The Answers To All Your Dental Implant Questions

Cosmetic dentistry has come a long way. What used to be painful, obvious and not so pretty cosmetic dentistry is now simple, fast and no one will know you had a little work done. There are different types of cosmetic dentistry procedures for different problems. There is Teeth Whitening, Veneers, Braces, Bridges and what most people consider when they lose a tooth or two, Dental Implants.

A Dental implant is an artificial root that is surgically placed in your jaw bone. Unlike bridging, dental implants don’t rely on neighbouring teeth for support, so it looks more natural than that metal thing you see with a bridge. People who get dental implants are those who have lost a tooth or teeth and also those who don’t feel like their dentures are secure enough. Dental implants can also help you with chewing, smiling and being more confident due to their more natural look.

When it comes to dentures, there’s nothing wrong with them. They are cheaper and take less time to make but they have their cons. Dentures do last a lifetime but you can’t use them for that long because your gums will shrink and the fit of dentures becomes loose. This makes chewing and smiling uncomfortable. It can also cause you a great deal of pain as the irritation causes sores. Eating is also less exciting as upper dentures require suction in the roof of your mouth which limits the taste of food. With dental implants the tooth is there forever, the fitting isn’t going to change and it looks and feels natural.

There are different kinds of dental implants which you can choose from when visiting your dentist:

Root Form Implants: These dental implants are the closest to what your actual tooth root is like. These are implanted into the jaw bone and used to replace one tooth, a few teeth or even a complete arch of teeth. After the implant, the bone will grow in and around the implant which will make it strong. That can take 3 to 6 months. After that time you’ll be ready for the new tooth or set of teeth.

Plate Form Implants: If you have narrow bones, then root form implants are not advised. Instead plate form implants are used as they are flat and will fit into the narrow bone easily. Like root form implants 3 to 6 months is the healing time before getting the actual teeth put on, but there are some plate form implants meant for immediate restoration also available.

Subperiosteal Implants: In cases with advanced jawbone resorption when there may not be enough bone for a root or plate form implant, subperiosteal implants may be used. These implants are custom made to sit on top of the bone and under the gums, not in the bone.

Ramus Frame implants: These are used in cases where the jawbone is too thin. The Ramus plate implants are placed in the jaw at the back of the mouth and near the chin. Once it heals, dentures are fitted on to the metal bar which can be seen above the gum.

When getting your dental implants at Cosmetic & Laser Dentistry Centre, an important thing to consider is the colour. All of our teeth are not the same colour, but getting your new teeth to look as natural as possible includes making sure they look like your other teeth. There is not standard chart of colours to pick from, normally more than one colour is chosen and made to blend in. you might also wish to have the rest of your teeth whitened and then make everything colour coordinated. A popular shade guide used is the Vita shade guide. There are 4 shades [A (reddish brown), B (reddish yellow), C (gray) and D (reddish gray)], the each of those shades have levels of darkness.

When taking these factors into account, during the initial process of getting your Dental Implants, you will always end up with a result that looks and feels natural for years to come. Do yourself a favour and get your answers from your dentist and not from your friend as everybody’s situation is different and ONLY your dentist will have the training to ensure your individual case is correctly assessed and treated.