What Are Dental Implants?

What exactly, are dental implants?

Dental implants are an artificial way of recreating a lost tooth or teeth, and these teeth look exactly like real teeth, if some one does not know you lost a tooth, you won’t have to tell them, they’ll never know the difference. Implants are essentially, a titanium screw that is inserted into the jaw bone, and capped with an artificial tooth.

One problem many people face, especially as they age, is losing permanent teeth. Unlike your baby teeth, your permanent teeth do not grow back. However, when people lose permanent teeth, they don’t have to have permanent gaps in their smile. They can use dental implants.

Who would want to get dental implants?

People who have had accidents, diseases, or tooth decay, or major bone loss that caused teeth to fall out, are all candidates for dental implants. However, implanting all your teeth is not an option. You can erase the effects of these problems from your smile with dental implants.



Note: the photos below are from a real patient

Dental Implants Before Treatment


Dental Implants After Treatment


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So, what happens when you get dental implants?

During the dental implant procedure the gums are cut open to expose the bone. Then a dentist will drill a hole into the bone in order to insert the titanium screw or post. Titanium is used because of its great strength and because it allows the surrounding bone to grow into and around it. The titanium screw is left slightly rough and porous on the edges to encourage the jaw bone to attach to it, and to make it easy. Once the screw has been inserted, the gums are stitched back together.

Once the screw has been securely imbedded into the patient’s jaw bone, a crown or artificial tooth is attached to the top of the screw. Usually the dentist will put a temporary crown on initially. This is to allow the surrounding gum line sufficient time to adjust and grow in a natural manner around the new tooth. After the gums have healed and grown properly, the dentist will go back and replace the temporary tooth with a permanent one.

What happens afterwards?

Dental implants are a surgery, and this is a process, that is not overnight. There is some healing time after. You can return to work the next day, but obviously since bones don’t regenerate over night, it can take several weeks or several months for implants to be fully anchored and ready to go. So take it easy.

Can dental implants fail?

Sometimes the jaw bone doesn’t have enough bone material to take an implant. If this happens, it does not mean the implant will fail, but your dentist may have to do a bone graft to try to help regenerate enough bone material to anchor an artificial tooth

Are dental implants better than something else?

Dental implants are a great way to obtain a permanent fix, and have better results than bridgework or dentures. And they don’t have the discomfort or difficulty associated with other artificial teeth such as dentures. Implants give greater comfort while chewing and greater confidence. They can also improve speech.

Why use dental implants?

Dental implants are a great option for people with tooth loss because dental implants are long lasting and a close representation to a natural tooth and root system. Once you have them you can use them like real teeth, but they still need to be treated with good dental hygiene. A dental implant needs to be cared for like a natural tooth.

Although the screw can last for the duration of a person’s life, the artificial tooth on top is usually worn down by chewing and general usage, and may have to be replaced. Even with a chance of failure, dental implants are a great way for people to regain their confidence as well as their smile after the loss of a tooth or several teeth.