Dental Implants – Raleigh, NC

What Are Dental Implants?

In essence, dental implants are tooth-sized posts made of durable titanium. Dentists design them to act as substitutes for the roots of missing teeth.

Dental implants work better than dentures or dental bridges due to their placement method. Rather than set them over the guns, dentists place them directly in your jaw’s empty sockets. This approach lets the implant posts fuse with (and stimulate) your jawbone’s surrounding tissue, causing them to become permanent parts of your mouth. The implants can then support their abutments (i.e., metal connectors) and the final restoration.

The 4-Step Dental Implant Process

Our dentists follow a multi-step process when performing a dental implant treatment. The steps in question include:

• Initial Dental Implant Consultation – You’ll consult our dentists before any implants are placed. That way, we can learn about your oral health, smile goals, etc.
• Dental Implant Surgery – If our team approves, we’ll refer you to an outside specialist who’ll perform your dental implant surgery.
• Dental Implant Osseointegration/Abutment – Following the surgery, your dental implants will slowly fuse with your jaw. We’ll place the abutments later once this fusion process has finished.
• Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s) – After getting your abutment(s), you’ll visit us for your final restoration. This item will be a dental crown, bridge, or denture, depending on how many teeth you lost.

The Benefits of Dental Implants

Should you undergo a dental implant treatment, you’ll receive perks like:

• A Pretty & Lifelike Smile – Dental implants blend seamlessly with your smile since they’re capped with high-grade porcelain.
• High-Success Care – Overall, dental implants have a long-term success rate of over 95%!
• A Younger-Looking Face – Because dental implants stimulate your jawbone, they keep your face looking full and youthful.
• Better Chewing – Dental implants restore your bite force, allowing you to chew tough foods as a result.
• Long-Lasting Results – If given proper care, dental implants can last twenty years or more.

Who Dental Implants Can Help

Dental implants can help nearly anyone with missing teeth, no matter how many were lost. They’re just as able to fill large smile gaps as small ones. That said, you need healthy gums and a dense jawbone to qualify for them. These traits allow your mouth to support the implants after they’re placed. If your gums or jaw are too weak, implant posts will quickly come loose and suffer an early failure.

Missing One Tooth

If you only lack one tooth, a single dental implant and crown should restore your smile. This pair can be placed fairly quickly and often lasts longer than a dental bridge. Also, dentists won’t need to alter your nearby teeth to set it up. An implant post only needs to fuse with your jaw to stay in place.

Missing Multiple Teeth

Should you lose multiple teeth, an implant bridge could suit you pretty well. This device uses two dental implants (not dental crowns) to support its place in your mouth. In other words, it doesn’t rely on nearby natural teeth (i.e., abutments) like a regular dental bridge does. The treating dentist won’t have to remove any enamel to place it.

If the missing teeth weren’t adjacent, a partial implant denture is also an option.

Missing All Teeth

You ought to consider a full implant denture if you’ve lost (or soon will) all your teeth. Once set up, it can restore an entire arch with a few well-placed dental implants. An implant denture also doesn’t slip or fall like a regular one can, as its implants keep it steady. The minimal number of posts is set for the highest degree of stability.