Funda-Mental

It has been years since you have been to a dentist. Now, because of teeth that have been broken and other various types of dental problems, you find yourself sitting in the dentist’s chair.

Your dentist does an oral examination and takes many x-rays of your upper and lower row of teeth. Following these procedures, your dentist comes back into the examining room and shares with you that they have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that you have four teeth that cannot be repaired and need to be removed. The good news is that you have a mild, not advanced, state of gum disease and with some deep cleaning and additional care your dental prognosis is good.

The question that your dentist now asks you, in regards to the four teeth that need to be removed, is how you wish to proceed. He offers three choices. The first choice is to have the teeth removed and not be replaced. The second choice is to have bridges put in. And the third choice is dental implants.

When considering dental implants it’s important to keep in mind three specific areas in making your decision. First of all what are dental implants, what are the successes of this procedure and what are the failures?

What Are Dental Implants?

Dental implants are the replacement of a lost tooth with an artificial tooth. This process is accomplished by drilling a hole into the vacated area of the jaw where the natural tooth once resided. Following the drilling of this hole into the jaw, an implanted bevel is placed. This process sets the stage for the crown to be attached following a number of months allowed for healing.

Following the healing process, a crown is attached to the implanted screw. This crown is not permanent and simply allows for the gum to grow and adjust to the implanted temporary crown. The crown is placed on a post that is inserted into the bevel. Once this process has taken place then a permanent crown is built that will perfectly match the adjustment of the gum to the temporary crown. The temporary crown is then replaced with the permanent crown.

Success Of Dental Implants

Success of dental implants is contingent upon a number of factors. Those factors include the skill of the attending dentist, the integrity of the jaw bone that will be used to host the implanted bevel and the patient’s personal attention given towards their dental care.

Dental implants studied over a period of five years show 75 to 95 percent success rate.

Failure Of Dental Implants

Dental implants are termed a failure if the implant itself is lost, becomes loose or shows a certain degree of bone loss over the ensuing years. Dental implants are not subject to decay. However, inflammation can occur if the individual, who has received implants, does not practice proper oral hygiene.

Other factors include a low success rate when those dental patients, who have received implants, continue to smoke.