If you have missing teeth, contact Soult & Swanson Family Dentistry and Implant Center to review your tooth replacement options, including dental implants.

More than just aesthetically unpleasant, gaps from missing teeth also leave room for adjacent teeth to shift. These teeth can become misaligned, creating an uneven bite that encourages chipping or breaking, requiring additional orthodontic repair.

Fortunately, the dental professionals at Soult & Swanson Family Dentistry and Implant Center use dental implants to fix missing teeth and the issues they cause.

What Are Dental Implants?

A dental implant is a cylinder of titanium about the size of a tooth’s root that is placed in the bone. The bone fuses to the implant and can then be used as an anchor to replace one tooth or several teeth, or even anchor a complete set of dentures.

Dental implants work extremely well, offering great comfort and optimum aesthetics. Drs. Soult and Swanson welcome the opportunity to evaluate patients for the possibility of using dental implants to replace missing teeth.

Replacement Options for Missing Teeth

Dental bridges and dentures are a few other options for fake teeth. However, bridges and dentures need to be attached to adjacent teeth via crowns for support. These attachments often need repair or replacement over time, making neither option perfect nor permanent. Additionally, this reliance on adjacent teeth means bridges and dentures can loosen and shift over time.

These many disadvantages make dental implants an increasingly popular option. Whether used for a single tooth or multiple teeth, dental implants can work with bridges or dentures or as a separate replacement option. They also require less care and last longer.

Dental implants improve oral health and functionality while complementing your existing teeth. Implants do not shift or require attachment to adjacent teeth, do not develop cavities, and are easier to maintain than bridges or dentures. They also feel more like natural teeth.

Dental Implant Process

Despite their many advantages, dental implants involve a more complex process than other replacement options.

Patients need a sufficient and healthy jawbone to place metal posts as a root for a missing tooth or teeth. If there is not enough jawbone to place the metal post, a surgical bone graft is required. Bone grafts to the upper jaw may also need a sinus lift to support rear molars. Bone grafts and post-placement procedures can often be combined and completed as a single-day outpatient process.

Once your dentist places the metal post, an abutment attaches the replacement tooth or teeth to the implant post, making the implants permanent and secure.

Steps are often combined to minimize the number of visits; however, the implant process usually entails three to four visits over four to six months, depending on the patient. Considering the advantages of implants, the dental implant cost and time invested are worth it.

Who Is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

Suitable patients for implants are those that:

• Need to replace a tooth
• Have a fully grown jawbone
• Have good oral hygiene
• Do not smoke
• Have enough bone in the implant area or will consider a bone graft
• Can commit to a lengthy dental process

Caring for Dental Implants

Although considered an ideal and permanent option, patients must care for their dental implants following placement. Proper care includes:

• Maintaining excellent hygiene
• Continuing regular exams and cleaning
• Refraining from smoking, chewing hard foods, or grinding teeth

If you’re searching for “dental implants near me,” contact the experts at Soult & Swanson Family Dentistry and Implant Center at (303) 337-2794 today.