Am I a Candidate for Implants? Dental implants are a great restorative procedure that can provide you with a brand-new smile. If you are interested in dental implants or implant-supported dentures, our team at Advanced Dental Specialty Group can determine if you are a candidate with one easy visit. A good candidate is someone who is in good overall health. A good candidate is also someone that needs a large number of their teeth replaced. During your visit, our professionals will gather important information about your medical history. They will also complete a thorough oral exam and take measurements of your mouth. After the oral exam, our team will take x-rays of your oral cavity. After they gather this information, our team can help you decide if dental implants are right for you. What Could Prevent Me from Getting Implants?The two factors that could potentially prevent you from getting implants or make them less successful are insufficient bone density in your jaw and damaged gum tissue. Both of these conditions often go hand in hand with gum disease and substantial tooth loss. Fortunately, our team can often correct either of these conditions with surgical intervention. If you do not have sufficient bone density to support implants, our team may suggest a bone graft. During a bone graft, our professional makes an incision in the gumline and grafts bone fragments to your existing bone. The bone fragments originate from either a cadaver or are made from synthetic material. If your gums are too damaged or infected, our team can also treat this condition in most cases. This is addressed through a procedure called a gingivectomy, during which our team removes the damaged gum tissue. The tissue is then replaced with new tissue during a procedure called a gum graft. The use of bone and gum grafts can improve the health and function of your mouth so that they are strong enough to support implants. How Long Does It Take?Dental implants are installed over the course of several different procedures. Each procedure ranges in duration from an hour to a few hours at most. However, each phase of the restoration requires that you have several months to heal before the next phase can begin. In total, it can take up to a year or more for our team to complete the installation of dental implants. This extended time frame will largely depend on whether or not you need a bone or gum graft. The healing time for the bone graft can be especially lengthy. According to WebMD, it can take up to one year for the bone fragments to completely fuse with your jawbone and make them strong enough to support the titanium posts. If you are interested in dental implants or implant-supported dentures and want to find out if you are a good candidate, it is time to come to see our team. Our professionals at Advanced Dental Specialty Group will assess your case through an oral exam and digital x-rays. They will use this information to develop a custom treatment plan and guide you to the best restoration for you. You can schedule your consultation by calling our office at today. |
