A guide to dental implants for permanent tooth replacement
By using dental implants, a dentist has a permanent way to replace missing teeth. Felmores Dental Care in Basildon offers implant treatment to replace anything from one to all of your natural teeth, providing realistic alternatives that look and function much like the real thing.
Whilst traditional methods of replacing teeth – dental bridgework, full and partial dentures – only replace the crown portions of the teeth, dental implants replace the tooth roots. A bridge, dentures, or a crown will then be placed on top of the implants.
Tooth roots aren’t just important for anchoring your teeth in the jaw; they also play a vital role in preserving the health of the jaw bone itself. A shrinking jaw bone is one of the most common side-effects of losing several or all of your teeth, and can cause problems with the fit of traditional dentures as well as, in some circumstances, changing the whole appearance of your face.
Dental implants can prevent this from happening. They also alleviate many of the common problems reported by patients who wear full dentures, including issues with speech, diet, and self-confidence.
Placement of implants requires minor oral surgery, which at our Basildon dental clinic can be carried out under local anaesthetic or conscious sedation. Because of the advanced technology that supports dental implant treatment, and the intricate planning undertaken by your dentist before surgery, implant placement is actually fairly simple from a patient’s point of view.
Once your implants are in position, a process called osseointegration begins. This sees your implants mesh firmly with your jaw bone, and usually takes between two and three months. Your dentist may attach temporary teeth for the healing period, so that you won’t need to fear being toothless. Then, when healing is complete, your permanent new teeth will be fitted, attached to abutments on top of your implants.
These permanent new teeth will either be a single crown to replace one missing tooth, or a bridge or denture to replace several or all of the teeth. The former two options are designed to stay permanently in your mouth, whilst dentures can either be permanently attached or removable at home.