Dental Implants 101: Everything You Need to Know About the Process
If you’re missing teeth then you know how it can feel to have lost your perfect smile – especially if one of your front teeth is involved. Chewing food can be a challenge if you’re missing a canine or molar, and though false teeth and dentures can be good solutions, some of our patients wished for a more permanent solution that wouldn’t require regular maintenance. Today there is an option: Dental implants.
Dental implants have been around a lot longer than you may think
At California Dental Group, we’ve run across patients who are nervous about dental implants because they believe them to be a relatively new option that hasn’t yet been tried and tested. The truth is that they were first developed over 60 years ago and dental experts have been continuously improving them ever since.
Today there are two main options. The first and most common are endosteal implants, which are implanted directly into your jawbone. Screws are generally chosen to shape them but there are other options like blades and cylinders.
The second type of dental implant is a subperiosteal implant. These aren’t actually implanted into your jaw but instead are attached to your jaw through a metal frame. This is typically only the choice if your jaw isn’t able to handle a dental implant for some reason.
The procedure for getting dental implants
The first thing we’ll do at California Dental Group is to plan your implants. We’ll take a look at your mouth, check out the site visually, with x-rays, and with a CT scan if necessary. This will give us all the information we need to determine if you’d be a good candidate for implants. If we’ve decided that you are, and you’ve decided to move forward, then we’ll schedule an appointment for the operation.
The process of getting implants
When it’s time to actually implant them, we’ll use a local anesthetic to numb the area. We’ll then drill a hole into the jaw where we can screw the implant in. We’ll suture your gums and put a cap over your implant so it can heal and so that it’s able to integrate into your jawbone. The healing takes anywhere from two to six months, depending on your particular situation. We may recommend a diet of warm soup, cold drinks, and soft foods.
When the period of healing is complete, we’ll check out your implants to ensure they’ve been accepted and have healed correctly. We’ll then add an abutment that will hold your new tooth. This is a crown that’s custom-made for you and will fit in perfectly with the rest of your smile. One of the best things about these implants is that they can last the rest of your life.
Are you ready to learn more about dental implants? Then call California Dental Group at (800) 407-0161 today!
