Tooth loss can be disturbing, especially from the front of your mouth. This can affect your appearance and your social life. You might become shy when talking to people and may not even want to smile publicly. A dental implant is an artificial root that sits in the jawbone, creating a permanent and robust tooth replacement.
Dental implants are one of the most popular restorative dentistry treatments we offer in our San Antonio dental office. The difference between this and other tooth restorations is that dental implants permanently replace the tooth root. Visit Advanced Dental Associates for professional dental implant procedures.
Am I a Candidate for Dental Implants?
In general, most patients are candidates for dental implants! Although there may be some preparatory work that needs to take place before surgery. We require that patients have healthy tissue and that there is no disease or infection present. We also need patients to be able to heal appropriately.
Conditions that can limit healing include:
- Smoking
- Taking certain medications
- Uncontrolled diabetes
- Currently undergoing cancer treatment
These conditions do not exclude you as a candidate, but may require some steps before surgery. The best way to discover if you aqualify is to visit us for a full dental exam.
Dental Implants in San Antonio, TX
Dental implants can address a plethora of dental problems. Problems such as:
- Missing teeth. Tooth loss leads to other issues, such as crooked teeth, overcrowding, and gum disease.
- When you need to enhance your beauty, missing teeth can make you self-conscious because they affect your smile and appearance.
- Aesthetic reasons. Implants help prevent a bad bite, minimize bone damage, and keep the teeth in place.
Dental implants come with many benefits:
- Dental implants look like natural teeth. Therefore, they improve your facial aesthetics.
- Implants are permanent.
- Dental implants also improve your speech. Unlike dentures, which, if poorly fitted, may slip, making you have slurred speech, implants do not slip.
- Implants are more comfortable because they feel more a part of you than dentures.
- Dental implants make eating easier. They act like your own teeth, making chewing any type of food comfortable.
- Dental implants improve your self-esteem. A restored smile makes you feel good about yourself.
- Dental implants do not require extraction of other teeth, and this promotes dental health.
- They also make teeth more accessible during dental cleanings.
- As with removable dentures, you do not have to keep removing them and putting them back on. You can eat and sleep with them, brush and floss them, hence saving you the embarrassment that comes with removable dentures.
- If you properly maintain your dental implants, they will last a lifetime.
Multiple Tooth Implants
If you have many missing teeth that diminish your smile’s aesthetic appeal, consider getting multiple tooth implants. Implant-supported dental prosthetics offer a permanent and durable solution to restore bite and jaw function.
The multiple-tooth implant procedure follows the same timeline as a single-tooth implant procedure. The steps are broadly the same, with only a few differences. To learn about these dental prosthetics, visit Multiple teeth implants.
Is a Bone Graft Always Necessary?
Bone grafting is not always necessary for dental implants. If you get your teeth replaced soon after tooth loss and your jawbone is still fairly strong, this additional procedure may not be necessary. We will suggest bone grafting for patients who have suffered bone loss. Your jawbone will need the necessary strength to support the titanium implant posts.
However, a permanent implant denture using the All-on-4 Treatment Concept does not require a bone graft. Even if you have been wearing dentures for many years. This is because this system uses longer implants that reach the thicker bone. The oral surgeon places them at an angle to hold onto even more bone material.
What Are The Effects Of Not Having Dental Implants?
Remaining with a missing tooth for an extended period may decrease bone height and density. This may lead to bone grafting and additional oral surgery procedures. The teeth next to the gap may shift if you take a long time to fill the gap with an implant.
This affects the positioning of your teeth. The shifting may also cause temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain in the long run. In addition, The teeth at the back of your mouth may lean forward to the space, which might affect your bite.
Visit Advanced Dental Associates to learn if you are a candidate for dental implants today. Request an appointment online or call us at 210-361-6847 to see If dental implants can benefit you.