According to prosthodontists across the country, over 35 million Americans are missing their teeth or have weak jaw bones. That leaves a lot of room for dental issues to keep happening. Your dentist in Long Beach has a great restorative option for patients that wish to improve their oral health: dental implants. PCH Dental is happy to introduce this revolutionary tooth replacement option with you. Our office is here to improve your oral health from the root up.
What is a dental implant?
Past tooth replacement options only addressed parts of the teeth that were above the gum line. Today, we’re able to replace both the root (below the gum line) and the crown (above the gum line) of a dying or lost tooth. Dental implants are small, titanium posts that mimic the root of your tooth, restoring the health of your jawbone. Titanium is a metal that is biocompatible, meaning that your body can adjust to the metal easily with a process called osseointegration. By attaching a prosthetic tooth to your dental implant, one of our dentists will be able to provide a tooth replacement option that can you’re your smile increased stability and longevity.
What is the procedure?
Once you have met with one of our dentists and agreed that dental implants are the right choice for you, the first phase includes the surgical placement of your implant posts within the jawbone. This sounds intimidating, but our patients feel comfortable and undergo sedatives to make this surgical portion practically painless. Our dentists have the advanced training and technology to safely and effectively complete your implant placement in one convenient location.
Once your implants have been placed, your jawbone and gums will naturally fuse to your implant, mimicking the original lost tooth root. After your body has adjusted, you will return to our office to attach the replacement teeth.
What kind of prosthetics do dental implants support?
Dental implants in Long Beach provide unique opportunities for a variety of prosthetic tooth replacements. The titanium tooth root provides new stability and structure for prosthetics that wouldn’t have the same type of durability without it. PCH Dental can attach these prosthetics for tooth replacement options:
- Crowns and bridges—By attaching these restorations to implant posts, we’re able to provide the same high quality, natural looking replacement solution without damaging surrounding teeth. A single crown or two attached crowns can typically be supported by a single dental implant.
- Partial or full dentures—If you have more advanced tooth loss, your dentist may recommend attaching dentures to a few strategically placed implant posts. Regular dentures can slip or cause further jaw bone deterioration from being held by suction or adhesives, but with implants they will stay in place, eliminating those issues altogether.
- Mini dental implants—These sound exactly how they sound, smaller dental implants for small tooth replacements. It helps to create more natural feeling restorations or for patients that don’t have the adequate amount of jawbone density needed to support regular dental implants.
- All 4-on-4—This is an alternative way to place your dental implants for patients that have lost full arches of their teeth. Two implant posts are placed vertically in the front of your mouth to support the denture. Then, two posts are inserted diagonally in the back of your jaws to anchor the dentures down.
Since technology has developed, so have tooth replacement options. One of our four dentists would be happy to discuss dental implants if you’re interested in restoring the functionality of your smile. If you’ve lost just one tooth or even a full arch of teeth, contact our team to schedule an implant consultation in our state of the art Long Beach office.