People are living longer, and they want their teeth to last. That’s why dental implants Arizona are the ultimate direct tooth replacement. The implant helps stabilize the jaw bone and encourage better mouth health. Dental implant surgery has become increasingly common, and it is best performed by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. This type of oral surgeon has a more advanced education that includes reconstructive facial surgery. At Desert Valley Oral Surgery, you can rely on Dr. Hansen who has extensive experience in dental implants as well as advanced knowledge of the medical and dental aspects of jawbone, teeth and mouth structure.
Ten Important Reasons to Consider Dental Implants Phoenix
1. Closest Thing to a Natural Tooth
An implant-supported replacement and a natural tooth are very much alike. Both consist of a crown – the part you see and use to chew food – as well as a root that holds the tooth in place. The new titanium root keeps the implant tooth under the gum, anchoring it into the jawbone, just like the one that was lost. So, the implant is the closest thing to a natural tooth that is possible today.
2. The Importance of Implants Roots
Losing a tooth means losing the root. With an implant replacement, the oral and maxillofacial surgeon replaces the root with a small titanium rod – the implant. This is vital to hold the crown replacement in place, but it is also vital to maintaining your jaw bone’s health and density.
3. Titanium Durability
Titanium has a big job. It must hold the new tooth for the rest of the person’s life, and, in most cases, that’s exactly what it does. Even if the crown were to break, the titanium post remains and can simply be fitted with another crown. Surgeons have used titanium for artificial joints for years because it is highly resistant to corrosion. The titanium durability is directly tied to the success of implants today.
4. Fast Fix for Long Term Results
For most patients, one implant is a 30-to-60 minute procedure, and multiple implants require only 2 or 3 hours. Once in place, dental implants will be there for years to come.
5. Zero Embarrassment
The implant never leaves your mouth, and no one will ever know, even if guests are spending the night at your house. As you know, dentures and partials must be removed at night, and they may need to be removed other times during the day. Furthermore, the human mouth needs all of its teeth to accurately chew food. Your implant will allow for natural eating which is a major player in maintaining your physical health. Furthermore, dentures have been associated with pain during eating that simply can’t happen with an implant.
6. Daily Implant Cleaning is Easy
Implants don’t require special treatment beyond some oral hygiene tips for best results. You will continue to see a dentist to care for your remaining teeth, mouth and jaw. It is less likely that you will need the services of a periodontist because the gums should be healthier with an implant compared to a partial.
7. No Future Changes Needed
Dental implants maintain bone density and will not need to be replaced under most circumstances. Implant surgery is the rare dental procedure that won’t need to be redone someday. This is a significant factor in evaluating the value of this procedure’s cost. Each time you replace a tooth with an implant, you are reducing the chance of further tooth loss. This means fewer and less expensive visits to your dentist over the years ahead.
8. Protect Mouth Health
Generally, a tooth implant doesn’t impact any other teeth. This is not true of dental bridges that must use other teeth as anchors. If you are considering a partial, be sure to ask your dentist about how the neighboring teeth will be utilized. On the other hand, by planting the titanium post, the surgery is restorative, ensuring better outcomes in many aspects of your health, including the prevention of bone loss and periodontal disease.
9. Eat Normally
When teeth are missing, a person’s diet suffers. This is one of the reasons why the American Dental Association strongly recommends that you and your dentist work hand in hand to prevent tooth loss. Fortunately, with implants, your natural bite can be restored, and you can eat as you did before. Snugly fitted to its permanent post, the tooth crown can handle chewing and biting. You won’t have the problems that come with missing teeth or loose dentures.
10. Versatile Approach
If all of your teeth are missing, you have a variety of implant treatment options available to support the replacement teeth. All on 4 implants utilize fewer titanium posts to hold more teeth, reducing both the time it takes to do the procedure and the time it takes to heal. This technology is making implants even more desirable.
WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE FOR A DENTAL IMPLANT ARIZONA?
Prior to surgery you will engage in discussion about various helps available for reducing pain. You may also receive antibiotics and possibly, for greater comfort, intravenous sedation. The office staff will review the possibilities with you in your implants consultation appointment. You will also receive a local anesthetic to numb the area where the implant will be placed. The number of required visits vary from one patient to the next, and you can be sure the doctor will exercise great precision and attention to details throughout.
After you are comfortable, the surgeon begins the procedure by making a small incision to reveal the bone. Special instruments will create space and the surgeon will then insert the titanium implant into the socket.
WHAT IS THE HEALING PHASE?
Once the dental implant is placed, the jaw bone heals and begins to grow around the implant; over time the bone bonds with the titanium, and a strong foundation for artificial teeth develops. This happens more quickly when issues such as gum disease are addressed in advance.
Healing time will vary individually depending on the quality and quantity of bone at the site, and may be a shorter or longer time accordingly. Occasionally the implant can be restored as soon as it is placed. The oral and maxillofacial surgeon will decide based on the situation how long the healing time should be and advise you accordingly, along with follow-up care.
Following the initial phase of home care and healing, the doctor places the abutment or a healing cap onto the implant during a short follow-up visit. The cap or the abutment allows delicate tissue to heal to a normal state while allowing access to the implant.
It is good to make impressions at the time the implant is placed, which makes it possible to attach the crown as soon as the implant has healed. Factors that determine how long your mouth needs to heal vary, and follow-up appointments (one to four) will allow the surgeon to track the progress of healing and determine when you are ready for the restorative phase of your treatment.
In certain cases, a graft is needed. It creates a stronger, more natural looking area around the implants, making sure they are easier to clean. The doctor moves a small amount of gum from another part of your mouth to the area surrounding the implant. This is generally a quick and relatively comfortable procedure. Once this surgery is completed, you will find there are no further invasive procedures needed.
Finally, the restoration is completed by fitting the crown to the dental implants. This is a non invasive procedure that doesn’t require any pain medicine to accomplish. At that point, your new teeth will look, feel and act like the real thing. What more could you possibly want?
MAYO CLINIC CALLS IMPLANTS ‘SOLID SUPPORT FOR YOUR NEW TEETH’
You can find confirmation that the dental implant procedure is a good idea by checking such knowledgeable sites as the Mayo Clinic and MedicineNet. These sites cover many topics that reveal how your mouth health affects your physical health. This figures into the overall value vs cost ratio. The cost of dental implants today is greatly offset by the long-term benefits to your mouth health and to your physical well-being.
Implants, rather than dentures, improve your ability to eat solid foods well into the elderly years. Since dental implants don’t hurt or move like dentures, a person is more likely to eat the nutritious foods that they need. It is well documented that tooth loss and denture use affect what a person eats. Raw vegetables are a perfect example of the type of food that dental implants can handle and dentures often can’t. Good nutrition has been shown vital in the prevention of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and other health problems. So clearly implants are a win-win when it comes to health.
Unlike dentures, an implant won’t ever need replacement. A person may need to update their dentures every eight years. Most patients will find that paying for two or more sets of dentures easily exceeds the expense of dental implants surgery.
WHEN ARE IMPLANTS PLACED?
We normally place dental implants several months after extraction, although, at times, this may happen immediately after you have a tooth removed. Speeding up the implants process certainly simplifies things and reduces the number of times a patient has surgery for implants.
If the bone has evidence of infection or another problem, such as gum disease, we will wait to resolve that before placing an implant. Certain diseases may also inhibit our ability to address your tooth loss with an implant quickly. However, we will work closely with you and your dentist to help your mouth heal enough for this important surgery. If necessary, we will consult with your doctor to ensure your overall health won’t be affected by this procedure.
When a tooth has been missing for a considerable length of time, support bone in the immediate area generally shrinks and grows thinner. The root of the natural tooth is not there to stimulate the bone. You can lose upwards of 33% of your jaw’s thickness within a year following a tooth extraction. This is why getting implants soon after tooth loss is so strongly recommended. It’s just that important to your bone to reverse this fast aging process and start regrowing the bone around the implants. This procedure can actually contribute to the long-term survival of the teeth adjacent to the lost tooth.
With a loss of bone, the surgeon may graft additional bone into the area in order to ensure adequate support for the implant in the jaw. This may not be necessary for every implant in the same procedure. The good thing is that this surgery really strengthens the bone and potentially prevents further bone loss and additional tooth problems. It is a pity that the health insurance industry does not yet admit how vital this procedure really is.
HOW MANY IMPLANTS DO I NEED?
Each time you lose a tooth, it is advised that you ask for a tooth replacement as quickly as possible. Keep in mind that dental implants are helping replace the lost tooth and preserve the bone. With more tooth loss, your mouth needs more dental implants for what you can see (the teeth) and what you can’t (the bone). So, for your own health, you should get implants as often as you lose teeth.
Normally there is one implant for each missing tooth. However, the molars in the back of your jaw have two or even three roots, in which case the common approach is to use larger implants in replacing missing back teeth.
The All on 4 method allows your oral and maxillofacial surgeon to add more implants at once. This has become a preferred medical method for replacing groups of teeth because it means you can get your entire upper or lower teeth done in a day. Our patients tell us that the speed of this medical care procedure is important. It helps them reestablish their routine more quickly than they would if there were many surgical appointments. With fewer procedures, there is less stress on a person’s physical health, if that is a particular concern to you.
WHAT PROFESSIONAL HEALTH CARE DO I NEED FOR IMPLANTS?
If you live in the metro area, you should seek the best care for dental implants Phoenix. With that in mind, it is more common to seek out an oral surgeon rather than a typical dentist. While a dentist has certain skills, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon has the advanced skills and training necessary to handle this delicate procedure. Dr. Hansen is board-certified Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
An OMS has medical training in addition to the training received when becoming a dentist. Like a dentist, an OMS has a strong background in tooth structure. However, an OMS has further training in implants, how to do bone grafts, how to do tissue grafts, and more. While the final dental implant will feel quite simple and natural in your mouth, the actual procedure is too complex for a general dentist. This is especially true where there is more than one tooth being replaced at a time.
Fortunately Desert Valley Oral Surgery has locations in Gilbert and Queen Creek. Which one is closest to you?
IMPLANTS GILBERT
Southeast of Phoenix, our Gilbert offices are easy to find from Tempe, Mesa or Chandler. Call 480-539-6420 now to learn more about dental implants Gilbert or to schedule an appointment to discuss this procedure.
IMPLANTS QUEEN CREEK
The Queen Creek office is near the intersection of East Ocotillo and East Rittenhouse Road. You can trust Dr. Hansen for expert dental implants Queen Creek. Call 480-655-5400 for a consultation.
Often your dentist is the first to recommend dental implants. We are happy to work with your provider to address your needs. Rest assured, we care about our patients and will do our utmost to make this process as pleasant as possible.
When you need dental implants, you can trust your care to our Desert Valley team of professionals.
