When you lose a tooth, or should you suffer from total tooth loss, we can help you smile with confidence again. Dental implants offer results that look and function like natural teeth, and offer replacement for years to come. In today’s blog, your Santa Rosa, CA, oral and maxillofacial surgeons talk about implant dentistry and the benefits they offer for people with missing teeth.
The Causes of Tooth Loss
What causes your smile to lose natural teeth? The factors behind your tooth loss vary, and could include advanced tooth decay or dental infection that isn’t treated in a timely manner. Missing teeth could also be linked to an injury to the face or jaw. The most common factor behind missing teeth is periodontitis, the advanced stage of gum disease. When you lose even one tooth, you should consider an appointment with our team for dental implant placement.
The Risks to Your Oral Health
When you lose teeth, this could impact how you eat, speak, and even lead to an increased risk of complications like misalignment, TMJ disorder, and bruxism (teeth grinding). But the most severe complication is the gradual loss of mass and density that occurs following tooth loss. This not only leads to further tooth loss and with time, could cause an aged appearance. But our team can help you enjoy a full smile again!
Planning Treatment and Preparing Smiles
How do we get started? The first step is to take a close look at your smile with digital x-rays and CBCT imaging technology. With these images and measurements, we can assess the cause and severity of your tooth loss, and help choose the best angle, position, and depth to insert your new tooth. We can also assess the strength of your jawbone, to make sure it can support one or more new teeth. If not, then our team could offer treatments like jawbone grafting or a sinus lift to fortify the areas so they can support your new dental implants.
Dental Implants
The dental implant portion is a small post made from biocompatible titanium. The post looks a little like a small screw, and once inserted into the jawbone will act like a new root. It will bond with the jawbone through a process known as osseointegration, so it can act like a new root. Which means it can keep your jawbone intact and allow the new root to stay in place for decades to come or possibly a lifetime.
Tooth Extraction
In some cases, especially those in which a person is missing most of their teeth, we may need to extract the last few teeth to pave the way for an implant bridge or a fixed set of dentures. Our team can conduct the procedure quickly and comfortably, in as little as a half hour in some cases, so we can prepare your smile to receive a new set of teeth with implant dentistry.
All-On-Four
With the All-On-Four option, we can offer a whole new smile with only four dental implant posts per arch. These are smaller and require less structure to stay in place, so you may not need to undergo grafting or a sinus lift ahead of time. Once these posts are in place, we will connect a whole new set of teeth to them in the same visit, so you leave our office with a full smile. These can last longer than removable dentures, and are fixed in place so they never slip and you never need to take them out for soaking or cleaning.
If you have any questions about how we take on minor or severe tooth loss with one or more dental implants, or if you want to schedule a consultation now to start the process, then contact our team today to learn more. We want to help you start a new year on the path to a new smile, addressing your tooth loss with dental implants that look and function like natural teeth.
Talk to Our Team About Implant Dentistry in Santa Rosa, CA
Our team can offer new teeth and even a new smile with dental implants, so you can smile with confidence and enjoy results that are designed to potentially last a lifetime. To learn more about our tooth replacement options, then give us a call at Santa Rosa Oral Surgery at (707)545-4625 today! You deserve a full smile and we want to help you obtain one, even if years have elapsed since you lost your natural teeth.
