Understanding Single Tooth Dental Implants
What is a single tooth implant, and how does it differ from other ways to replace a tooth?
The answer is that these replace not just the tooth, but also the root. When the tooth comes out, there's a portion of it, the root, that's up in the bone. When it comes out, it causes you to lose bone over time if the tooth isn't replaced. If we take a single tooth implant and put it into the bone, it helps preserve that bone and keeps you from losing bone. Generally, when we're considering single tooth implants, that means the other teeth are actually there.
The advantage of a single tooth implant is that it helps preserve the bone around the other teeth as well. By replacing a tooth with a single tooth implant, you're helping prevent yourself from losing additional teeth.
A few other things that are spectacular about implants are they’re not biologic tooth structures. They're made out of titanium, extremely strong, and they don't break. They also don't decay, which is pretty cool. You still have to brush and floss around them because of the natural teeth around them, but you generally don't run into those problems with an implant. You can get gum disease around an implant just like you can with a natural tooth. Therefore, you do want to brush, floss, and use mouthwash. You want to take care of it just like a natural tooth, so you're going to brush it and floss it just like you do your natural teeth.
Now, the way an implant differs from some of the other options is there's something called a bridge. A bridge sits on the two teeth on either side of that space and is glued to those teeth. The difference between a single tooth implant and a bridge is that the single tooth implant doesn't affect the other teeth at all. It doesn't rely on the other teeth, so if the other teeth were to have problems in the future, it doesn't affect it.
Whereas with a bridge, you have two teeth there that you have to maintain, take care of, brush, and floss. The way you floss underneath a bridge is different from how you floss with your regular teeth because it's all fused together. You have to be able to run floss underneath the middle tooth, which is the dummy tooth, so to speak. We call it a pontic, but it's the tooth that fills that space right there. You can't get floss in between those teeth because they're all fused together, so you floss a little differently. With a bridge, it's completely glued in and feels natural, looks natural for the most part, just like an implant does.
The other option is something that goes in and out. Generally speaking, things that go in and out are more cumbersome. They're harder to get used to. You feel like you have a foreign object in your mouth, and they move. You don't feel like you can eat and chew quite as well because they do get food trapped around them, and they are pretty uncomfortable if you apply too much pressure to them.
Those are some of the common differences between an implant and some of the other ways to replace a tooth. It is very important to replace a missing tooth because if you don't, the other teeth will start to shift, and it can cause you to lose more teeth.
Not only that, but you generally favor another side. When you favor the other side, you wear it out a little bit more. It's like having two cars, but you favor one car, so you drive it all the time. You're going to need new tires, brakes, oil changes, windshield wipers, and all of that a little more frequently, right? So, if that's the case, you would probably also wear that car out. It's going to hit 100,000 to 200,000 miles sooner than the one you don't drive as often. Therefore, you'll have to replace that car more frequently.
To balance you out and not have you favoring one side or the other, it's better to replace teeth as they come. They're not quite as expensive to do it that way compared to wearing another side out and then spending a lot of money trying to keep up over there on that side.
What is the process from coming in and talking to you all the way to the end of having my tooth in my head and being able to use it?
Pretty much what happens is you come in, and we talk to you. We answer all your questions, take some X-rays, and look in your mouth to ensure you're a good candidate. Some of the things we want to discuss include your health history to ensure there won't be any problems healing.
We also want to ensure you have adequate bone in the area to put the implant in. Most of the time, that's not a problem, and you're a qualified candidate.
Then, the second thing we would do is talk to you about the cost and the procedure. If you want to proceed, we bring you in and make a little incision in your gums, putting the implant into the bone. The implant kind of looks like a screw with threads, but although it spins as it goes in, it doesn't really screw in like a screw per se. The threads are there because we want the bone to grow in between the threads so that the implant is locked in. We call that integration.
Depending on where the implant is, it could take about three months, sometimes two months, but it generally takes three to six months for the implant to fully integrate. While it's healing, we generally won't put a tooth on it, although if we need something to go in that space, we have that ability.
That procedure is pretty much procedure one, and when you leave, you have a stitch in your gums that dissolves after a week or two, and your implant is healing, and you'll hardly even know it's there. In some cases, you may even have a temporary on it, and you're rocking and rolling. You're able to eat, smile, and not really have any problems. As far as you're concerned, it's done. Other times, if it's not a cosmetic issue and we don't want to put pressure on it, we could leave it below the gums, and you don't even know it's there.
In terms of post-op issues, a lot of times, patients take headache medicine, and sometimes they report that they didn't even need it. People think implants are painful, but they really aren't that painful. It's just that little incision in the gums, and we manage that with some ibuprofen most of the time.
After it's healed, we may do a few quick checks in between, but after it's healed, we'll come in and put an attachment on it. That is called an abutment, the part that sticks out of your gums. Then, we'll put a tooth on top of it. Generally, that tooth is glued on instead of screwed on, but it could be either. That's the hard day, the day you get to take your tooth home, try it out, and eat.
The beauty of an implant is it's a solid material that's not biologic, so you can eat and chew on it without pain. You don't have any issues with it. You brush it, floss it, and eat with it just like all your other teeth. There aren't too many things I would say not to do with your implant that I wouldn't also say about natural teeth. The implant is going to hold up to just about anything your natural teeth will hold up to.
What is a bone graft, and when is it necessary with a dental implant?
A bone graft is used when we take a tooth out, and there's a space there. If we're not able to place the implant at that time because of anatomy or the amount of bone, sometimes we will graft bone. This is cadaver bone, which does not transmit disease or anything like that. It's very safe to use, and it almost looks like grits, to be honest with you. We place that in the hole where the tooth came out.
Sometimes, we might be trying to place it on the outside of the bone or something like that, and we could use a little bit of mesh to help hold it in place. Nonetheless, a bone graft is there to provide you with adequate bone to put an implant in. That generally heals for a few months before we're ready to place the implant in it.
The bone graft itself doesn't suddenly come alive. It provides scaffolding because your bone, when it heals, won't heal from one side of a hole all the way across to the other side. When we put that grafting material in there, it provides some scaffolding for the bone to grow from one side to the other. When we take an X-ray a few months later and see that the bone has filled in nicely, that's actually your bone that's filled in nicely, not the cadaver bone.
How does a single tooth implant compare to a bridge or a denture to replace teeth?
Single tooth implant, pros and cons over, say, a bridge. It's not biologic material, so it won't decay. It's really strong and not likely to break. They have a very good prognosis, long-term prognosis, and a very good success rate, 95% or better. That's what you get with an implant.
With a bridge, a bridge replaces a tooth, sits on the two teeth on either side, and depends on the other natural teeth. If you get a fracture or decay in those teeth, it will affect the entire bridge and the tooth replacing your missing tooth. It's possible the entire bridge could have to be replaced, and it's a whole new procedure. If there are any maintenance issues with the implant, we can generally address them without affecting the other teeth.
In terms of a denture, we would be talking about a partial denture where you're wearing something that goes in and out. Generally speaking, patients complain they feel like they've got a mouthful or catch food in and around it, or they just feel like they're wearing a foreign object in their mouth, which is exactly what they're doing. You never feel quite comfortable biting, chewing, and eating on a partial denture as much as you would with a bridge or an implant.
Bridges and implants both feel natural and look natural. The implant is a little more natural because you can floss in between it and brush it just like a natural tooth. But with a bridge, you can't. It's fused together, so you can't floss in between the teeth on the bridge. You have to use a floss threader and go up underneath the bridge, which we teach you how to do, but it's just an extra step when you floss.
What should patients expect in terms of healing when getting a single tooth implant?
Healing is actually pretty easy. My mom had an implant placed several years ago, and she called me up. She said, "My implant's not hurting." I said, "Well, do you want it to?" She said, "No." I said, "Well, what's the problem?" She said, "Well, I figured if you took a tooth out and it hurts, then if you put a tooth in, it would hurt." That just goes to show we don't really have a whole lot of post-op sensitivity when it comes to implants.
We generally recommend headache medicine, like ibuprofen or Tylenol, or a little bit of both. We can give narcotics, but generally, patients report back they basically took some ibuprofen, and that's it for a day or two. After that, they may have a little bit of soreness, but nothing that would require them to take any kind of medicines for discomfort. Sometimes they report back that they didn't take anything at all. We do like to try to manage the implant recovery with some ibuprofen because of inflammation. Generally speaking, the discomfort is not something that patients have to experience.
How can patients find a qualified implant dentist?
Well, you're looking at him. We have lots of patients that have left reviews regarding their experience with us and implants. In addition to that, we are high-tech. We invest a lot of time and money in our continuing education and technology with dental implants.
This is one area that is a very fast-moving part of dentistry, and it takes a lot to stay up on the newest and latest when it comes to implants because we keep getting better and better. It used to be that you'd have to go to the operating room at a hospital, be in a sterile environment, and have it placed. We keep getting better at being able to place these in the dental office with extreme accuracy using technology. So we've invested heavily in our technology to place these implants in a very precise manner, minimizing any kind of possible failure rate. We want our patients to be comfortable and have the highest success rate possible.
What are the benefits of single tooth implants when it comes to the replacement of a missing tooth?
They replace the root of the tooth as well, which helps prevent losing more bone. When you're replacing a single tooth, you have other teeth that need bone. You don't want to lose bone in that missing spot as it affects the other teeth. It's good to place an implant in there and maintain that bone for the health and safety of the rest of your teeth.
They are really strong and don't break. If you broke an implant, I'd hate to see what you did to a natural tooth because they're way stronger than a natural tooth. They don't decay. They're not biologic tissue, so they won't decay. They can get periodontal disease just like a natural tooth does. If you get an implant that has periodontal disease, you probably have periodontal disease with your natural teeth as well.
These are all really good points about an implant. Maybe there's a little more upfront investment, but long-term, the maintenance is low-key. There's not a lot of maintenance involved when it comes to dental implants. As long as you take care of it and continue to see your dentist regularly, most things can be corrected if anything gets off track.
How much does it cost without dental insurance?
What you're getting is an implant, an abutment, and a crown. There are three different pieces you get. There are some variables at play, but in some cases, it could be a little less than $3,500, and in some other cases, it could be a little more than $3,500. Just a ballpark figure is about $3,500.
Is there a significant difference in the cost between a single tooth dental implant and other options to replace it?
There's not really a huge difference between a bridge and a single tooth implant. With a bridge, the long-term maintenance may be a little higher because, with a single tooth implant, your maintenance later on is good. The long-term prognosis and success rate are pretty good.
With a bridge, it relies on two other teeth. Is it going to need maintenance throughout your lifetime? Probably so. Are you going to revisit it often? Probably so. When you do, you often have the full expense of the bridge. With the implant, if something happens, sometimes you're just maintaining the part or piece that may need replacement, and it's not the whole kit and caboodle. When it comes to a denture and replacing a tooth with a denture, there is a cost difference because the denture is less expensive.
A denture does replace the tooth and serves a purpose, but the quality of life probably isn't quite there. There's nothing like what God gave you, which is your natural tooth. An implant is about the closest thing you can get to that. Next to an implant would be a bridge, and a long way away from that would be a denture. A denture flexes, moves, sits on your gums, and you feel it when you put pressure and bite on it. It's not perfect and catches food around it. It's less expensive, but there's a lot more headache with it.
How can I find out if I'm a good candidate for a single tooth implant?
That's pretty simple. Call us. We will have you come in and take a look at your bone level, make sure you have adequate bone, and check your medical history to see if there's anything that would concern us in terms of lowering the success rate. We would talk to you about the actual procedure as a whole, what we could expect in terms of healing, and then go on from there.
If you’re ready to schedule an exam or would like to learn more about our services, we’d love to hear from you. Call us at (423) 592-7676 or email [email protected]. We look forward to caring for your smile.