Monday
From 9:00am – 6:00pm
Many patients are unhappy because they are missing a tooth. Traditionally, if there were teeth on either side of the space a bridge could be prepared. This means shaving down the adjacent teeth known as abutments and creating a bridge between with the replacement for the missing tooth (the pontic) attached to the adjacent teeth. As you can see this often involves shaving down healthy teeth. A better option may be the dental implant.
Dental implants are one of the biggest advances in dentistry over the last 40 years. You can think of dental implants as an artificial root. This root is made of titanium which once placed into the upper or lower jaw, can provide the supporting structure for an aesthetic crown. When someone is missing multiple teeth, more than one implants can be placed and bridges or special constructed dentures can be attached.
Office Hours
* Open every other Thursday
What are the steps to place a dental implant?
- Traditionally, if a patient has a failing tooth, extract the tooth, remove any diseased tissue or inflammation and then allow the “socket” to heal and new bone to form. This formation of new bone generally takes 3 or more months. Sometimes if there is extensive damage to the bone, bone grafting is performed to help new bone to form in the socket.
- Once the socket has healed then the implant can be placed. Often a surgical guide is fabricated to more precisely place the dental implant but is not always necessary. Although the implant may have threads and looks like a screw, the key to success is osseointegration. The bone actually grows around and into the micro gaps in the titanium implant surfaces. Generally, 2-3 months are given for the implant to fully osseointegrate before the final steps.
- Once osseointegration has occurred, an impression or scan is taken of the implant and artificial tooth called a crown can be fabricated. Every effort is made to match size, shape and colour so that the crown fits in with your other teeth.
Implants have a very high success rate and are appropriate for most healthy individuals. A dental implant has a very good chance of lasting a patient the rest of their life. Patients that have diabetes or smoke have a greater risk for complications and implant loss.
Are dental implants appropriate for you? Please call for a consultation.