A beautiful smile augments your confidence and makes you more appealing. Sadly, when your teeth fall off or are extracted due to damage, the flawless smile is lost, and you begin experiencing tooth functionality problems. The alveolar bone, soft tissues, and periodontal ligaments hold your teeth in place. When you lose teeth, the soft tissue is not needed. The bone resorbs the tissue, and with time, the body absorbs the bone, threatening your facial appearance and oral health.
Implants are cosmetic dentistry solutions made of titanium rods that act as artificial tooth roots to prevent bone loss. When you install implants, instead of the body absorbing the jawbone after tooth loss, the bone grows around the implant, holding it in place. That way, your teeth will continue functioning normally, and you will retain your facial structure. Despite these pros, implants can lead to additional oral concerns when fitted wrongly. At The Hawthorne Dentist, we have experienced dental implant specialists and the resources you require for the procedure to be successful.
Dental Implants Overview
Implants are artificial or prosthetic roots made of titanium or metal rods implanted in your jawbone to anchor a restoration for missing teeth to halt or discourage bone absorption. The surgical process is considered an artificial replacement but generally falls under cosmetic dentistry.
You can have the prosthetic tooth root to anchor a single or multiple tooth restoration. Once the screw or post is in place, the jawbone starts growing in and around it in a process known as osseointegration, enabling the artificial replacement to provide the same anchorage to the teeth and stimulation to the jawbone as the natural tooth root.
A tooth root is the section of your tooth that goes deep into the gingiva and the bone to provide anchorage to the visible section of the tooth. A dental implant plays the same role as the tooth root; the only difference is that it is screw-shaped and anchors your tooth restoration like the dental crown that replaces the missing tooth. After implantation, your dentist attaches an abutment to the prosthetic root to provide a base for the screwing in of the denture, dental crown, or bridge. The abutment sits on the gumline above the implant to anchor your restoration or prosthesis.
The restoration, or prostheses, is the visible section of the artificial tooth and is connected to the implant through an abutment to provide a solid and comfortable structure that looks and functions like the natural tooth. You can chew and speak with the prosthesis like in the past when you had natural teeth. Besides, implants can last forever with good care because they are unsusceptible to decay, cavities, or worn enamel like natural teeth.
After the implantation, your dentist will place a temporary prosthesis to protect the implant during fusion. Once the implantation heals, you will come for a second appointment when the final prosthesis is attached and the treatment is completed.
When you have missing teeth, it is common to feel self-conscious, which could impact your confidence when socializing. Again, teeth next to the open socket tend to shift, causing bite irregularities that affect your diet and overall health.
Thankfully, when you replace these missing teeth with dental implants, you regain the strength and stability of your natural teeth, enabling you to enjoy all foods. Additionally, implants stimulate your bones, allowing you to maintain the bone, prevent bone loss, and maintain your original facial structure. You will regain confidence and oral health with a beautiful appearance and flawless smile.
Difference Between Implants and Natural Teeth
Ligaments made of collagen fibers link your original teeth with the bone. The threads link with the teeth on the upper side and the bone on the lower side. Inappropriate oral hygiene causes periodontitis, cavities, and decay, which damage the periodontal ligaments, leading to tooth loss.
In contrast, the dental implant fuses directly with the jawbone. Also, because of the material of the posts, they are not susceptible to decay or periodontitis like natural teeth. Further, the prosthesis, which resembles the visible section of the lost tooth, attaches to the artificial root through the abutment, unlike natural teeth, which attach to the jawbone via the collagen threads.
However, in terms of functionality and appearance, natural teeth and implants resemble and function the same. One can hardly notice any differences in appearance and functionality.
Dental Implants Candidacy
You qualify for dental implants after puberty, when the jawbone fully matures. At The Hawthorne Dentist, we emphasize having a fully mature jawbone for the procedure because this is the time it has sufficient space and sturdiness to anchor your implant. With a stable and secure artificial root, the prosthesis will rest comfortably on the abutment, offering you the benefits you enjoyed with the natural teeth. We do not encourage teenagers to undergo the treatment because their jawbones are yet to mature and cannot provide the stability the implants require for the treatment to succeed. Performing the procedure on a teenager increases the chances of treatment failure.
Therefore, when you come in for a consultation, we will evaluate your teeth and gingiva tissue to determine your eligibility for the procedure. Our dentists will utilize X-rays and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) to review your jawbone structure and determine whether it has sufficient mass or density to anchor implants. The detailed images from the advanced equipment will also help us determine how to position the implants best.
Apart from jawbone maturity, some conditions like periodontitis, diabetes, cancer, or alcoholism can interfere with bone fusion with the implant, failing the procedure. Tobacco smoking also lowers the body’s immunity, increasing the chances of oral infections leading to treatment failure. Therefore, before starting your implantation procedure, we will first evaluate your medical history for conditions like cancer, alcoholism, and diabetes. Based on the severity of these illnesses, you could require additional treatment before the surgical implantation. If you suffer from periodontal disease, we will first control the disease. For smokers, you must quit smoking months before the treatment to increase your chances of success.
Remember to disclose to your dentist any immunosuppressants you could use to protect your welfare during the surgery and increase the possibility of the treatment succeeding.
After evaluating your teeth, we will recommend the most suitable implants based on the health of your jawbone and soft tissue, your oral hygiene, and your commitment to post-surgery instructions.
Implant Types
Our cosmetic dentists understand that patients’ needs and circumstances are unique. Therefore, the implants we recommend vary in size, kind, and height to satisfy your unique oral needs. During the first consultation, we will conduct a thorough evaluation to determine the most suitable type of implant. The two categories you will choose from are endosteal and subperiosteal.
The most prevalent are endosteal, comprising titanium screws. Your dental surgeon surgically implants these screw-shaped titanium posts into the bone and then allows you at least six months for the jawbone to fuse with the screw, after which they attach the final prosthesis.
The other category is the subperiosteal, comprising metal posts. Instead of surgically placing these posts in the jawbone, we attach them above the gums if the remaining tooth roots are healthy. We recommend these implants when the density of your jawbone is insufficient to support endosteal implants. You do not want to undergo a bone graft procedure, as it takes a lot of time before receiving the final restorations. When subperiosteal posts are placed on the gums above the jawbone, with time they merge with the bone, after which your dentist places the final restoration.
Surgical Implantation Process
The implantation process is a surgical procedure involving multiple steps. Depending on the severity of the condition, you will require a general dentist, oral surgeon, prosthodontist, or periodontist. Your dental specialist plans the treatment, and the lab technician fabricates the artificial tooth.
The implantation procedure is lengthy because, at almost every stage, the dentist must allow you some time to heal before progressing to the next phase. The whole treatment takes five to slightly over twelve months. It is a lengthy wait, so our dentists at The Hawthorne Dentist take time to explain your expectations. After you have understood what to expect during the procedure, not withstanding the extended osseointegration process, we commence the treatment.
The phases you should expect in the treatment are:
Extraction of the Damaged Tooth
The first phase of your treatment involves extracting or removing the damaged teeth. Most damaged teeth fall off naturally, but when they fail to, they must be removed before the implantation. If your smile has been impaired by fractured teeth or teeth damaged beyond repair, you can address the problem by extracting the teeth and replacing them with implants.
Some patients enter dental clinics anticipating pain and discomfort, especially when tooth extraction is involved. Nonetheless, you do not have to be scared, as we will administer local anesthesia for a painless extraction. If the damaged tooth or teeth have fallen off, no extraction is required, meaning your treatment starts with crafting a treatment plan.
Developing an Implantation Plan
Dental implant procedures differ from one patient to another. Therefore, even if you are a candidate for the procedure, your dental expert must develop a treatment plan tailored to satisfy your needs. Planning entails checking the bone and the gum tissue to determine whether they are suitable to support an implant. Your dentist will also inspect the color of existing teeth to assist you to choosing a tooth replacement that matches the color of the remaining teeth for a flawless smile.
Having a low-density or mass jawbone does not make you ineligible for implants. You can still qualify for the treatment, but after a bone graft procedure where your dentist strengthens the existing bone to accommodate the implant.
Bone Grafting
Our dentists cannot surgically place an implant on a weak jawbone, as it increases the possibility of treatment failure. However, this does not mean that we will entirely rule you out of the treatment. You can still receive an implant and bone grafting, where your dentist extracts a tiny bone from another body section and transplants it to the jawbone to increase its strength and mass. If you are not comfortable with the bone extraction from another body part, your dentist will utilize synthetic material for the bone graft.
The challenge with a bone graft is that after the procedure, you should wait between four and twelve months before receiving your dental implants, as this is the time it takes for the jawbone to heal. However, if the jawbone only requires a little strengthening, you can have the bone graft and the surgical implantation at once to avoid the lengthy wait before implantation.
Placing the Implant
Once the bone graft or extraction site heals, you will be ready for the implantation. The process of fixing the implant involves making a small cut on the gum tissue to expose the jawbone in the position earmarked for the implant. The dentist then drills a hole in the exposed or uncovered bone using a special drill and then screws in the titanium posts or screws below the gum line to act as prosthetic tooth roots.
We administer local anesthesia for this surgical procedure, making the treatment virtually painless. If you suffer from dental anxiety, mention it so that they can sedate you before the process begins.
After the implant is in place, we will stitch the gums that we had opened earlier and then give you ten to fifteen days for the gums around the implant area to heal. After healing, you will come in for another appointment where we open the soft tissue to expose the implant again. The next step involves attaching the connector to the implant. This sits above the gumline to enable the attachment of the temporary tooth restoration.
After fitting the interim restoration, we will allow you to go home to allow for osseointegration to happen. It takes eight to twelve weeks for the jawbone to grow around and fuse with the implant. During the healing process, you will experience swelling and pain in the gums. You can manage these symptoms using over-the-counter drugs.
Also, your dental professional will prescribe antibiotics to prevent infections that hinders healing, causing the implants to fail. Steer clear of hard foods during this period because the fusion of the implant and the bone is what creates lasting stability. If the two fail to bond well naturally, the implants are likely to fail.
Placement of the Final Tooth Restoration
Once the osseointegration process is complete, you will return to our clinic to take an impression of your jawline and mouth to use for the fabrication of your tooth replacements. Fabrication of the artificial restorations takes approximately two weeks, after which you will return for the final restoration.
Choosing Your Prostheses or Artificial Tooth
When choosing your final prostheses, you must pick between the fixed and removable. The fixed restorations are those that are permanently cemented on the connector, and you cannot remove them when brushing or eating. Cementing is advantageous because it covers the screw, improving the tooth’s appearance.
In contrast, removable restorations are those that are screwed in on the abutment to allow for removal during repairs, when brushing, or eating.
Your choice of artificial tooth will depend on whether you want removable or permanent prostheses. If you are looking for removable restorations, you can go for dentures. These comprise a pink plastic gingiva tissue surrounded by white prosthetic teeth. Dentures can be full or partial. If you are missing teeth on both jaws, you can go for the full arch to replace all the missing teeth and a partial denture when missing teeth only on one jaw. They have a metal frame that attaches to the connector above your dental implant to anchor the artificial teeth. The benefit of these restorations is that they are detachable. You can remove the metal frame from the abutment for washing or repairs.
Another choice for the final restoration is dental crowns. When it comes to these, you can pick the cemented or screwed ones depending on the position of the missing tooth. Cemented dental crowns are permanent because once they are bonded to the abutment with a special cement, they are unremovable. These crowns are suitable for replacing the anterior teeth visible through the mouth, as the special cement encloses the abutment, enhancing the appearance of your smile.
When replacing posterior teeth, you can choose screwed-in dental crowns. The screws are left exposed and visible through the mouth, making your smile unattractive. Even if the crowns are not suitable for front teeth, you can use them to replace teeth in less visible areas. Also, they are removable because you can unscrew them when need be, unlike the cemented ones. Another advantage of screwed-in dental crowns is that they can be attached to the abutment immediately after implantation without having to wait for the implant to fuse with the bone.
Using dental crowns to replace multiple missing teeth can be expensive. You want to lower this cost by using fewer implants to replace several missing teeth. The most suitable fixed restoration option for replacing several teeth is through the use of dental bridges. If you opt for a conventional bridge, our dentist attaches an abutment to the tooth next to the missing teeth to anchor the bridge. Consequently, you can opt for a pontic anchored by crowns. A pontic is a tooth prosthetic in a dental bridge that seats on the space left by the missing tooth and is supported by dental crowns on both sides. You can only use this option if you have healthy teeth adjacent to the missing tooth.
However, the dentist must reshape the healthy adjacent teeth to enable them to accommodate the crowns that support the pontic. So, when preserving your natural tooth structure, these types of bridges are not the best. You should choose the conventional ones. Alternatively, you can go for Maryland bridges, implant-supported bridges, or cantilever bridges.
Talk to your dentist at The Hawthorne Dentist to understand your cosmetic dentistry artificial teeth replacement options and pick the option that will maximally benefit you.
Dental Implants Advantages
The process of obtaining dental implants is a lengthy one, but there are many reasons you should consider the treatment. These include:
- Implants Preserve Your Bone Health
When you stay with missing teeth for a long time, the body starts to absorb the bone in the area with open sockets because there is no bone stimulation. Nevertheless, after an implantation procedure, a dental implant acts as an artificial tooth root, providing stimulation of the natural teeth and therefore helping keep your jawbone healthy.
- There is No Risk of Developing Cavities
Your natural teeth link with the jawbone via collagen threads, putting you at risk of periodontal disease. Nevertheless, when you use dental implants as replacements for the original missing teeth, your gums are no longer connected to roots through the collagen fibers. The titanium posts are the ones that fuse with the jawbone to provide anchorage. By eliminating the original tooth structure, implants eliminate the danger of developing cavities.
- Highly Durable
Implants are highly durable with proper care. The stability they provide when the screws or posts fuse with the bone makes them permanent and can last forever without requiring replacement. They last over forty years, meaning for many adults, once you receive the implants, you will never have to replace them.
- Restore Natural Tooth Functionality
Dental implants offer stability similar to that provided by your original tooth roots, enabling you to chew hard foods comfortably. Also, they improve your speech because you are not afraid of the restorations slipping, unlike when wearing dentures.
- Implants are Affordable in the Long Run
The initial cost of installing implants is high, but do not let this discourage you because once they are installed, you will replace them after forty years. Depending on your age, forty years could mean a lifetime. Also, unlike dentures and bridges, which are less durable and require repairs often, implants will save you money as they do not require repairs with sufficient care.
Find a Reputable Cosmetic Dentistry Service Near Me
Missing or damaged teeth cause severe functional and cosmetic problems. They make your smile less appealing and make it more difficult to chew. Thankfully, there are several tooth restoration options to fix these problems, and the most practical are dental implants. These restore your flawless smile, improve the health of your jawbone, and fix functionality issues. If you require implants as a cosmetic dentistry solution to your flawed smile, call 310-775-2557 to speak to our cosmetic dentists at The Hawthorne Dentist.
