All About Dental Implants

If you’ve lost teeth, you know that the pain is more than physical. You may fear social embarrassment and lose self-confidence because of your missing tooth. But what if we told you that we could restore your smile in a way that looks, feels, and functions naturally?

The Hills Dental is proud to offer dental implants as a permanent and appealing solution to replace missing or extracted teeth. They’re better than other alternatives like bridges because no additional teeth need to be altered to place the new tooth. And unlike dentures, you won’t accidentally lose or damage them.

The Dental Implant Process

The entire implant process is performed over the course of a few months. The first part of the process is to install the implant itself, where a screw is placed into the jaw bone. An incision is made in the gum so that the implant can be inserted. Multiple implants can be placed at once if necessary. After the implants are placed the gums are sutured.

The implant must be allowed about 3-6 months to heal, and during this time the jaw bone will meld naturally with the implant in a process called osseointegration. During this healing time, you may be able to have temporary crowns installed so that you can eat and speak normally and maintain a proper aesthetic appearance for your smile.

After the implant has healed, it’s time to place an abutment on the implant. The abutment serves as the base for your new tooth. Once this is placed, an impression of the abutment is taken and used to create your final restoration. Finally, once the restoration is completed you can return to the office to attach the restoration permanently.

Your smile will look just like it used to, and after a short period of getting used to the implant, it will feel just like one of your own teeth.

Am I a Candidate for Dental Implants?

The best way to find out is by setting up an initial appointment with our office. We’ll assess your oral health condition and map out a plan to restore your teeth safely and effectively.

Here’s the good news: even for patients who can’t have implant surgery done immediately, we can use additional procedures like bone grafting to prepare you for the process.

All in all, dental implants are an amazing and healthy way to recover the look and feel of real teeth—without continued pain or embarrassment. Call Hills Dental to find out more today!