For many people, dental implants are lifelong solutions that can give them a beautiful smile for a lifetime*. If you're missing one or more teeth, dental implants can be a highly effective solution to restore your smile and improve your oral health. At Sierra Oaks Dental in Sacramento, California, Peter Kim, DDS, and his team offer quality dental implants that can provide lasting benefits, such as restored tooth function and aesthetic beauty. Call the office to learn more about implants or schedule an appointment online today.
Dental implants are small titanium posts that replace your natural tooth roots. Your teeth include the crown (visible portion) and the root (hidden part). The root holds the entire tooth in place.
If you have a missing tooth, a dental implant can stabilize your replacement tooth and hold it in place. The post fuses with the surrounding bone to create a stable and durable base for a dental crown, bridge, or denture.
Dental implants are highly durable, long-lasting, and they look and function like natural teeth.
Once surgically placed, dental implants bond to the surrounding jawbone. This process, called osseointegration, fuses the implant to the bone while the mouth heals from surgery.
Osseointegration allows your implants to become a natural component of your smile. With a stable foundation, your replacement teeth look, feel, and function just like natural teeth.
Dental implants offer many advantages over options that require a complete redesign and carry a higher risk of infection for replacing missing teeth, like bridges and dentures. These benefits include:
While the initial cost of dental implants may be higher than dental bridges, crowns, or dentures, but they can last for 25 years or longer and rarely need replacement like less permanent options*.
Dental implants require healthy bone to provide a stable foundation for your replacement teeth. If you don’t have enough density, the team may recommend a bone graft. This procedure involves taking bone from one area of your mouth, or from a donor, and placing it in the areas where the implants will reside.
It can take several months to heal from this procedure before implant surgery.
The team usually uses sedation dentistry and anesthetic to keep you comfortable during dental implant surgery. Once you’re relaxed, they surgically place the implant into your jawbone through the socket left behind by your missing tooth. Finally, the team closes your incision with sutures and places a temporary crown, bridge, or denture.
You get your replacement teeth once your mouth fully heals from dental implant surgery, which takes about 6-12 weeks.
Call Sierra Oaks Dental today or schedule an appointment online to learn more about dental implants.
*Individual results may vary