What are Dental Implants?
The Dental Implant Procedure
Today’s dental implants are virtually indistinguishable from other teeth. This appearance is aided in part by the structural and functional connection between the dental implant and the living bone. Implants are typically placed in a single sitting, but require a period of ossointegration.
Osseointegration is the the process by which direct anchorage of a dental implant root and the bone of the jaw occurs. Ossointergrated implants are the most commonly used and successful type of dental implant. (have a link over to “About Implants for Everyone”) An osseointergrated implant takes anywhere from three to six months to anchor and heal, at which point your dentist can complete the procedure with the placement of a crown (send to resources, dictionary) Once the implant has anchored with the jawbone, artificial prosthesis may be attached and the process is done. If osseointegration does not occur, the implant will fail.
The Implant Procedural steps are as follows:
Preparing the Jaw for Implantation: A dental implant is commonly composed of a titanium material screw and a crown. A small-diameter hole (pilot hole) is drilled in the space where there is not tooth, in order to guide the titanium screw that holds a dental implant in place. To avoid damaging vital jaw and face structures like the inferior alveolar nerve in the mandible (lower jaw), a dentist must use great skill and expertise when boring the pilot hole and sizing the jaw bone. A Centers for Dental Implants doctor has the highest level of training and experience to make sure this very important step of the implant procedure is done precisely.
Placement of the Implant: After the initial pilot hole has been drilled into the appropriate jaw site, it is slowly widened to allow for placement of the implant screw. Following this placement, a protective cover screw is placed on top to allow the implant site to heal and the dental implant to anchor (osseointegration). After several months, the protective cover is removed and a temporary crown is placed on top of the dental implant. The temporary crown serves as a template around which the gum grows and shapes itself in a natural way. The process is completed when the temporary crown is replaced with a permanent crown. That new implant and crown act as a natural tooth would now. This new implant can last a lifetime.
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