Dental Implants

Dental Implant is a “second permanent tooth”

It is a most unfortunate but very frequent circumstance that teeth may be permanently lost. It doesn’t matter what the reason behind this loss may be. What matters is that the situation can be remedied with what has been dubbed as “second permanent teeth” or more widely known as dental implants.

What is a Dental Implant?

In scientific terms it is a process where a surgical component is put in place to interface with the bone of the jaw for the purpose of supporting a dental prosthesis of a denture, a crown or a bridge. In fact this process has been one of the major breakthroughs in dentistry in the last 40 years.

The process has been designed to replace lost teeth with new ones that will blend in with the remaining original ones and restore the mouth to its proper condition along with your smile and self-confidence. It is a long term solution which affords a lot of benefits in comparison with other options.

The advantages and disadvantages of dental implants

First of all you will never know (except in your mind) which is the implant as it will feel exactly as your natural teeth. You can be sure that the other people around you will never notice the difference. The second advantage has already been mentioned: it’s a long term solution. The third and for some the most important advantage offered, is that it provides relief from the discomfort of wearing dentures. Other advantages come in the form of protection of the adjacent teeth and greater predictability.

On the other hand, implants take a lot more time to be put in place than the other available options and there is a possibility that the way the damage was done inside the mouth may prohibit the process altogether.

In reference to the cost which some people consider as unjustifiably high it is a matter of balance. You may need to pay a little more for implants but you need to weigh in the much longer time frames involved, the much greater confidence that you will have on your smile and appearance and that it is an investment with a greater ROI rate.

The process

To install dental implants either this might be a case of a single tooth, a set of several teeth, or the entire set, the process consists of four stages. The first stage is to examine the condition of the mouth and determine if the process will provide viable results. If that is the case then a treatment planning is devised.

Stage two is the surgical phase where the implant is placed in the jawbone. When the surgery is completed and the placement is successful, stage three follows which is the waiting period. It must be made sure that the implant was indeed combined with the bone and the support for the dental prosthesis that will follow is robust and solid. It is the stage were most problems occur and it is the stage were some adjustments may have to be made in order to make sure that stage four will proceed without any complications.

Stage four is the implementation of the rest of the treatment plan of stage one and the completion of the process to restore the missing tooth or teeth. There are some biomechanical issues involved in this stage and the procedure is not to be carried out hastily. It requires the same level of expertise and knowledge as stage two.

The results

Dental implants are rapidly becoming the standard of the industry. Missing teeth affect the way you speak, the way you eat even your participation in the activities that you like. At this time there is no better way offered to restore all of the above to the way they were before a single tooth was lost, let alone a set of them.

It is true that they require money, time and patience. However, the results and the opinions of those who have so far tried the process indicate that it is an investment worth pursuing.

The first thing to do if you have lost some teeth is to give us a call or send us a message. We’ll set up an appointment to take a look at your case and advise you if you are a suitable candidate. At this stage we need to make a point very clear.

A matter of trust

As aforementioned there may be circumstances that prohibit a patient from going through the dental implant process. Some dentists go through such a process anyway, only to see the results fall apart after just a few months. It may even be necessary to go through another process like clearing up any periodontitis that may exist before going through the implants.

Our interest is the welfare of your teeth and your overall mouth hygiene. We built our brand name by being honest and by building trust with our clientele. You can rest assured that in the very rare circumstance that the dental implant process cannot be carried out either at all or not until some other issues have been addressed, you will be advised accordingly so that you can make a fully informed decision.

After the determination has been made and you have received all the pertinent information, we’ll be at your disposal to do what we do best. Make sure that your teeth are in perfect order and that your smile is back to normal.