Dental Implants Specialist

What are dental implants?

Dental implants are similar to artificial tooth roots. They’re small, titanium posts that are surgically implanted into your jawbone where you’re missing a tooth. Through a process called osseointegration, the implant fuses and actually becomes a part of your jawbone. Once this happens, the implant is a strong and durable foundation on top of which your dentist can place an artificial tooth replacement or crown.

Why should I get dental implants?

Dental implants are a state-of-the-art solution for replacing missing teeth, and missing teeth can cause a number of serious medical issues, such as:

• Increased risk of dental infection
• Bone loss and decreased density in your jaw
• Difficulty speaking and eating properly
• Misalignment of your remaining teeth as they move into the missing tooth’s space
• Bite misalignment and jaw pain
  
  

Missing teeth can also change the shape of your face as your facial muscles begin to sag and droop into spaces left by the missing teeth.

By acting very similarly to a natural tooth’s root structure, a dental implant solves all of the problems of a missing tooth and provides a foundation for a number of implant-supported prostheses, such as:

• A crown
• A bridge
• Implant-supported dentures
  
  

Implant-supported dentures are a particularly popular alternative to traditional dentures since they move around less in your mouth, are easier to get acclimated to, and don’t require adhesives that are messy, sticky, and expensive.

While implants can serve as the foundation for a dental bridge, they can also serve as an alternative to one if you’re just looking to replace one missing tooth. A bridge requires you to grind down the enamel of the teeth on either side of your missing tooth in order to make abutments for the bridge to be placed on. With a dental implant, you can keep your natural teeth, insert an implant, and simply place a crown on top of it. A dental implant with a crown looks more natural than a bridge and stimulates your jawbone, which prevents bone loss and deterioration.

How do I get dental implants?

The talented team of professionals at Cedarwood Pleasanton Dentistry can install your dental implants with a few trips to their office. During the first appointment, your dentist numbs your gums and surrounding tissue with a local anesthetic and makes a small surgical incision into your gum. They drill a hole in your jaw, affix the implant, and place a protective healing cap over the incision site. You then go home and wait between three and nine months while the implant fuses to your bone.

Once the implant has fused, you come back into the office to remove the healing cap and place your implant-supported prosthesis, either a crown, bridge, or denture. Once you leave the office, you feel like you were never missing a tooth in the first place.

If you don’t have enough bone in your jaw to support an implant, your skilled dentist can perform a sinus lift, which is a procedure that adds bone to your jaw, giving you a heartier foundation for an implant.

To learn more about how the team at Cedarwood Pleasanton Dentistry can improve your smile with dental implants, schedule an appointment today by calling the office or booking online.