What is a dental implant?

Dental implants are artificial titanium tooth roots that are surgically inserted into your jaw to replace a damaged or diseased natural tooth. Replacement teeth, similar to a crown, are than attached to this new ‘root’ to mimic a natural tooth. They are much stronger than last longer than natural teeth, and are considered a permanent tooth replacement. Disease and decay are gone forever.

Your body considers this tooth root to be a natural product, and integrates it into the jawbone by ‘growing’ bone around it to replace bone lost through natural processes as we age. These restorations are the treatment of choice to replace a lost tooth.

The science has been around since the mid 1970’s, and they enjoy the highest success rate in dentistry with a rate of 98%. They are natural looking, natural feeling, and sometimes even your dentist has to take an X Ray to determine which tooth is the natural tooth and which one is the implant tooth!

The primary advantage of implants is the fact they save adjacent teeth that would otherwise be ‘cut down’ to create a 3 unit bridge. Instead of sacrificing two healthy teeth to replace one – we are able to replace that single missing tooth with an implant replacement. This retains the original jaw structure without further damage.

Diagram of a conventional 3 unit bridge

Diagram of a single implant restoration instead of the bridge

Photo 1 – chin profile improved with dental implant supported bridge

Photo 2 – Multi tooth implant supported bridge

Photo 3 – Multiple implants healing X Ray before restoration

Photo 4 – Multiple implants restoration complete