How Dental Implants Work
How Dental Implants Work
So how do dental implants work? Dental implants replace your entire missing tooth or teeth.
The complete loss of a natural tooth or multiple teeth in the upper or lower jaw should result in patients getting an implant with an abutment and dental crown on top.
Without this implant set-up, the missing tooth can significantly impact a person’s daily life and functions, such as the ability to speak, eat, and perform other activities, possibly classifying the condition as a disability.
The dental name for teeth that are completely missing is edentulism. Meaning the entire tooth and its roots are gone.
People with edentulism face a number of difficulties; the inability to properly chew food imposes a limit on dietary choices, which can result in nutritional deficiencies.
Additionally, the absence of teeth can impact speech clarity and even alter someone’s facial appearance and structure. Your youthful, natural look fades quickly and premature aging along with a whole range of physical and psychological issues start.
Fortunately, both partial and complete loss of teeth, as well as all the subsequent issues the condition causes, can be reduced and completely eliminated by dental implants.
In this guide, we’ll discuss what dental implants are, the different types of implants, and how they work.
What Are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are small posts made of either titanium or ceramics that are surgically placed within your jawbone beneath your gum line. Implants are specifically made of these materials, as both are stable and safe when used in a persons mouth.
In other words, they don’t react with saliva, liquids, or other bodily fluids making implant titanium posts ideal for replacement teeth.
A dental implant post replaces for your missing tooth’s root. The post fuses with your jawbone, stimulating and preserving your jaw’s bone structure. It also creates a rock-solid, stable foundation for the replacement tooth.
The final restoration of a single tooth, several missing teeth or a full mouth restoration of your smile using permanent or snap-in dentures will look and feel like natural teeth.
Given adequate care, implants can last for a lifetime, and for this reason, they’re often recommended as a number one solution for replacing a missing tooth (or teeth) permanently. However, not all dental implants are the same.
Dental Implants Process
Placing dental implants is a surgical procedure that replaces the roots of your missing teeth with metal or ceramic posts. Once complete a crown is added on top of an abutment which replaces the damaged or missing tooth (or teeth) with artificial teeth. These replacements act and work just like the real teeth do.
“Our goal is to provide the latest in modern implant dentistry for residents in the northern Colorado”
However, how dental implants work and how the surgery is performed largely depends on the type of implant you need, as well as the condition of your jawbone and overall oral health.
In most cases, dental implant procedure involves several steps. Every implant patient starts with a free initial consultation.
Planning Phase
Best part about planning for implants for residents in Loveland and the northern Colorado area is they no longer require an oral surgeon. Dr. Bigus is certified implantologist and provides patients with a variety of tooth replacement options.
His process begins with a comprehensive dental exam at Rocky Mountain Smile, with dental X-rays, 3D images, and models of your teeth and jaw.
Dr. Bigus then examines your medical history and comes up with a custom-tailored treatment plan.
Most patients can receive new teeth in a day unless additional care like bone grafting is needed.
Grafting
Depending on the condition of your oral health, the number of teeth missing b, and the implants you want or need, the process may or may not include bone grafting.
This procedure is done to replace any missing bone. Implant dentistry requires healthy bone. When healthy bone is not available bone-substitute materials care be used. Once the bone graft has fused with your jawbone, you undergo dental implant surgery unless you need a sinus lift.
Sinus Lift
Dental implants titanium screws require enough bone thickness to work . Your facial bones need to be thick enough to receive and bond to an implant.
Sinus lifts and bone graphs are usually combined into one treatment and require additional time to heal so they are ready for implants. Only about 30% of patients need this procedure, so a majority of people’s first step will be the implant.
Implanting
The first step once your cleared for dental implant placement is tooth extraction, unless the tooth and root is already gone. Sometime adjacent teeth are replaced as well if the doctor finds decay or disease after removing the bad tooth.
Dr. Bigus will carefully open the gums to reveal the jawbones and precisely drill holes into the bone where dental posts will be anchored. If you’re undergoing a procedure for a partial replacement or a complete denture, a replacement denture will be placed for aesthetic and eating purposes. While using the temporary prosthetic patients will be instructed on proper dental care and what foods they can eat.
Over time, the jawbone will fuse with the dental implants. This process called osseointegration. Osteointegration is the healing process that ensure patients do not experience implant failure.
Healing time can be a short or lengthy process depending on the patients health and implant site. This longest time requires several months, and this time helps build a solid base for your new artificial teeth (or a single tooth).
In some cases osseointegration must be completed before they may attach the abutment (the part on which the crown is attached) if it wasn’t previously attached during the metal post-implantation procedure.
This is a minor surgical procedure to replace a temporary crown or partial denture. This treatment only requires only local anesthesia. The gums are pulled back, the abutments are placed, and the gums are then closed around the abutments.
Choosing Your New Teeth
After your gums heal, the dental clinicians will take more impressions of your mouth and remaining teeth, which will be used to make the crown; realistic-looking artificial teeth. However, the crown will be placed after your jawbone has been fully fused with the implants and strong enough to support the chewing force of your new teeth.
Different Types of Dental Implant
Not all cases of edentulism (tooth-lessness) are the same, and the same applies to dental implants. Besides what they are made of dental implants are also categorized by their application.
Single Dental Implants
Single dental implants are the most common dental implants used to replace a single missing tooth. When we say “missing tooth” we mean the whole tooth, root and all.
These only require a single post and a single crown that sits on top of it. The implant post is surgically placed within your jawbone. The bones and gum tissue are left to heal. The post will fuse with the bone over the course of three to four months.
Once healed, the new, custom-designed crown is secured to the post, and your new tooth will look and feel just like all your surrounding teeth.
However, if you have several missing teeth, replacing each individual tooth with a single dental implant might be too expensive. That’s why dental bridges exist.
Dental Bridge
This type of implant is most commonly used when you have missing teeth adjacent to each other. A dental bridge consists of two crowns on either side of your missing teeth gap, with other artificial teeth connected to those crowns, which are secured to your jawbone via two dental implants.
The surgical process is nearly identical to a single dental implant, but instead of each tooth receiving its own implant, the teeth in the middle are supported only by the adjacent crowns.
The downside of this implant is that there is some bone loss associated with the artificial teeth that didn’t receive an implant. When too many teeth are missing some patients opt for a full mouth restoration.
Implant-Retained Denture
A denture is a complete arch of artificial teeth, replacing either the top, bottom or both arches of your natural teeth.
Traditional dentures are glued in and removable. Old style stick on dentures are can be inconvenient, as they’re known to slip, slide, or even fall out. This can potentially make daily tasks such as eating and talking rather uncomfortable.
On top of that, dentures like this cause oral health problems. Nerve damage, bone loss, gum disease, and periodontal disease can all be caused by cheap glued-on dentures.
Implant-retained dentures fix this problem, as implants permanently secure the dentures to your jawbone.
Residents in northern Colorado area can turn to Dr. Bigus and Rocky Mountain Smiles to experience the benefits of dental implants and removable anchored dentures. Our team of experience dental professionals provide implant-anchored dentures and all other types of implants.
During the procedure, Dr. Bigus will strategically place the proper amount of implants along your jawbone arch to anchor and support your new set of teeth in just one day.
Once finished, you’ll receive a custom-designed denture that fastens and secures to the previously placed implants.
The result is a fixed-removable denture designed to fit your facial aesthetics, giving you a beautiful, youthful appearance. Additionally, since the snap-in denture is removable, long-term oral care and good oral hygiene are easy, leading to better overall health and wellness.
Summary
If you are experiencing tooth loss, dental implants are your best options. Whether you’re missing one tooth or multiple teeth, dental implants can help you restore your smile. To find out if you are a good candidate for implants and maxillofacial surgery, schedule a free consultation today.
Call or email us today with questions about different types of dental implants, how they work, and which surgical procedures they require, don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Bigus at Rocky Mountain Smiles.
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The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.