Introduction To Dental Implants

Dentist Blog

If you need to get a tooth replaced, then one of your options is to get a dental implant. To help you get a better idea of what that entails, here is an overview of how implants work and how they can vary:

What is an implant?

An implant is essentially a permanent synthetic tooth that is attached to your jawbone with a screw. The implant itself is the screw and is attached to the crown (which is the part that looks like a normal tooth) via an adjoining element called the abutment.

How long does it take to install an implant?

In general, you are looking at three separate surgeries to install the implant. While there are methods that make the second and third surgeries quite simple, the first surgery is always going to be fairly intensive. It involves installing the implant itself, which means excavating part of your gums and attaching the implant to your jawbone. However, for the subsequent two surgeries, you only need to peel back some of the healed gum tissue to install the abutment and then the crown.

Are there alternative types of dental implants?

While the above mostly refers to something called an endosteal implant, you can alternatively get a subperiosteal implant.

Subperiosteal implants don't actually attach to the jawbone and instead rest inside the gum. They aren't chosen nearly as often as endosteal implants, but they can be good choices if you have problems with your jawbone. For example, some jawbones are naturally weak or too thin for the intensive drilling associated with an endosteal implant, so a subperiosteal implant would be much safer.

What about dentures and bridges?

Of course, you should also consider all of your options when it comes to replacing missing teeth. Dentures and bridges are both viable alternatives, but they each have their own drawbacks.

Dentures tend to be the cheapest option, but they do come in expensive varieties as well. The main drawback of dentures is that they don't fit as naturally as implants and you will need to remove them every once in a while. You will likely be acutely aware of the fact that you have dentures for every day that you wear them.

Bridges can be as effective as implants, but they rely on surrounding teeth to function. A bridge needs two healthy teeth on either side of the missing tooth in order to function correctly, but if either of those two teeth fail, then the bridge could fail as well, bringing you a great amount of discomfort. If you have questions, contact a dentist like Londonderry Dental Centre II.

13 January 2016