Dental Implants for Teeth Replacement
The technology behind dental implants has been around for about 40 years. But only in the last 15 to 20 years have dental implants become popular and accepted by both dentists and patients in Charlotte NC. Today dental implants are considered the best method of teeth replacement.
Implant dentist Dr. Chris Bowman, DDS has trained at numerous teaching and postgraduate cosmetic and restorative institutions. His education has given him the skillset to provide a variety of dental implant solutions to find the right one to suit your needs.
What Are Dental Implants?
A tooth implant is a tiny screw made of biocompatible titanium. The tooth implant screw is inserted into the jawbone by an implant dentistry oral surgeon. As it heals, it integrates into the bone. A tooth implant acts like a tooth root because it fills in the gap left by a missing tooth root and fuses to your jawbone. Much like your natural tooth roots do, it helps strengthen your jawbone by providing additional support to the area around it. Next, an implant dentistry dentist qualified in implant restorations places a small post or abutment into the screw. The tooth implant and post hold the final restoration –- a tooth crown, a dental bridge, or a denture -– solidly. If you have lost teeth in the past, over time it can cause your jawbone to deteriorate – a tooth implant can help provide some of the strength your jaw requires to stay healthy.
- A tooth implant can be a substitute for a single missing tooth, or multiple dental implants can replace all teeth in the upper or lower arch.
- The tooth implant stays in the mouth; it is not removed like a partial or denture.
- As a stand-alone restoration, it differs from a bridge in that dental implants do not require drilling on the adjacent teeth.
- Dental implants are maintained with only your good, regular dental hygiene.
- Because a tooth implant acts like a natural tooth root in many ways, it helps strengthen your jaw. It also provides a strong anchor point for placing dental crowns, permanent dentures, as well as permanent bridges.
- Our dental implants are made of durable, long-lasting titanium. Titanium is resistant to corrosion, is extremely strong, and can withstand a lot of punishment.
- When placed into the bone, dental implants prevent bone absorption –- they help your body retain existing jawbone and prevent further bone loss. This helps you look younger by avoiding a sunken look.
The Dental Implant Procedure
The dental implant procedure is a relatively simple one, and goes a bit like this:
- Candidacy Check and Assessment – An important part of the dental implant procedure is making sure that teeth implants are right for you. Our Charlotte dentist team will do an assessment with you and help you make sure this is your best option. This will involve doing impressions of your mouth and doing x-rays to help us assess your situation.
- Placing the Teeth Implants – After we’ve determined that teeth implants are a great treatment option for you, we will need to place the teeth implants you have decided to receive. Our team will carefully place each tooth implant into your jawbone. These teeth implants act to replace natural tooth roots, providing us anchor points for dental devices and helping support jawbone structure. We want you to be as comfortable as possible, so if you need sedation dentistry, please let us know.
- Time to Heal – After the implants have been placed, your mouth will need some time to heal so that you can receive the best results possible. In most cases, healing from the dental implant procedure on average takes about three to six months to work properly. Of course, there are cases where it can take longer or less, this depends a lot on how fast your body heals.
- Dental Device Placement – Once your mouth has healed, it is time to place your new dental device. For many people this means that we’ll be anchoring a beautiful porcelain crown to a single tooth implant. For other people, it may mean receiving a set of permanent dentures, or even a beautiful permanent bridge among other dental device options. Regardless of what dental device you will be receiving, our team will strive their very hardest to provide effective, comfortable, and long-lasting dental implant device placement.
Am I a Candidate for Teeth Replacement?
Dr. Bowman believes the best option for a patient who has lost all their teeth or needs to have them extracted is hybrid restoration. A hybrid uses multiple dental implants to hold one fixed restoration. It stays in place; only removed by Dr. Bowmand for cleanings. This implant dentistry option is aesthetic and the desired outcome is achieved in just a few appointments. Since it is maintained over time with little expense, a hybrid restoration is a good investment for realistic result.
- Oral Health – Generally speaking, if you are in good oral health you are usually a better candidate than someone who has poor oral health. People lose teeth for all sorts of different reasons, and it doesn’t necessarily mean your overall oral health is poor if you have lost a tooth.
- Gum Disease – If you have had gum disease, it doesn’t usually rule you out from being eligible for implant dentistry. In most cases, patients who get teeth implants for teeth replacement of teeth lost due to periodontal disease (gum disease) wind up with successful results.
- Dentures – If you have dentures, you might be a great candidate for teeth implants. With teeth implants you can receive a permanent denture that is anchored to the implants, which lacks many of the negative side effects of traditional dentures.
- Age – If you are concerned about your age, do not fret. Patients of all sorts of age ranges, from 20 to even 80 get teeth implants for teeth replacement.
- Cost – It’s true, dental implants aren’t necessarily cheap, but they are also the most permanent teeth replacement solution out there. In fact, denture implants are designed with a lifetime of use in mind.
Benefits of Teeth Implants
- Appearance – A tooth crown, dental bridge, or set of permanent dentures attached to teeth implants are all designed to look and feel great. With teeth implants, you don’t have to worry about awkward situations associated with traditional teeth replacement devices, because permanent dentures, tooth crowns, and permanent bridges are made to look natural.
- Comfort – Because a dental implant is permanently anchored in your jaw, you don’t have to worry about a lot of the discomfort associated with traditional teeth replacement solutions. A dental bridge for example can be a great short term solution, but over time can come out easier, and can cause discomfort during usage. On the other hand, teeth implants with dental crowns or multiple crowns attached are made to be long-lasting, permanent, and very comfortable.
- Permanence – A dental device anchored with a dental implant is made to be permanent and last a lifetime. Among the permanent dental devices we can attach to teeth implants are permanent dentures, crowns, and permanent bridges.
- Strength – Teeth implants provide the strength needed by dental crowns, permanent bridges, and permanent dentures to be strong, permanent solutions to tooth loss.
- Health – Many traditional teeth replacement solutions (such as traditional dentures and bridges) can help you fix an immediate problem, but do little to further the quality of your long-term oral health. A dental implant on the other hand works in concert with your oral health, and can help you improve and maintain a higher standard of oral health for year after year.
How to Choose an Implant Dentist
It can be hard to pick out a dental implants dentist, and many uninitiated patients don’t even know what to look for when trying to find an implant dentist that is best for them. If you are worrying about how to pick out a dental implants dentist, don’t worry, we can help at our Charlotte office! Some of the criteria you will want to have in mind when choosing an implant dentist can include:
- Comfort – Does the dental implants dentist you are looking at strive to make you comfortable during your treatment, or during your visits with them? Believe it or not, comfort can have an impact on how well your treatment goes. This is one of the reasons why we strive to treat all of our patients with the care they deserve, and do our very best to make them comfortable during treatments with us.
- Experience – When receiving a dental treatment it is important to be taken care of by a team that knows what they’re doing. Our team is a skilled and experienced implant dentist team and have successfully treated many patients, providing excellent results.
- Technology – If you’re going to go to a dentist for any sort of dental procedure, you want to make sure that technology is on your side. At Advanced Dental Care of Charlotte, we are proud to offer the latest in dental treatments using the latest in dental technology, so that all of our patients can reap the benefits of top quality dental care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact Your Charlotte Implant Dentist Today
Have more questions for us that you don’t see here? Please contact us in Charlotte today! We work with patients from all over the Charlotte area, so don’t wait!
Your self-esteem and your diet don’t have to suffer from a missing tooth. Call Dr. Bowman today or message us using the contact form on this page to find out how a tooth implant can give you back your smile! We provide patients with dental implants for all areas of Charlotte.