Tooth loss can occur for a number of reasons and can affect your confidence and overall health. Implants can help restore your smile back to a healthy, natural-looking state. Custom implants are made to look just like your natural teeth, and they are a permanent solution that will keep your smile strong and restore your confidence.
We offer dental implants that can restore your smile in as little as two visits. The implants themselves will integrate with your jaw and act exactly as a natural tooth would. With proper care and good oral hygiene, dental implants are a permanent solution. They do not negatively impact your bite or chewing strength and prevent other oral problems from arising.
Healthy teeth transmit pressure to the jaw bone under the gums from daily activities such as biting and chewing. When you lose a tooth, the pressure is no longer transmitted to your underlying jawbone. Without this pressure and force, the bone in that area begins to deteriorate and starts the process of “resorption.” You may lose up to 25% of bone mass beneath your missing tooth within a year after removal, so it is beneficial to replace missing teeth with dental implants as soon as you can to minimize bone loss. Dental implants are permanently placed where your tooth root used to be, and they integrate and fuse to the surrounding jaw bone, which helps stimulate the underlying bone and prevents it from deteriorating. For this reason, dental implants are usually the best long-term option for replacing your teeth. While dental bridges and partial dentures are a reasonable replacement, they will not prevent bone loss.
Candidates for Dental Implants
There are a few different criteria patients must meet in order to be a good candidate for dental implants. First, you must have good overall oral health, and your mouth needs to be free of major issues like gum disease and tooth decay.
As a rule, you also need to have a healthy, strong jaw that can support an implant. In some cases, however, procedures like bone grafts and sinus lifts can be used to reinforce your jaw even if you have suffered from some bone loss. In addition, it’s recommended that you quit smoking before having a dental implant placed. Tobacco use can contribute to a much higher implant failure rate, so most dentists will only treat non-smokers with dental implants.
How Much Do Dental Implants Cost?
The cost of a dental implant can vary widely based on a number of different factors, such as the location of the implant and the type of implant-supported restoration you will receive, as well as additional preparatory surgeries like tooth extractions, sinus lifts, bone grafts, and alveoloplasty.
Because of this, it is difficult to provide an accurate cost estimate without more information about the specifics of your oral health. If you are interested in learning more please call our office at 225-248-6777 to schedule a consultation.
