When you have missing teeth, you have options. Bridges or dentures are common go-tos, but they’re not right for every person or every mouth. Bridges, for example, require that the teeth on either side of the missing teeth are able to be capped and used as support.
Dentures aren’t permanently placed, so they can have other issues, especially with getting the fit right. Still, either can be the right choice for many people, but for others, dental implants give ideal outcomes.
What Is a Dental Implant?
A dental implant is like getting an artificial tooth with its own artificial root. Since only the teeth needing replacement are impacted, implants can actually perform better over the long term, but they do require extra work to get it just right. Full dental implants are considered surgical procedures, but we are fully trained in several forms of dental sedation to reduce both pain and stress on our patients.
We offer a variety of dental implant procedures, but all require the placing of an anchor directly into the jawbone. By necessity, it’s a slow process much of the time so we can ensure that your gums and bones fuse to the new, artificial tooth properly. Expect up to six months for the anchor to properly heal and attach.
Implant Options
There are several types of implants we offer at Neumann & Bohrer Family Dentistry. The traditional implant, as outlined above, requires that an anchor be placed in your jaw and then allowed to heal for several months before the post and artificial tooth are placed. This ensures a good fit in a mouth that has fully recovered from the initial surgery.
For patients needing extensive bone grafting, the All-on-4 ® is often a good solution. It’s less invasive than traditional implant surgery but relies on only four posts to support your new artificial teeth. If you need several teeth replaced at once, this can save a lot of stress, but it will not provide the same level of stability that a single anchor gives to an individual tooth.
We also offer mini implants. These are used along with dentures to create additional stability for dentures or other types of false teeth that are not staying in place properly. The process is almost painless and can be completed in a few hours.