What are Dental Implants?

Dental implants are biocompatible titanium screws that are surgically positioned into the jawbone beneath your gums. These then fuse with the jaw bone, in a process called osseointegration, to replace missing roots. Once in place, they allow your dentist to mount replacement teeth/crowns onto them. Dental implants have proven to be a safe and effective solution for replacing teeth for over 30 years. Made from materials that work well with the human body, dental implants serve as a strong and safe foundation for replacement teeth.

Because implants fuse to your jawbone, they provide stable support for artificial teeth. 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 your new replacement tooth/teeth in place.

Dentures and bridges mounted to implants won’t slip or shift in your mouth—an especially important benefit when eating and speaking. This secure fit helps the dentures and bridges—as well as individual crowns placed over implants—feel more natural than conventional bridges or dentures.

There are different types of implants:

Endosteal Implants

These are surgically implanted directly into the jawbone. Once the surrounding gum tissue has healed, a second surgery is needed to connect a post to the original implant. Finally, an artificial tooth (or teeth) is attached to the post-individually, or grouped on a bridge or denture.

Subperiosteal Implants

These consist of a metal frame that is fitted onto the jawbone just below the gum tissue. As the gums heal, the frame becomes fixed to the jawbone. Posts, which are attached to the frame, protrude through the gums. As with endosteal implants, artificial teeth are then mounted to the posts.

Transosteal Implants

Transosteal implants are either a metal pin or a u-shaped frame that passes through the jaw bone and the gum tissue into the mouth.

There are many reasons to pursue dental implants – benefits of implants over traditional replacement options include:

  • Prevention of bone loss that occurs after a tooth is extracted
  • A fixed replacement option (compared to a removable denture)
  • Eliminates the need to use surrounding teeth (as seen in bridge fabrication)
  • Aesthetically pleasing
  • Allows function that is comparable to natural teeth (eating hard foods)
  • Increase in self confidence due to a more natural replacement that wont fall out when eating orsneezing!
  • Excellent long term success rates (over 90%).

To receive implants, you need to have healthy gums and adequate bone to support the implant. Youmust also commit tokeeping these structures healthy. Maintaining good oral hygiene is vital forpreventing infection around your dental implant. With thorough cleaning and frequent visits to yourdentist for professional cleaning and maintenance, your dental implant shouldlast a lifetime. Theartificial replacement tooth attached, however, be it a dental crown, bridge or denture, does have alifespan, which is generally between 5-15 years depending on how well it is cared for.

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Implants

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