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| General Information Regarding Dental Implants and their Benefits |
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| What are Dental Implants? Implants have been around for several years and with new innovations have become a revolutionary part of tooth replacement. Dental implants are fully functional teeth, separate, that look and feel like your natural teeth and promote healthy bone retention. Bridges require the degradation of surrounding healthy teeth and full and partial dentures wear on the surrounding gums causing bone loss, sore spots and discomfort. What exactly are Dental Implants? Dental implants are metal posts or frames that are surgically positioned into the jawbone beneath your gums. Once in place they allow the general dentist to replacement teeth onto them. How do Dental Implants Work? Because implants fuse to your jawbone, they provide stable support for artificial teeth. Dentures and bridges mounted to implants won't slip or shift in your mouth, an especially important benefit when speaking and eating. This tight fit helps the dentures and bridges, as well as individual crowns placed over implants, feel more natural than conventional bridges or dentures. For some people, ordinary bridges and dentures are simply not comfortable or even possible, due to sore spots, poor ridges or gagging. In addition, ordinary bridges must be attached to teeth on either side of the space left by the missing tooth. An advantage of implants is that no adjacent teeth need to be prepared or ground down to hold the new replacement teeth in place. To receive implants, you need to have healthy gums and adequate bone to support the implant. You must also commit to keeping these structures healthy. Thorough oral hygiene and regular dental visits are critical to the long-term success of dental implants. Implants are usually more expensive than other methods of tooth replacement, and most insurance carriers ucually cover less than 10 percent of the fees. How Long do Dental Implants Last? Implants generally last 10-20 years, depending on the location of the implant and patient compliance with oral hygiene and dental visits. Because molars receive more stress and wear and tear, these implants typically do not last as long as implants located at the front of your mouth. Long-term success depends on multiple factors. First off, success will depend on the quality and quantity of bone. The better the bone and the more available, the greater the chance of long-term success. Secondly, the experience and ability of the dental surgeon will be a factor. As with any surgical procedure, there is no substitute for the experience and individual talent of the dentist. Lastly , the quality of the restoration placed on top of the implant will play a big role in long-term success. If the design of the implant crowns or overdentures are poorly constructed, and biting forces are not balanced, even the best-placed dental implant will have a compromised survival rate. A periodontist, an oral surgeon, or an implantologist places dental implants. The periodontist and oral surgeon are teamed with a restorative dentist. They will place the implants and then the patient will be seen by a restorative dentist for completion of the crowns or overlying appliance. There will be two dentists during the course of treatment. An implantologist is trained in both dental implant surgery and restoration of the dental prosthesis. An implantologist will do both the surgery and the restoration, and there will be only one dentist during the course of treatment. A general dentist trained to restore implants, an oral implantologist, or a prosthodontist can restore teeth. It is the choice of the patient to use a "one doctor approach," whereby the oral implantologist does both the surgery and the restoration, or the "two doctor approach," whereby the surgery and restoration are performed by two different clinicians. Click here to find an implantologist near you. There are no age limitations for the placement of dental implants. Any person at any age can have dental implants as long as there is enough bone available in which to place the implants. There are some medical factors that might prevent a person from being a good candidate for dental implants. Some of these may be uncontrolled diabetes, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, parathyroid disorders, blood disorders, rare bone disorders or bone marrow cancer. Some physical factors may include insufficient or poor quality bone, low sinuses or nerve bundles. The success of your implants will depend greatly on how well you maintain them. They will need to be professionally cleaned by a hygienist and examined by your implant dentist every three to four months. This hygienist should be trained in the specific procedure of maintaining dental implants. Also, brushing and flossing daily is absolutely necessary for long-term success. Dental implant surgery is not painful. An effective local anesthetic is used during the surgery so that you do not have any discomfort during the placement of the implants. The mild discomfort you might experience after surgery can be controlled with medications. You can go to work the next day after implant surgery, unless some particular surgical circumstance arises. Benefits of Dental Implants Dental implants have given countless patients many amazing benefits... 1. You will smile again 2. Improved appearance 3. Improved speech 4. Improved comfort 5. Chew better 6. Better nutrition 7. Convenience 8. Improved self-esteem |
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LA Implant Center
http://www.laimplantcenter.com |
