When you suffer from tooth loss, especially advanced tooth loss, this impacts the health, function, and appearance of your smile. You even risk the onset of a prematurely aged appearance. But with dental implants, your Santa Rosa , CA, oral surgeons can tackle tooth loss with an advanced and lifelike replacement option!
The Risks Associated with Missing Teeth
First, let’s talk about how tooth loss can impact your oral health. When we lose teeth, the body will register the loss of a tooth root and then suspend the flow of calcium and phosphates to the jaw around the lost root. Without these nutrients, the jaw is deprived and breaks down, losing mass and density. The result is further tooth loss and for some, an aged appearance. Other complications include issues eating a variety of meals and speaking clearly, plus you may feel uncomfortable in social situations. But with the placement of dental implants, our team can prevent these issues from arising, keeping your youthful features in place and also ensuring you can enjoy good nutritional intake and clear speech.
Examining Smiles With Digital Technology
We first need to find out if you need individual ones, or an implant-secured prosthetic, such as a bridge or a fixed set of dentures. We will examine your smile with advanced digital x-rays and CBCT imagery, so we can assess the cause and extent of your tooth loss. We also look at the strength of your jaw. You may need jawbone grafting or sinus lifts to rebuild and strengthen your jaw, ensuring it can support one or more replacement teeth. But we also have options that All-On-4 and Trefoil, which only use four or even three posts per arch, and a titanium bar, to support a complete set of dentures even if your jawbone has been weakened.
Tooth Extraction
You may have teeth loosened by gum disease, or decayed or infected. We could remove these as part of the process. Likewise, if you have lost most of your teeth then tooth extraction is needed to pave the way for your complete set of dental implant dentures. Our team can plan the process in detail with digital technology, and keep you comfortable as we gently remove these teeth. This could take as little as 30 minutes. We then take detailed images to better plan the process of placing new teeth.
Dental Anesthesia
We understand you may feel worried about oral surgery, especially if you have dental anxiety. Well, we understand and now your fears are real. We won’t downplay them. We can offer a local anesthesia to the area where placement is happening, and also dental sedation to help you enter a calm and relaxed state, with little or no memory of the procedure at all. We have three sedation options, and our team has surgery experience and even works with the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital Trauma Team. We have the skills and experience to ensure this is a positive experience for you!
Dental Implants and Crowns
For an individual dental implant, we will insert a post into the jaw, where the body accepts it as natural structure. Once the area heals, we will attach an abutment to the post so we can connect a dental crown. The crown is the visible portion of your new tooth, providing a durable chewing surface and a lifelike appearance. We can address individual missing teeth, or use one to two dental implants to support a bridge that lasts far longer than traditional ones.
All-On-Four and Other Prosthetics
If you have lost most of your teeth, we can support a partial or full set of dentures, so you have a prosthetic that never slips when you eat or speak, and one that can last far longer than removable dentures. In fact, they can last decades to come, possibly a lifetime in some cases! With options like All-On-4 and Trefoil, we can insert new roots and attach a prosthetic in the same visit, so you leave with a complete smile.
If you have any questions about our approach to implant dentistry, or if you’re ready to start your journey to a full and beautiful smile, then contact our team today to learn more.
Talk To Your Santa Rosa, CA Oral Surgeon About Implant Dentistry
Don’t live with worsening oral health due to a missing tooth (or several), talk to our team about replacement options. If you would like to learn more about addressing the gaps in your smile, then contact your Santa Rosa, CA, oral surgeons by calling (707)545-4625.
