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Dental Implants Can Help You With Missing Teeth

The sad fact is that sometimes no matter what you do, you are going to need to have a tooth pulled, which will end up leaving an empty space in your mouth. For example, if you have had to have a root canal and a crown on one tooth and for some reason, it doesn't solve the problem, your dentist may recommend that you have the tooth pulled and investigate other options. One option may be to have a dental implant put in.

Dental Implants

Dental implants consist of more than one part. The actual implant itself, which is a titanium post that is inserted into the space where your tooth, or teeth, used to be, and then the replacement tooth or partial tooth that is put on the post. The post acts like the root of your tooth does, and anchors whatever option you have chosen to use. There are a lot of benefits to using a dental implant. One of them is that you are going to avoid bone loss. The pressure of chewing helps keep the bones in your jaw strong. If there isn't anything that is exerting that pressure, your bone starts to resorb, which can even change the shape of your face. Getting the dental implants isn't an overnight process, however. There are several steps that you are going to have to go through. 

Implant Process

The process starts with having the tooth removed. Since that can cause some trauma to your tissues and bones, your dentist will have you wait until that area is healed before they do anything else. That can generally take a couple of months, but your dentist can tell you exactly how long they would like to wait. You may think it would make sense to insert the implant the same time that they pull the tooth, but you really need some time to heal up. After you have healed, the dentist will insert the implant into your jaw. Again, you are going to have to wait for some healing time and to let the post integrate with your bone. If you put the tooth or partial on immediately, it could cause the implant to shift, causing you pain. Once everything has set the way it should, your dentist will give you the replacement tooth or partial denture. 

Losing a tooth can be an upsetting thing, but dental implants can help with that problem. Contact a dental office like Oral Surgery Associates Inc for more information and assistance. 


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