Dental Implants in Darch

You might need dental implants if you have lost your natural teeth due to tooth decay, gum disease, or trauma. Dental implants serve as a solid and stable foundation for a fixed or removable artificial replacement tooth that matches your natural smile. Other reasons why you might need dental implants are as follows:

• Difficulty chewing and speaking:
  The loss of teeth can impair your ability to chew and speak. Dental implants look, feel, and function just like real teeth. Therefore, you can eat your favorite foods with confidence and without pain. These treatments can also restore your dental function and improve your speech.
  
  
• Adjacent Tooth Migration:
  Missing teeth can shift adjacent teeth and lead to bite instability. Implants prevent nearby teeth from shifting and causing alignment problems.
  
  
• Severely damaged teeth:
  It is sometimes impossible to repair a severely decayed tooth. Whenever a tooth is too damaged or decayed to be repaired, it may need to be replaced with a dental implant. While dentists often try to maintain as much of the tooth’s original structure as possible, they may have to extract your entire tooth if it is too damaged to save. Once the site has healed, an implant may be the best option to replace the extracted tooth.
  
  
• Loss of Jaw Bone Tissue:
  Without teeth, your jaw bone tissue deteriorates, but dental implants stimulate the remaining bone tissue, preventing bone loss. Through osseointegration, titanium or zirconium implants bond naturally with bone tissue, stimulating bone growth and stopping bone deterioration.
  
  
• Ill-fitting Dentures or Bridges:
  Since dental implants are permanently anchored to your jawbone, they are an ideal solution for dentures and bridges that do not fit well. Dental implants will never fall out while you are speaking or eating. When you use dentures with implants, your false teeth will be more secure. There’s no need for you to worry about your dentures falling out since the implants will ensure they stay in place.
  
  
• Facial Collapse:
  If you are missing teeth, your jawbone cannot support your face. All your teeth depend on a solid and healthy jawbone for their support. If your jawbone fails, your facial structure will eventually collapse. It will also cause wrinkles on your lips, making you appear older. Dental implants eliminate this problem by stimulating the growth of bone around the implant.

Dental implants are mostly made of titanium alloys, which is a biocompatible metal. In other words, the body readily accepts the metal and works in conjunction with it. Titanium is long-lasting, does not irritate the teeth and gums, and is absorbed by the bone, just like natural materials. In addition, a titanium implant doesn’t need to be maintained in a particular way. Maintaining good oral hygiene will allow you to maintain the safety and reliability of your dental implants for an extended period of time.

Getting a titanium implant isn’t recommended if you’re allergic to metals or experiencing metal sensitivity. A titanium implant is an alloy that consists of nickel, iron, lead, zinc, copper, and other metals. Even though titanium implants are very popular, other alternatives are available for restorative dentistry. Zirconia implants, for instance, are biocompatible and almost entirely free of metals.

The success rate of dental implants is typically high, and they have a very high safety level. They may have some associated risks, but they are rare and can be managed. Some of these risks include:

• There is a possibility that implant sites can become infected either during or after dental surgery. Several factors make you more prone to infection, including smoking, autoimmune disease, and poor oral hygiene.
  
  
• The ability of a dental implant to move is possible due to insufficient stability after an immediate tooth replacement procedure.
  
  
• Even if a surgical procedure is completed, implants could fail if the bone structure supporting them is insufficient to support the implant. An implant cannot fuse to the jaw without adequate bone support.
  
  
• A dental implant may lose its integrity if there is an injury in the surrounding areas of the implant.
  
  
• There are rare cases when the body rejects an implant. Pain, swelling, fever, and chills are some of the symptoms of rejection.
  
  
• Depending on the positioning of the implant in the upper jaw, an implant may protrude into the sinus cavity when placed in between the jaw and the sinus cavity.
  
  
• If you are allergic to titanium, it is possible that you could have a reaction to the titanium alloy in dental implants. You may experience tingling, swelling, and loss of taste if you are allergic to titanium.
  
  
• It is possible to damage a nerve if a dental implant is placed too close to one. Due to nerve damage, gums, lips, tongue, and face may feel tingly or numb.

Almost everyone is a suitable candidate for dental implants. You may be considered an ideal candidate for dental implants if you meet the following criteria:

• You have no oral health issues and are healthy enough to undergo extractions or oral surgery.
• You are in good physical health with no serious medical conditions.
• Your gums are healthy.
• There is sufficient bone material in your jawbone to sustain an implant.

An optimal outcome is dependent on several factors, including habits affecting dental health (smoking, teeth grinding) and existing chronic disorders (heart disease, diabetes). You should also commit to good oral hygiene and routine dental visits. Please feel free to contact Darch Dental Centre if you are interested in dental implants so that we can assess your suitability for the procedure.

Dental implant treatment is an outpatient dental procedure that typically takes a few months with several phases of tests and minor operations. A complete implant treatment typically takes between three and nine months.

The first stage is the initial consultation, during which we will answer any questions you may have about dental implants. We will also examine your teeth, gums, and jawbone. For the implant to work effectively, it is necessary to ensure that your gums and teeth are healthy and that your jawbone is sufficient to support the implant. A healthy mouth is a prerequisite for implant surgery.

We can begin your dental implant treatment once we determine that you are a good candidate. You will be given a local anaesthetic, and a gum incision will be made to expose the bone. The dentist will then drill holes in the bone and insert the titanium implant, which can then act as an artificial tooth root. It will be screwed securely into place to prevent debris from entering. Your bone will fuse with the titanium implant within three to six months in a process called osseointegration.

Your dentist will attach the abutment screw after the implant has stabilised and osseointegrated. Implants are connected to prostheses via an implant abutment, which extends above the soft tissue. An outer layer of gum tissue protects the abutment. After the abutment installation, it takes several weeks for the healing process to be completed.

Your dental implants can be fitted with permanent crowns once they have integrated with your jawbone and become firm enough to support chewing. A new impression of your mouth will be taken and sent to the dental laboratory. A dental technician makes your customised crowns based on your dental impressions. The permanent crown is placed on top of the abutment as soon as it is completed, and it is the only visible part of the implant.

If you require stitches to be removed after your dental implant surgery, you may need to revisit the dentist. However, most dentists now use self-dissolving stitches that don’t have to be removed.

It will take time for your body to heal. During recovery, you may experience some soreness around the implant area, but it will subside in a few days. Your dentist will prescribe pain relievers and antibiotics to manage pain and inflammation following surgery.

Hard foods should usually be avoided during the healing process. You should avoid touching the implant with your fingers or tongue. Avoid intense exercise for the first 48 hours, such as running or working out at the gym. To get the best results, avoid alcohol, caffeine, and smoking.

When implants are not supported by adequate bone structure, they can fail even after a surgical procedure is completed. Insufficient bone prevents implants from fusing with the jawbone. When your jawbone is too soft or too thin to support dental implants, bone grafting may be required. When you chew, you put considerable pressure on your jawbone. The surgery will likely fail if your jawbone density can not support the implant. The implant can be firmly attached to the bone with a bone graft.

A human body can also reject an implant in rare cases.

The cost of a simple dental implant ranges from $4,500 to $6,000.  If bone graft is necessary, there would be an addition $500 or more depending on your dental condition and the type of bone graft used.

The cost of the treatment is determined by your circumstances, therefore it’s best if you come to our clinic so that our dentist can give you a quote for how much a dental implant surgery would cost.

Various factors influence the cost of dental implants:

• The location of the implant site (front teeth are usually more expensive than back teeth)
• The number of teeth that need to be replaced
• The complexity of the case
• Other dental procedures that might be needed before dental implants (e.g. bone graft, sinus lift)