Modern dental implants have been successfully used for over three decades now, and over three million US patients have benefited from their many advantages – with half a million more getting implants with each passing year.
Essentially, an implant is a titanium rod, sometimes of a screw-like appearance, that connects to the alveolar bone tissue underlying your gums. By a process called osseointegration, the implant (either placed into or onto the bone) fuses firmly to the bone – as firmly as does a natural tooth.
On top of the implant goes a dental implant, which closely matches the shape, size, and coloration of natural teeth and functions normally as to chewing, speaking, and smiling.
The great thing about modern implants is that you don’t have to remove them and re-place them each day and they do not limit what you can eat/drink or what activities you can take part in. Also, they require only ordinary at-home dental care and occasional dental checkups with your local periodontist.
What Are The Benefits Of Dental Implants?
We have mentioned some of the benefits of implants in defining them briefly above, but here is a more cogent list of benefits:
- A dental implant will look, feel, and function just like a natural tooth.
- Implants last for decades, and very often for a lifetime.
- You can (optionally) get implants put in same-day if your bone and periodontal tissue is sufficiently healthy.
- An implant does not require support from adjacent teeth like a dental bridge and, thus, does not damage the enamel of your other teeth.
- You can have permanent dentures affixed to four dental implants per jaw, (all-on-4 implants). So implants are practical for people missing only a few teeth, many teeth, or all their teeth.
- Implants avoid the pain, discomfort, rubbing, soreness, and bleeding that removable denture sometimes cause.
- Most dental insurance will cover having dental implants installed, and the cost is also mitigated by the fact you don’t have to keep on getting your dentures refitted every few years.
What Is The Implant Placement Process?
If you are interested in dental implants, the first step is to talk to a periodontist who is trained and experienced with implant placement. Let him or her know your concerns and schedule an appointment to learn more and to find out if you are a good candidate for implants, medically speaking.
If you go through with it, the placement process can be done fairly quickly, though it depends on how many implants are being placed and on whether you need preparatory bone or soft tissue graft procedures done first.
The periodontist will cut through the gum tissue to your alveolar ridge and place the titanium implant rod. The gums tissue will be fitted around the implant and a dental crown will be placed immediately or during a later appointment. It can take months for your mouth to fully heal, but within a couple of weeks, things will mostly be back to normal.
To learn more about implants and if they are right for you, contact Ormond Beach Periodontics & Implant Dentistry today!