Dental Implants - What Are They?

What are the benefits of dental implants?

Dental implants are used to replace missing roots and support crowns or bridges to replace your missing teeth. Implants can help to improve the retention and stability of your existing denture by allowing the denture to clip onto implants.

Implant replacing a missing tooth

Are dental implants right for you?
Implants are not for everyone. You must be in good general health, have healthy gums and enough bone in your jaw to support the implant(s). You must be willing to see us several times until the work is done and take very good care of your implant(s). Must also see us for regular dental cleaning to help maintain your dental implants.
It's normal for bone to shrink if it no longer has teeth to support. Because an implant sticks to bone, the bone is less likely to shrink. But if you have been missing teeth for some time, you may have lost bone. A bone graft can build up the bone so it can support an implant. When a bone graft is done, bone is added to the area where your jawbone has shrunk. Often at the time of the extraction of your teeth, a bone graft is needed to create more bone to hold the implants.

Here's how an implant is done:
Step 1
A small titanium post into your jawbone.
Step 2
Over time, the post will bond with the bone around it.
Step 3
We will fabricate either crowns, bridges or dentures to anchor onto the posts, depending on your particular situation and needs.

Because implants stick to the bone, false teeth attached to implants look and act much like natural teeth. But implants are not as strong as natural teeth. You must brush and floss your implant(s) very carefully. Be gentle, but make sure you brush all sides of your implant(s). A toothbrush that has longer bristles at the tip may help clean behind your implant(s).
Floss very carefully at least once a day. You will need to be gentle with the floss where the implant meets the gum (called the gumline). You may find a floss threader useful for cleaning this area.
To book an appointment to determine whether dental implants are right for you, call us.