Dental Implants at Nooga Dentistry
What are dental implants?
When you have a missing tooth, we can replace that missing tooth in several different ways. Sometimes we replace it with things that go in and out of your mouth, sometimes things are glued on, but a dental implant actually replaces the root of the tooth. It goes into the bone, and then we let it heal.
After it's healed, we put an attachment on it that sticks out of your gums, and we can put a crown on top of that. A dental implant essentially replaces all the important pieces of the tooth that you're missing. The beauty of it is it feels natural and looks natural. These are very cosmetic, very comfortable to eat and chew with. In addition to being able to give you your tooth back, we can actually give you many teeth back.
If you're missing more than just one tooth, we can replace several teeth, or we can replace all of your teeth with dental implants. When we do that, we are either attaching a denture to the dental implant like snaps on a shirt, or we can actually screw it in so that it stays in your mouth.
Dental implants are very versatile and very affordable, so there are a lot of options when it comes to considering dental implants to replace a tooth or many teeth.
Why would someone consider getting dental implants?
- Replace a missing tooth without the need to touch surrounding teeth
- Replace multiple missing teeth
- Provide support and stability to full upper or lower dentures
- Provide support for a partial denture
- Enhance chewing ability and comfort
- Gain confidence while smiling, talking and eating
- Improve your overall appearance
- Regain self confidence
What conditions would cause a dentist to recommend dental implants?
If you have a missing tooth or several missing teeth, this is a really good option to consider. The advantages of a dental implant over any other type of restoration are that it is the closest thing that we can give you to your natural teeth.
There's nothing as good as what God gave you; however, this is a pretty close second. They're really strong, so they don't break. They're not biological tissue, so they aren't going to decay, and the longevity and the lifetime of these dental implants are really good.
You may have to have the parts and pieces of a dental implant serviced from time to time; however, when we put the dental implant in, our intentions are that this dental implant, the implant itself, could last you the rest of your life.
What are the advantages of a dental implant?
They are really strong. They don't break. Can you break them? Yes, technically you can; however, these are so strong that that's not really a concern for dentists. They're not biological tissue, so they don't decay. That's another big advantage of the implants.
Last but not least, the implant replaces all the important parts and pieces of your tooth, so it feels natural, looks natural, and you can chew on it, and it functions as a natural tooth. They're very cosmetic.
What is the process of getting a dental implant?
There are four parts to go through for a dental implant. First will be your dental exam, next will be your medical exam, then we'll come up with a treatment plan that suits your needs for your implant, and then last but not least, the actual process of giving you an implant.
Let's dive into each one of these.
What is involved with a dental medical exam?
The first one is the dental exam. We review your medical history, do a dental exam, and then come up with a treatment plan that suits your needs.
There are a few things that we may be concerned with. We want to make sure that we're doing it in the safest way possible. We are going to provide some anesthetics so that your bone and your gums are asleep, so we want to make sure that it's safe for you to be able to have dental anesthetics.
The second thing is that we will cause some bleeding, so we want to make sure that you are stable and we're not going to have any issues with bleeding.
The third thing is that there are some medical conditions that affect the healing of the bone, and we want to make sure that we're giving you the best case possible to be able to have a speedy and healthy recovery with the highest success rate.
We want to know if this tooth has been missing for a little while, what the teeth around it look like, and what the bone looks like. When teeth go missing, the bone starts to go away as well. We want to evaluate the bone and make sure that there's enough bone for us to be able to put the implant in. In most cases, there is enough bone. It could cause us to need to do a little something special with the bone, but not always and not usually.
What is the treatment plan process for dental implants?
The important thing is that this integrates well with any other dental procedures that you need to have done. We make sure that all of your other teeth are in good shape and that there's nothing that we need to be concerned about. Then we start to place your implant.
We consider the timing of when we want to actually have the implant placed. The implant itself is going to take some time to heal, from a couple of months up to maybe six months, depending on the area of your mouth, as bone has different densities.
After that, it's maybe two to three weeks before you actually have your tooth. Some time frames can vary based on how someone is healing, so that's something we generally discuss with patients on a case-by-case basis.
What is the procedure for getting a dental implant?
We make sure you're in good shape from a dental standpoint and then bring you in to do the procedure. Even though the most common comment I get from patients is, "Oh, that sounds painful," placing implants really isn't painful. We do need to put your gums to sleep because we make an incision in your gums, but as far as the bone goes, there's not a lot of nerve in the bone.
We numb the bone; however, the procedure isn't as painful as one might think it is. Post-operatively, we're generally having patients take an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen. Although we do prescribe pain medicine, oftentimes patients tell us that they didn't even need it. Sometimes they don't even need the ibuprofen, but we recommend it to help battle any inflammation that might occur because we don't want there to be any more inflammation than necessary.
If there's already a missing tooth and the bone is in good shape, then we're ready to place the implant. However, many times we're dealing with a tooth that isn't a good tooth to keep, so we have to extract it. In the event that we take a tooth out, we will need that site to heal.
Sometimes we can place the implant right into the area where the tooth came out, but I don't promise that to patients because it depends on how easy the tooth came out. If we can, we like to.
Assuming we're not able to place the implant the same day, we'll do a bone graft. We take cadaver bone, which is safe, and place it into the space where the tooth came out. It provides scaffolding for your bone to grow from one side to the other. The cadaver bone doesn't come alive; it just provides structure for your own bone to grow across and heal up.
Generally, we're looking at 2 to 4 months for this to heal, although times can vary based on your healing rate or the condition of the bone.
When would bone grafting be necessary for a dental implant?
If there's not enough bone, we often go in and graft to make enough bone to put the implant in. If we're taking a tooth out, we don't want that area to heal up and cave in on itself, which happens if we don't graft.
Grafting is good anytime we take a tooth out because it helps preserve the bone where the tooth was. If we know we're interested in placing an implant, we definitely want to do bone grafting in the area where the tooth came out so that the area doesn't lose too much bone and leave us with inadequate bone, making implant placement difficult or not possible.
What options will I have available when choosing new artificial teeth, and how will I know which one to choose?
We'll sit and show you the different options for artificial teeth. If you have several teeth missing or we're replacing all of your teeth, there are ways to do this where your teeth either go in and out or they stay in.
If they stay in, we can get them out, but you can't, assuming they're not cemented in. If they're removable, you can take them in and out. If they're fixed, they stay in your mouth. If we use cement, they won't be removable, but if we use a screw, we can unscrew them if needed. Generally, this is a point that doesn't really need to be considered because we don't usually have to take the artificial teeth out for any reason.
If you want your teeth to go in and out, they'll have snaps to snap in and out. If you want them screwed in, they'll stay in, making them more solid and comfortable. Removable teeth will rely on your gums for support, so you'll feel pressure on your gums when you chew. Fixed teeth are implant-supported, meaning they don't sit on or push on your gums, feeling more stable and catching less food.
How long does it take to recover from a dental implant placement?
Generally, recovery takes anywhere from 2 to 6 months, depending on the area of your mouth, the condition of the bone when the implant is placed, and how fast you heal. For most people, healing takes 2 to 6 months. This doesn't mean you have to go without teeth. If there's a cosmetic concern, we have ways to tide you over, so you don't have to go without teeth at all.
How long do dental implants last?
A long time. Some parts and pieces associated with a dental implant may need to be serviced every 5 or 10 years or longer, but the actual implant itself is anticipated to last you the rest of your life. Certain conditions could later affect the implants, such as developing habits or lack thereof.
Dental implants are still susceptible to periodontal disease, so we must brush and floss to care for our gums and keep the bone around the implant healthy. Heavy grinding or clenching can also affect the longevity of your implants, but generally, we expect the implant itself to last the rest of your life.
Can dental implants get cavities?
No, they can't get cavities because they're not biological tissue. However, they can get periodontal disease, so we still need to brush them, floss them, and use mouth rinse to ensure the gums and bone around the implant are healthy.
This isn't much different from natural teeth because if we don't take care of them, we can have problems with the bone around them. For implants, they're no different from natural teeth when it comes to taking care of the bone and making sure it's healthy.
What are the cost and financing options for dental implants?
This is probably the trickiest question to answer when it comes to dental procedures because with dental implants, there are so many different options and combinations of things to restore a patient. Starting with the implant, the abutment, and the crown, we're looking at probably over $3,000.
It really depends on your specific situation. If you give us a call and come in, we can take a look at what combination of teeth you're missing and give you a more accurate estimate. We're probably starting out for dental implant placement alone in the $1,500 to $2,000 range, but there are still parts and pieces associated with that beyond just the implant placement. If you have more missing teeth, you get more value because you're not paying for an implant for every single tooth.
As for financing, that's a real thing, and we offer it. We work with several companies that provide high-tech, great service for us and our patients, giving us quick feedback while you're in our office, so we can make decisions about your dental health and confidence in smiling and chewing.
Do most dental insurances cover the cost of dental implants?
The short answer is no, although we do see more insurances starting to cover implants. We're probably just under 50/50. We pride ourselves in our office because if you give us your dental insurance information before you come in, we'll look it up.
It takes a bit of time because insurance companies aren't eager to share information about your benefits. We try to have all of that ready for you before you come in, so when you're there for your appointment, you can talk about what you'd like to do with your mouth without worrying about where insurance stands.
We can give you good advice on whether your insurance benefit will help cover the cost, and if they do, we'll know and be able to advise you.
Learn More About Financing and Insurance
How can I schedule an appointment to come in and talk about dental implants?
Want to learn more? Call Nooga Dentistry at (423) 592-7676 or email [email protected]. Our team is happy to answer your questions and help schedule your visit.