Facts About Dental Implants

What are Dental Implants?

Implants are an ideal dental restoration for people missing one or more teeth that resulted from an injury or periodontal disease.  Dental implants are composed of three parts:

·        The titanium implant that fuses with the jawbone

·        The abutment (fits over portion of the implant that protrudes from the gum line)

·        The crown which is fitted onto the abutment for a natural appearance

To sum up those three components, it’s a metal post that a periodontist or oral surgeon surgically positions into your jaw.  Once in place and when the surrounding bone has had ample time to heal, a replacement tooth is attached to the post.  There are two types of dental restoration implants:

·        Endosteal: meaning “in the bone,” this is the most common type of implant and is placed into your jawbone.  This is generally used as an alternative for our patients with bridges or removable dentures.

·        Subperiosteal: meaning “on the bone,” is placed on top of jaw with the metal framework’s posts protruding through the gums to hold the prosthesis.  Our patients who have these are usually the ones who are unable to wear conventional dentures and who have minimal bone height.

 

Why get a Dental Implant?

While dental implants are more expensive than other methods for replacing your teeth, they provide far superior benefits.  They combine the best of modern science and technology.  Implants are stronger than natural teeth and generally last 10-20 years!  They are also a more favorable approach than bridgework since they do not depend on the neighboring teeth for support.

To receive implants, you need to have healthy gums and adequate bone to support the implant.  In addition, you must be committed to excellent oral hygiene and regular dental cleanings as these are crucial to the long-term success of the implant.

What is the Implant Process like?

Placing an implant is truly a team effort – a team made up of you, the patient; our restorative dentistry expert, our Valencia dentists; and the oral/maxillofacial surgeon placing the implant. 

What makes our Valencia dental facility unique and unlike any other is that we have teammate that no other facility has.  In fact, very few do in the entire world.  It’s called the Cone Beam 3D Scanner.  Feel free to visit our technology section of our website for more information on this scanner but in a nutshell, it allows us plan implants without having to physically explore your mouth.  We can perform our implant surgeries on our computer workstations before performing them on our patients!  By duplicating the results of our virtual implant placement to our patients, we practically eliminate all complications leading to short procedure times.  Sounds too good to be true right?  That’s exactly why we have one in our Valencia dentist office.  Nothing is too good for our patients and we want only the best for you.

If you are looking for more information on dental implants, WebMD offers a valuable self-help resource.

 

Posted by Go Dental, Your Valencia Dentist.