When Is Dental Implant Surgery Needed?

When Is Dental Implant Surgery Needed?

May 01, 2023

Dental implant surgery is not a cosmetic therapy to improve the appearance of your teeth. However, it serves aesthetic purposes by helping you replace your missing, infected, or teeth needing extractions if you are affected by periodontal disease, et cetera.

Dental implant surgery becomes essential if you intend to replace your missing teeth with a permanent solution lasting you for life instead of alternatives like bridges or dentures. Implants also serve aesthetic purposes by closing gaps between teeth, with porcelain dental crowns appearing and functioning like natural teeth.

When you consider getting implants in your jawbone to replace missing teeth, the implant benefits you in several ways. Below are some benefits you will avail of after getting dental implants.

What Are the Benefits of Dental Implants?

  • Long-Lasting Replacement Solution : Dental implants are the sole replacement solution that remains in your jawbone for life, unlike dentures or bridges sitting on your gums.
  • Ease of Care : the replacement teeth do not require special attention because daily brushing and flossing, besides getting regular checkups and cleanings from the dentist near you, help ensure the replacement teeth stay in your mouth longer than expected.
  • Prevention of Jawbone Resorption : Jawbone deterioration is expected after losing one or more teeth. The breakdown makes you appear older, leaving you with a sagging face. Here again, implants are the only solution that helps prevent jawbone resorption because the implant embedded in your jaw works as a replacement for the natural tooth root you lost with your tooth. Therefore implants prevent jawbone resorption to ensure your facial structure does not display the consequences of losing a tooth.
  • Everyday Activities : Implants support daily activities like eating, chewing, speaking, and smiling without making you confront challenges to make you think you invested wisely by getting dental implants for your missing teeth.

When you visit dentist 77581, asking them for solutions for the problems you confront with your missing teeth, you will likely receive a suggestion from them to consider dental implants as substitutes for your missing teeth. The dentist recommends the procedure after examining your jawbone and gum health to ensure your eligibility for dental implant placement. If you confront challenges with inadequate jawbone, the dentist suggests strategies like bone grafting or sinus lifts to help augment bone in your jaw before implant placement. However, if everything is acceptable with your oral and physical health, you can schedule your appointment for dental implant placement immediately.

How Are Dental Implants Placed?

The procedure for dental implant placement proceeds in phases, with plenty of healing time between stages.

When you arrive to get your implants placed in your jaw, expect to receive local anesthesia to numb your gums with sedation if you are anxious about the surgical procedure. After your mouth is entirely numb, the dentist cuts open your gums and drills your jawbone to place dental implants in Pearland, TX, deep into it. After placing the titanium post in your jaw, the dentist sutures the surgical site and provides after-care instructions to care for your dental implant during your healing.

Recovering from implant placement requires three to six months because the titanium post must integrate with your jawbone in an osseointegration process to become part of your body. While the process is lengthy, it helps if you adhere to the dentist’s advice to care for your teeth and the implant appropriately to ensure you recover without complications in the shortest time to proceed to the second phase of the dental implant procedure.

After recovering from the initial surgery and allowing the osseointegration process to complete, you must revisit the Pearland dentist for an abutment attachment over the implant to help hold a realistic-looking dental crown created from porcelain to function as your artificial tooth. The abutment attachment process requires minor surgery and another two weeks of healing before you can return to the dentist to measure and create your new dental crown from a dental laboratory. Dental crown fabrication requires three weeks before the dentist finally mounts it atop the dental implant to give you your artificial tooth.

After receiving your replacement teeth held by dental implants, it helps if you understand the implanted crown is not vulnerable to tooth decay or infections. However, it does not indicate you can neglect your dental hygiene because your gums can attract gum disease if you do not maintain excellent dental hygiene and receive six monthly exams and cleanings from your dentist. In addition, neglecting your dental implants can result in implant failure imposing considerable costs for repair or replacement of the implanted teeth.

If you have lost your teeth and want to replace them with dental implants, Harmony Dental (TX) is where you must visit for this dental procedure. Arrange a meeting with them to start planning your treatment and receive the implants as soon as possible to improve your dental and overall health.