Brookridge area dental patients may benefit from dental implants if they’re in need of a permanent solution to dental issues such as a severely broken or damaged tooth and missing teeth.
There are a few different types of dental implants which can be used to replace just one tooth or replace all of your teeth, serving as a more stable, convenient alternative to full dentures.
What are Dental Implants?
Brookridge dental patients must consult a dental clinic that deals in dental implants as not every dental professional specializes in implants. The process used to place dental implants is generally the same, regardless of the type of implant that is being utilized.
The process may begin with a tooth extraction in the case of a severely decayed or damaged tooth. In these instances, it’s generally customary to allow the patient to heal up for a period of several weeks so the empty socket heals up and begins to fill in with bone. This gives the implant more surface area to fuse with in your jaw. This healing process may be longer in cases where chronic dental problems have seriously impacted the jaw bone.
Once the patient is ready for the actual implantation procedure, conscious sedation may be used in conjunction with a local anesthetic. The base of the implant is placed in the jaw bone. In some instances, the dentist may use a bone graft to help promote healing and bone formation. This helps the bone to form and fuse with the implant faster.
After the implants are placed, the healing process will begin. There are two parts of the healing process. One part of the process involves the healing of your gums, while the second part of the healing process involves healing within the actual jaw bone, as the bone fuses with the implant. The first part of the process generally takes a week or two, while the second portion of the process can take a bit longer.
In some cases, you may need to wait a period of time until you receive your new teeth. For instance, with all-on-four implants, whereby a full jaw’s worth of teeth is secured to four implanted “ports,” the implants must heal before the actual teeth are added to the equation. But once healing is complete, these dental implants offer a great alternative to traditional dentures.
With some dental implants, Brookridge patients may get an implant that serves as an anchor for bridgework. But it’s common to wait for the implants to fully heal and fuse with the jaw bone before the bridgework is put into place.
*Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Anchor Dental Care*