Improve Your Smile and Dental Health with Dental Implants

If you’ve lost teeth, wouldn’t it be great to replace them? You can, with dental implants. Dental implants look, feel and perform like real teeth.

Let Dr. Medina help you enjoy the foods you love, stop hassling with dentures and get back your winning smile!

What is a Dental Implant?

A dental implant is a system that replaces your natural teeth with permanent artificial teeth. With dental implants, your mouth feels and works just as though you still had your natural teeth, keeping your jaw bone strong, your bite and gums healthy and letting you eat, talk and smile like you used to before you lost your teeth.

Dental implants are a 3-part system consisting of a small titanium rod that goes into your jaw in place of your tooth root, a titanium post that sits atop your gum line and an artificial tooth that looks just like a real one. Together, they create a strong tooth system just like a real tooth. You can get a dental implant for one tooth, for several teeth or for all your teeth. Dental implants help preserve your jaw and gums, and, for denture wearers, they mean no more dealing with loose and removable dentures. Dental implants are just like natural teeth and you care for them in the same way.

 

Implants and Dental Health

Your mouth is made to house a full set of teeth, carefully balancing your bite, maintaining a strong jaw bone and lubricating healthy gums. With tooth loss, without teeth doing the work of chewing, the jaw weakens and begins to lose bone. The deterioration of the bone causes the jaw to shrink or change shape, affecting your comfort, how you look and your smile. The effect will be more severe the more teeth you have lost. If you have lost most or all of your teeth and you wear dentures, after a while, they may not work as well and you may experience nerve pain as the nerve is closer to the surface of the atrophied jaw bone. The gum tissue also will become thinner and more fragile over time, your bite may change and your remaining teeth may be subject to fracturing.

Many people find their enjoyment diminished as this process occurs. They can’t enjoy the foods they like, their smile changes and they feel discomfort or embarrassment. Well, there is something you can do about it.

How Dr. Medina Can Help

As we have seen, tooth loss can lead to oral health problems over time. The best way to make sure you have a healthy mouth throughout your life is to restore the teeth that have been lost so your mouth can function correctly.

• Reduce Jaw Pain
• Keep Your Teeth in Place
• Straighten Your Bite
• Reduce Bone Deterioration
• Better Gum Health
• Improve Chewing
• Restore Your Beautiful Smile

Ask For Dental Implants and Get Your Smile Back!

The Dental Implant Process

Dental implants are usually completed in three phases, depending on your situation.

Implant Surgery

In the first visit, the dental implant is placed into your jaw in place of the missing tooth. The implants are strong, tiny titanium rods that go below the gumline where the roots of your teeth used to be. This process is done in an office visit. Most implant surgery can be done under local anesthetic.

Bonding Time

After the implant is in place, your jaw will  absorb the implant by growing new bone tissue around it. This creates a strong, stable and healthy base for your new tooth that comes later. You will need time for this process. During this stage, usually several weeks to several months, you will be asked to eat a soft diet and avoid very hot or cold foods. You may wear a temporary crown, or your bridge or dentures during this time.

Getting your Artificial Teeth

Once the implant and your jaw have had a chance to form a strong bond, Dr. Medina will install a small titanium post into the implant just above the gum line. Your newly made artificial tooth will be installed on the post. Now firmly attached, your permanent replacement tooth will feel, look and function just like a real tooth.

Advances Make Dental Implants a Great Choice

Sometimes the dental implant process can be done in a single visit. It will depend on your dental situation and general health status. Today’s dental implant technology can help many different situations. Dr. Medina will put together the best dental implant plan for you during a dental consultation.

Dental implants can help you maintain a healthy mouth and feel better about yourself.  Find out if you are a good candidate for dental implants and how they can help you. For more information on dental implants, give Dr. Medina a call or contact his office today.