Replacing Missing Teeth

Candidates for Implants

Most patients who are healthy and not restricted from undergoing minor dental surgical procedures, and who have good oral hygiene can have dental implants. Your dentist will assess the potential implant site to determine whether there is sufficient bone volume and gum thickness to allow placement of an implant. We begin by undertaking a clinical examination that will involve inspection, palpation and gentle probing of the potential implant site and adjacent teeth. In straightforward cases, simple dental x-rays are usually sufficient to examine the bone. In more complex cases, specialized implant x-rays, known as tomograms, are usually required (either plain x-rays or CAT scans).

Implants function and feel very much like natural teeth. For patients that have lived with removable appliances, you will feel much more secure with implant retained teeth versus your old removable teeth.

Most recent implant systems have success rate of 90-98% for 10 years

Smoking and Implants Do Not Mix

Smoking is one of the biggest risk factors in failure of dental implants. Recent studies estimate that the chances of failure increase in a smoker.

Treatment for Failed Implants

Now a day's, an implant can be replaced if it fails to bond with the bone provided that adequate bone and gum tissue is present. Failures do not occur very often but they do occur.

Wearing Dental Appliances Following Surgery

Now a day's, existing dentures and other temporary appliances can be worn immediately after implant surgery. There are exceptions but our goal is too minimize any esthetic concerns during the healing phase

Procedures for Implant Placement

Now a day's, implants can be placed using local anesthesia in our office. In more complex cases, we may recommend that the surgical phase be performed while you are under sedation.

Immediate Funtioning Implants

Sometimes if quality and quantity of bone is adequate then immediate loading of implants can be possible where the final crown is given within 3-7 days.

Fixed Teeth & Bridge

When a tooth has been lost and there are healthy teeth on both sides of the newly missing tooth or teeth, then a fixed bridge is a treatment option. The other options are implants or a partial denture.

The procedure for having a fixed bridge made is essentially the same as having a crown made except that a fixed bridge involves at least two supporting teeth. What does cause confusion is the amount of teeth needed for a fixed bridge. To replace one missing tooth requires a three tooth bridge. This is because the teeth on both sides of the missing tooth must be part of the bridge to provide support.