Implants

Losing one's beautiful smile to tooth loss is quite disturbing. The thought of a missing tooth would always linger around the patient's mind, making them feel too conscious of their facial appearance. They would hesitate to smile wholeheartedly while socializing with people, fearing their missing tooth would be visible. Over time, it would lead to insecurity and lack of confidence.

But, who said you'd have to live with a missing tooth? Dental technology has seen such advancement in the past few decades that replacing extracted teeth can be done with ease. Moreover, the aesthetics of the restorations can be customized to perfectly match that of the natural teeth.

What are dental implants?

Most dentists all over the world agree that dental implants are the best way to replace missing teeth. Implants are a combination of a metal stud and a tooth-like ceramic prosthetic. They effectively restore the tooth crown and root as well. Since they are implanted into the jawbone, they offer excellent stability, strength, and longevity.

Here's why you should choose dental implants

• When you lose a tooth, the remaining ones try to loosen up and move towards the gap. This can affect the bite of the patient and also alter the facial shape. Dental implants prevent this as they fill in the gap in the jawbone.
• Biting and chewing food with a missing tooth could give rise to unwanted pain in the teeth, jawbone, and TMJ. Dental implants restore the functionality of the mouth (biting and chewing) and also prevent pain due to the missing tooth.
• From an aesthetic standpoint, implants are undoubtedly the best tooth restoratives. The metal stud would be well hidden under the ceramic crown. As per the crown, its color, texture, translucency, and contour can be customized to look exactly like a natural tooth. Even if anyone takes a closer look at it, they wouldn't be able to differentiate it from the other teeth.
• Implants offer excellent durability, strength, and sturdiness. With proper care, they last for several years together without hassle.
• Implant crowns are made from a highly durable ceramic material that doesn’t wear easily. In fact, it would wear only as much as the natural enamel does.

Treatment procedure

When you visit our practice for a consultation, we would conduct a candidacy test for dental implants. During this, we would take several factors into consideration, such as gum health, the strength of the jawbone, drifting of the remaining teeth, etc. Only if all the factors are satisfied, we would advance to the surgery.

As an initial measure, we will administer local anesthesia to numb the gums, teeth, and jawbone. Next, a hole will be made on the jawbone where the implant is to be placed. The implant stud has screw-like grooves on its surface which help it stay firmly in place. Once firmly fixed, the jawbone will be allowed to grow around the implant stud and adhere to it. Also, the gums will regrow around the implant during this time.

On the next visit, we will fix the implant crown to the stud. A connecting abutment will be used for this purpose along with dental cement. Before hardening it using a curing light, we will make sure it is perfectly in place. Finally, a bite test will be taken and the crown will be polished.

Call us at (858) 866-9692 or schedule an online appointment with us and we’ll be able to guide you further.