Can Dental Implants Give Me My Dream Smile?
For many people dreaming of a perfect smile, dental implants offer a promising solution. Whether you’ve lost a tooth due to injury, decay, or periodontal disease, the gap in your smile can impact not only your appearance but also your dental health. Let’s explore how the dental implants our team is experienced in offering might be the key to achieving your dream smile and why patients searching for a “dentist near me” choose this durable and aesthetic option.
What are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are a popular and effective way to replace missing teeth and are designed to blend seamlessly with your natural teeth. Unlike dentures, which rest on the gum’s surface, or bridges, which are anchored to adjacent teeth, implants are surgically anchored into the jawbone, providing a sturdy base for artificial teeth. Over time, the implant integrates with the bone, a process known as osseointegration, making it a permanent part of your mouth.
The Benefits of Dental Implants
Dental implants offer several advantages that make them an attractive option for restoring missing teeth:
- Appearance: Dental implants look and feel like your own teeth. Because they are designed to fuse with bone, they become permanent.
- Speech: With poor-fitting dentures, the teeth can slip within the mouth causing you to mumble or slur your words. Dental implants allow you to speak without the worry that teeth might slip.
- Comfort: Because they become part of you, implants eliminate the discomfort of removable dentures.
- Eating: Sliding dentures can make chewing difficult. Dental implants function like your own teeth, allowing you to eat your favorite foods with confidence and without pain.
- Oral health: Dental implants don’t require reducing other teeth, as a tooth-supported bridge does. Because nearby teeth are not altered to support the implant, more of your own teeth are left intact, improving long-term oral health. Individual implants also allow easier access between teeth, improving oral hygiene.
- Durability: Implants are very durable and will last many years. With good care, many implants last a lifetime.
- Convenience: Removable dentures are just that; removable. Dental implants eliminate the embarrassing inconvenience of removing dentures, as well as the need for messy adhesives to keep them in place.
Are Dental Implants Right for You?
To determine if implants are right for you, consider scheduling a consultation with a dentist. For those searching “dentist near me” who specialize in dental implants, Beckstead Dental Group offers comprehensive evaluations. Ideal candidates for implants need to have sufficient bone to anchor the implants in the jaw and healthy gums. Those who smoke heavily or have chronic disorders such as diabetes or heart disease may need to be evaluated on an individual basis to see if dental implants are a viable option.
The Process of Getting Dental Implants
The process of getting implants requires a number of visits over several months. X-rays and impressions are taken of the jaw and teeth to determine bone, gum tissue, and spacing available for an implant. While the area is numb, the implant will be surgically placed into the bone and allowed to heal and integrate itself onto the bone for up to six months. Depending on the type of implant, a second surgery may be required in order to place the “post” that will hold the artificial tooth in place. With other implants, the implant and post are already attached and placed at the same time.
After the implant has bonded to the jawbone, an artificial tooth is made and fitted to the post portion of the anchor. Because several fittings may be required, this step can take one to two months to complete. After a healing period, the artificial teeth are securely attached to the implant, providing excellent stability and comfort to the patient.
Maintaining Your Dental Implants
Like your own teeth, implants require conscientious at-home oral care and regular dental visits. In order to keep your implant clean and plaque-free, brushing and flossing still apply! After treatment, periodic follow-up visits will be scheduled to monitor your implant, teeth, and gums to make sure they are healthy.
Achieve the Smile You Deserve with Dental Implants
For those looking up “dentist near me” who offer dental implants, Beckstead Dental Group in Palo Alto is equipped to bring you closer to achieving your dream smile with the cutting-edge solutions you seek. Dental implants provide not just a cosmetic improvement but also enhance the overall functionality of your teeth, significantly boosting your quality of life. If you’re ready to take the next step toward restoring your smile, contact us today to discuss whether dental implants are the right option for you. With dental implants, the smile you’ve been dreaming of might be closer than you think.