Dental Implant Placement
Dentist Portland, OR
 There is a lot of information in the media and on social media about how wonderful dental implants are and how much they can transform the lives of adults who have lost teeth. If you are one of the millions of Americans who are thinking about restoring your smile, you need information about dental implants. Sylvan Heights Dental is here to provide a guide to restoring your smile through the dental implant procedure.
Understanding Dental Implants: A Comprehensive Guide
A dental implant has been described as the closest thing to a natural tooth dentists can create. Dental implants were, in fact, created by a dentist who was looking for a way to replicate tooth structure. Your teeth consist of several parts, but there are three parts that are extremely important in terms of tooth structure. First, there is the crown or top of your tooth, which is made from tooth enamel over dentin. In the middle of your tooth is the tooth pulp, which connects your tooth nerves and blood vessels to tooth roots. Your tooth roots connect the tooth crown through the gums and into the jawbone.
Dentists have known for decades that dentures alone are not always a great substitute for natural teeth. While dentures allow you to eat food, laugh, and restore your smile, there are issues with wearing dentures. First, you may lose bone mass from your jawbone from where your teeth are missing. When your body realizes your teeth are no longer connected to your jawbone via tooth roots, it will begin to take away bone tissue from your jawbone to use in other areas of your body. This leads to changes in your facial shape and problems with your jawbone.
Dental implants consist of three parts. First, there is the crown or prosthetic tooth, which is usually made of porcelain. Your prosthetic dental implant is attached to an abutment, which connects your prosthetic tooth to a dental implant post. This post and the abutment are both made of light, strong metal and should last throughout your life. Our dentist will surgically embed the implant directly into your jawbone. Because the implant replicates the actions of your teeth and jawbone, your body believes your teeth are intact, which means your jawbone will remain strong and healthy.
The Benefits of Choosing Dental Implants for Tooth Replacement
There are several benefits to dental implants besides the impact on your jawbone structure. Having dental implants also keeps the blood circulation in your gum tissue healthy, which means that your gums will remain healthy as well.
People with dental implants do not experience chafing, rubbing, or sores that come with ill-fitting dentures. Ill-fitting dentures can also lead to fungal infections such as thrush. Dental implants look so much like real teeth that most people will have no idea you have them at all. Dental implants are easy to care for. Also, if you take care of your dental implants, the only part of the implant you may need to replace is the prosthetic crown, and even those last for decades. Dental implants allow you to enjoy hard-to-chew foods such as steak, fresh fruit, and corn on the cob.
How Do Dental Implants Work? The Procedure Explained
While the dental implant process seems difficult, the procedure is easy to explain. If part of a tooth remains where the dental implant will go, our dentist will perform a tooth extraction to remove any remaining part of the tooth or tooth root. Our dentist will also determine if you have enough jawbone to support a dental implant. If you do not, our dentist will begin with a bone grafting procedure to strengthen your jawbone.
The first step in the dental implant process is to implant a dental screw into your jawbone. To accomplish this, our dentist will usually manage your sedation level with IV sedation so you will be relaxed throughout the procedure. Then, the dentist will make an incision in your gum tissue so the jawbone is visible. The dentist will drill into your jawbone to place the dental implant and then suture the area closed or use a membrane to cover the area, which keeps it protected. When your jawbone heals and the implant fuses into the jawbone, you are ready for the next step.
Once your jawbone has healed, our dentist will then attach the abutment, which connects your prosthetic tooth to the implant anchor. You may get your prosthetic implant at the same time as your abutment, depending on your specific case. If you do not get your abutment and your prosthetic tooth at the same time, you will receive it about a week or two after your abutment procedure.
Am I a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?
While dental implants are an amazing tooth replacement, they are not for everyone. There are some requirements that dentists have regarding dental implants. First, if you use any form of tobacco, you will need to stop before most dentists will accept you as a dental implant candidate because nicotine slows healing time. Also, if you have an active case of gum disease, you will need to get it under control before dentists will perform an implant procedure.
You also need to be in fairly good general health to have an implant procedure done. If you have a chronic disease, you need to check with our dentist to determine if you are a candidate for a dental implant procedure.
Types of Dental Implants: Finding Your Perfect Match
One of the best benefits of dental implants is that they can be made to fit people who have lost only one tooth, all of your teeth, or several teeth. The procedure for dental implants does not differ, no matter how many implants you need. If you need to replace several teeth on one side of your jawbone, our dentist may talk to you about an implantable dental bridge. What if you have lost all of your teeth? Talk to our dentist about implantable dentures or the All-on-4 technique for a complete tooth replacement.
Not sure whether implants will be right for you? Sylvan Heights Dental can help. Be sure to contact our office today at (503) 297-1471 to schedule an appointment with our dentist as soon as possible. |
