Losing one or more of your teeth can quickly impact your everyday life. After all, you rely upon your teeth to articulate speech, complete your bite, and support the muscles of your face. And that is before we consider the effect of missing teeth on your personal appearance! Fortunately, replacing your lost teeth with dental implants can restore your smile and provide long-term bite support. This means treating and preventing major oral health complications to allow you to enjoy your life. In today’s blog, your Newport Beach, CA dentist discusses the variety of options you have when placing an implant to restore missing teeth.
Your Initial Smile Consultation
When you contact our office to restore your smile, we will perform a comprehensive examination to determine if your jaw is healthy enough for a dental implant. Understanding the extent of your tooth loss requires taking X-rays to get a full picture of your oral health. If you suffer from advanced periodontal disease, the most common cause of tooth loss in adults, we will suggest getting it under control before placing your implant. Because your implant post inserts directly into the jaw, your bone must be dense enough to secure its placement. The biocompatible nature of your implant allows oral tissues to fuse and hold it in place potentially for an entire lifetime. After healing from placement, we attach an abutment to the end of your post that can connect prosthetics above your gumline. When fully connected, your restoration and implant post combine to return your bite.
Bone Grafting
When you lose a tooth, its root no longer transfers the force of your bite into your jawbone. Normally, this force signals the nervous system that the bone is in use and requires nutritional support. Without the force of your bite, your body redirects minerals elsewhere and the bone deteriorates. If you do not have enough remaining material to support an implant, we could place a graft to regenerate bone and support your restoration. Typically taken from your own tissues or a synthetic source, we suture your graft onto the affected area.
Replacing A Single Tooth
When treating an individual lost tooth, we will place a single implant post that mimics the function of a tooth’s root. Your body will require time to heal and have your gums seal around your new post. We then attach an abutment that rises above the gum line to support a dental crown. Custom-made from lifelike ceramics, we design your crown to fit in naturally with the other teeth in your smile. This replacement tooth rebalances your alignment and prevents the dental drift associated with a gap from missing teeth!
A More Permanent Bridge
For more advanced cases of tooth loss that include multiple missing teeth in a row, we could create a fixed bridge. Compared to traditional dental bridges, a fixed bridge does not require altering remaining natural teeth on either side of your loss. Instead, we insert one or more dental posts to support a fixed structure that contains multiple artificial crowns. During your procedure, we can apply dental sedation to ensure your comfort and relaxation. While a removable bridge requires frequent replacement to adjust its fit, a fixed bridge returns jaw bone support to prevent its deterioration. While both solutions return your bite and restore alignment, a fixed bridge with an implant post stimulates your bone. This means a fixed bridge can last far longer than its counterpart.
Fixed Dentures
Similar to fixed dental bridges, we can combine implant posts with a fixed denture solution to treat multiple missing teeth. When you experience total loss of your teeth, a full set of dentures can replace every single tooth on one or both of your arches. Securing them with implant posts means not having to take them out and in for constant cleaning or worrying about slippage throughout your day! We may suggest extracting individual teeth to accommodate your full set of dentures and make room. We create the base of your denture to resemble gum tissue to enhance the lifelike appearance of your new set of teeth. If you would like to learn more about this solution or any other for replacing lost teeth, let our team know, and we can plan a visit!
Speak With Your Newport Beach, CA Dentist About Replacing Your Missing Teeth
Losing one or more of your teeth does not need to leave a permanent gap in your smile! Multiple options are available to restore the beauty of your smile and the function of your bite. To find out more about replacing lost teeth with the help of implant posts, contact your Newport Beach, CA dentist’s office at (949) 630-0143 to discuss care today.
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