Gateway Family Dental Blog
What Do You Need To Know Before Getting Dental Implants?
Your teeth are an important part of your overall health and self-confidence. So what happens when you unexpectedly lose a tooth?
Whether you’ve chipped a tooth during an accident or gotten a tooth pulled due to a health condition, the experience can leave you feeling deflated. A missing tooth can make you self-conscious. It can also affect your self-esteem in your personal life and in the professional world.
If you’re searching for ways to replace one or more lost teeth to correct your smile, one option is getting dental implants.
Today, we’re discussing what dental implants are and what to expect if you choose to get an implant.
What Is A Dental Implant?
A dental implant
is a surgical component that actually fuses with the jaw or skull bone to create a support system for a crown, bridge or denture. It can also act as an orthodontic anchor or even secure a facial prosthesis.
Dental implants are a relatively new development in oral solutions. Unlike dentures, crowns and bridges, dental implants are essentially replacement tooth roots. They provide a strong, long-lasting foundation for replacement teeth that will look and feel more like natural teeth. Unlike dentures, crowns or bridges, they don’t need to be replaced every few years.
Dental Implants Require Time
The process of getting dental implants requires several steps.
First, you’ll need to choose a dental practice you can trust to perform your dental implant procedure. Schedule an appointment with your chosen dentist to discuss your options and have x-rays taken of your mouth and jaw.
These x-rays will give your dentist insight into your jaw and gum health. If your mouth and jaw tissues are healthy, you’re likely a good candidate for dental implants. Talk with your doctor to learn more about the health of your gums and mouth.
After x-rays, your dentist will take a dental impression.
A dental impression is a negative mold of your teeth that your dentist gets by having you bite down on a tray full of a semi-liquid substance that hardens to a mold.
This mold will help your dentist create a customized dental implant for your particular mouth and tooth size.
Once your impressions are finished, you may need to have a tooth extracted.
Your dentist will let you know how long to wait between the extraction and the implant process. Once you’ve healed from the extraction, you can move on to the process of getting your dental implant.
Talk with your dentist about pain levels, what to expect during the procedure and how to care for your dental implant and gums afterward.
Once your implant has healed, your dentist will have you come back in to have an abutment placed.
After the abutment is placed, you’re ready to have your permanent crown put on–and your smile restored!
Dental Implants With Gateway Family Dentistry
At Gateway Family Dentistry, we specialize in implants and crown work to help our patients get back their confidence and their comfort. After all, your teeth are a vital part of living. You use them to chew and eat, they impact how you talk and they can cause significant and debilitating pain if they’re infected or broken.
We’re proud to offer dental implant services to Middle Tennesseans and beyond.
Contact us today
to learn more or to schedule your appointment with our team!
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