940-298-8467
Implant Dentistry
In Denton, TX
Highly trained in various types of dental implant procedures | Some of the best customer reviews you’ve ever heard! Affordable tooth replacement cost options without being cheap | Reviewed as best dentist in Denton 2015, 2016 & 2017
- Do nothing. If no action is taken, over time the surrounding teeth will begin to shift. While some patients take this approach because the missing tooth is out of immediate view, this means that when trouble starts to develop, it may not be immediately noticed. Severe shifting leads to a misaligned bite, which can cause a range of symptoms, from jaw pain and teeth grinding to difficulty chewing.
- Get a partial denture to provide a replacement for the gap. This is a more aesthetically pleasing alternative, but it too has drawbacks. Patients do not particularly love to wear dentures of any kind, because despite our best efforts, they just don’t quite feel like real teeth. Over time, patients with partial dentures can still experience some level of bone loss and teeth shifting.
- Get a fixed partial (bridge). The best of these three alternatives (in terms of long-term health), bridges are more stable than dentures since they cannot be removed. They are also stronger, but they cause permanent damage to the adjacent teeth, because those teeth must be crowned in the process of creating the bridge. To do the crowns, as much as 70% of the tooth structure must be removed, so they can be built back up to fit properly.
How and Why do Implants Work?
In a nutshell, the dental implant post replaces the root structure of the tooth. In much the same way tree roots keep trees firmly in place, the roots of natural teeth keep them where they need to be. Without strong roots, neither tree nor tooth will survive. According to the International Congress of Oral Implantologists, dental implants “have the highest success rate of any implanted surgical device.”
Dental implants are made of titanium, so they are incredibly strong. The implant post is surgically placed in the jawbone. Your bone will fuse with the titanium, which means the post stays put. Then a crown is attached to the top of the post, giving you a natural-looking tooth replacement.
A Surgical Implant Procedure
The Dental Implant Process
Generally-speaking, implants require two or three appointments. At the first appointment, we will place the implant screw. Sometimes, we also place a healing abutment, which is a cap that is visible just at the gum level. In other cases, we may opt to bury the implant below the gumline for healing, and then have you come back on a second appointment to place the abutment.
It takes the body anywhere from three to six months to fully attach bone to titanium. While your bone is healing, there are different options for the empty space, depending on a multitude of factors—including location of the implant site, number of implants being placed, stability of the jaw bone upon placement, patient’s health factors, and so on.
Once the necessary healing has taken place, we will restore the missing tooth with a crown. This begins with an impression to properly form the crown. Posts are connected to the implant to anchor the crown. All told, the process takes six to eight months.