What Are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are replacement of tooth roots. Dental Implants provide a strong foundation for fixed (permanent) or removable teeth that resemble your natural teeth.
What Are the Advantages of Dental Implants?
Many advantages of dental implants, include:
Improved appearance: Dental implants look and feel like your own teeth because they are designed to fuse with bone just like your permanent teeth. Hence it supports your cheek and lips and provide proper form to the face.
Improved speech: Poorly-fitting dentures, slip within the mouth causing you to mumble or slur your words. Dental implants allow you to speak without the worry that teeth might slip.
Improved comfort: Implants eliminate the discomfort of removable dentures because they become a part of your body.
Chewing ability: Sliding dentures can make chewing difficult. Dental implants function like your own teeth, allowing you to chew and relish your favorite foods with confidence and without pain.
Improved self-esteem: Dental implants can give back your smile and help you feel better about yourself.
Improved oral health: there is no need to reduce or trim normal natural teeth, as in a tooth-supported bridge. So more of your own teeth are left intact, improving long-term oral health. Individual implants also allow easier access between teeth, improving oral hygiene.
Durability: Implants are very durable and will last many years. With good care, many implants last a lifetime.
Convenience: Implant supported Removable dentures are more stable than conventional removable dentures as these become loose with time and lift while you chew and speak. Dental implants eliminate these problems improving chewing ability and speech.
How Successful Are Dental Implants?
Success rates of dental implants vary, depending on where in the jaw the implants are placed but, in general, dental implants have a success rate of up to 98%. With proper care, implants can last a lifetime.
Can Anyone Get Dental Implants?
In most cases, anyone healthy enough to undergo a routine dental extraction or oral surgery can be considered for a dental implant. Patients should have healthy gums and enough bone to hold the implant. Good oral hygiene and regular dental visits are a must. Heavy smokers, people suffering from uncontrolled chronic disorders — such as diabetes or heart disease — or patients who have had radiation therapy to the head/neck area need to be evaluated on an individual basis.
What Is Involved in Getting a Dental Implant?
The first step in the dental implant process is the development of an individualized treatment plan. The plan addresses your specific needs and is prepared by professionals who are specially trained and experienced in oral surgery and restorative dentistry. This approach provides coordinated care based on the implant option that is best for you.
Next, the tooth root implant, which is a small post made of titanium, is placed into the bone socket of the missing tooth. As the jawbone heals, it grows around the implanted metal post, anchoring it securely in the jaw.
Once the implant has bonded to the jawbone, a small connector post — called an abutment — is attached to the post to securely hold the new tooth. To make the new tooth or teeth, your dentist makes impressions of your teeth, and creates a model of your bite (which captures all of your teeth, their type, and arrangement). The new tooth or teeth is based on this model. A replacement tooth, called a crown, is then attached to the abutment.
Instead of one or more individual crowns, some patients may have attachments placed on the implant that retain and support a removable denture.
Your dentist also will match the color of the new teeth to your natural teeth. Because the implant is secured within the jawbone, the replacement teeth look, feel, and function just like your own natural teeth.
How Painful Are Dental Implants?
Most people who have received dental implants say that there is very little discomfort involved in the procedure. Local anesthesia is used during the procedure, and most patients report that implants involve less pain than a tooth extraction.
After the dental implant, mild soreness can be treated with over-the-counter pain medication.
How Do I Care for Dental Implants?
Dental implants require the same care as real teeth, including brushing, flossing, and regular dental check-ups.
