A dental implant is placed in your jaw during a series of mini procedures, over a period of time. The purpose of dental implants is to replace your missing tooth at the root, making it a permanent tooth replacement. Let’s take a closer look at how do dental implants work.
What Is A Dental Implant?
Dental implants are usually made from titanium alloy, a metal that is well tolerated by the human body. They are small screws or anchors that are embedded surgically into the jaw bone, in order to support a dental crown. Dental implants replace lost tooth roots while the dental crown does the job of replacing the visible part of your tooth above the gum line.
What Can You Expect From Dental Implant Surgery?
The fine details of your dental implant surgery will depend on your personal circumstances, which dictate the steps that must be followed. You will need to have a thorough consultation with your dental practitioner, who will take your medical and dental history as well as x-rays and digital photographs of your mouth and teeth. Once this process has been completed your dentist will prepare a treatment plan, which will include a cost estimate for your dental implants.
Bone Grafts
If you have been missing the tooth for a long period of time it is quite possible that you will have experienced some bone loss.
This may mean that your jaw bone is not strong enough to support dental implants, and you might need a bone graft to stimulate the growth of new bone.
How Does it Work?
Placing The Dental Implant
Your dental implant surgery will be performed under local anaesthetic so that you do not feel any sensation while your dentist is at work. Your dentist will drill holes into the area missing the tooth before screwing the implant in. you may need some stitches to be done. Once this is complete your jaw bone needs to grow around the implant in a process called osseo-integration, which can take a few months to complete. Only when this happens can you move onto the next stage. If you do need a bone graft, depending on the amount of bone material to be grafted, you may have it done just before placing your implant, or you may need a separate procedure.
Attaching The Abutment
Once your dentist is satisfied that your jaw has healed it will be time to place the abutment, which is the extension piece between the implant and the crown. The surgical site needs to be opened up again. Once the abutment has been placed, you will need to undergo another period of healing before the dental crown can be placed.
Placing The Crown
Your dentist will make a crown to match the colour, size and shape of the other teeth in your month. Once your mouth has healed fully from the abutment procedure, you will be able to return to have your permanent crown attached.
If you still have questions about “how do dental implants work”, it’s time to speak to a professional. Please contact us: 02 8894 1007.
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