth be cleaned and polished, but so will your implants. Most importantly, our dentist will check to make sure there are no problems with your implants. Often, if there is a problem with one of your implants, the earlier our dentist can catch an issue, the more likely it can be resolved quickly.
Not sure whether you are ready for implants? We can help. Contact Dallas Oral Surgery Associates at 214-363-9946 today to make an appointment with one of our dentists. |
