Dental Implants

About Dental Implants

Before development of dental implants, dentures were the only alternative to replacing a missing tooth or teeth.

Implants are synthetic structures that are placed in the area of the tooth normally occupied by the root. Implants are anchored to the jawbone or metal framework on the bone and act as a foundation for an artificial tooth or permanent bridge. In some cases, implants can be used to attach dentures.

Not everyone is a candidate for a dental implant, however. For a successful implant to take hold, a candidate must have proper bone density and have a strong immune system. In all cases, dental implants require strict oral hygiene.

Implants are so well designed, they mimic the look and feel of natural teeth. Implants are usually made of a synthetic yet biocompatible material like metal or ceramic.

Today implant-supported restorations are the preferred choice to replace missing teeth. Dental implant-supported restorations are made up of three main components: a threaded, titanium alloy or zirconia screw that takes the place of your tooth roots, a solid, natural-looking and -feeling crown and an abutment to connect the two parts. This treatment modality will enable the re-establishment of function, aesthetics and health. The dental implant can sometimes be placed at the time of the extraction of a given tooth. More commonly the dental implant would be placed at a later time after the extraction site would have healed for several months to ensure a sound foundation.

For single missing teeth this will avoid the removal of tooth structure from the adjacent teeth for the placement of a bridge.

Dental implants can be used to replace single missing teeth in the front and back of the mouth as well as support to replace multiple teeth.

Even in the instance of the loss of all teeth in one or both arches Dental Implant therapy is an excellent treatment choice to recreate function and aesthetics.

Application of Implants

Surgery is necessary to prepare the area for an implant and place the implant in the mouth. Following the procedure, a period of time is required for the implant to take hold and for bone tissue to build up and anchor the device. In some cases, metal posts are inserted into the implant during a follow-up procedure to connect the tooth.

Because implants require surgery, patients are administered anesthesia and if necessary, antibiotics to stave off infection following the procedure.

Like any restoration, implants require diligent oral hygiene and proper care to ensure they last a long time.

Ridge Preservation at Time of Tooth Extraction

The removal of teeth can be indicated because of pain, infection, bone loss or a fracture of a given tooth. The predisposing disease often already lead to a loss of bone around the roots of a tooth. After the extraction of the tooth the surrounding bone and gum tissues can further shrink and resulting in a deformity of the jaw in that area.

This can result in aesthetic and functional problems when considering replacing the missing teeth with implant-supported restorations, bridges and dentures. In order to preserve the anatomy in the extractions area a bone grafting material is used to be placed into the extraction site (socket) and would be covered with a resorbable barrier. This ridge preservation procedure will be essential in dental implant therapy to ensure a solid foundation for the implant placement several months later.

Bone Regeneration in Implant Therapy

In some areas the jaw bone is deficient for the ideal implant therapy. This would implicate bone grafting at the time or prior to implant placement. Bone grafting procedures can be utilized to address vertical and horizontal bone deficiencies. Your provider at Periodontics LLC will throughly discuss any additional bone grafting that would be needed for an ideal outcome, i.e. ridge augmentation and sinus augmentation.