Dental implants are permanent replacements for your missing teeth. Because they both look and function like your natural teeth, they are becoming more and more popular. Many dentists feel they are the ideal treatment for replacing your teeth. Dental implants have two parts to them: an artificial tooth root made out of titanium and a porcelain crown.
Dental Implant Procedure
Your implants are placed in two parts. First the root forms are surgically placed in your jaw. At our office, we have a periodontist with advanced training in dental implant surgery who does this part of the procedure. There is a required healing period after this to allow for osteointegration. In this process your jawbone grows around the implant, making it as secure as a natural tooth root. When that is accomplished it is time for the second part of the procedure—placing your crown.
Dr. Mavrostomos is careful to match any prosthetic teeth with your surrounding teeth. Because he uses porcelain for dental crown restorations, no one will be able to tell the difference between your prosthetic teeth and your natural teeth. You can learn more about how porcelain mimics your natural teeth on our porcelain crowns page.
Advantages of Dental Implants
Getting a dental implant is an excellent solution whether you are missing one tooth or multiple teeth, but the advantages go up significantly when you’re missing multiple teeth.
For years these situations were treated with removable partial dentures or complete dentures. But there are two basic problems with these procedures. The first is that removable appliances move around in your mouth to one degree or another. Complete dentures can even slip out of your mouth, sometimes in public situations. When implants are used, however, the teeth are fixed and solid. Not only does that avoid embarrassment, but it is more comfortable, your chewing efficiency is much greater, and there is no damaging stress on any remaining natural teeth.
The second problem is facial collapse. Once your teeth are gone, your body begins to resorb the minerals in your jawbone. After about 10-20 years you will have so little jawbone left that your face may have a sunken in appearance. In addition, there will be little for your dentures to rest on and you could become a dental cripple. However, if you have dental implants in place, they prevent bone resorption and facial collapse.
When one tooth is replaced, we simply place a crown on your implant and you have a beautiful and completely functional replacement for your extracted tooth. When several teeth are replaced, we’ll put in more than one implant and then attach a bridge or dentures to the tooth roots, depending on how many teeth are missing. Just like with a single crown, your teeth will look completely natural.
Dental implants are a wonderful way to restore areas of missing teeth without compromising any other teeth. If you’d like to see if you’re a candidate for dental implants, you may request a complimentary consultation with our office. If you already know you want dental implants, you may call our office to schedule an appointment (908) 234-1401.
Dr. Mavrostomos provides dental implant services to all of Somerset County including, Bridgewater, Basking Ridge, and Far Hills.
