Dental Implants

A dental implant is basically a replacement for the root of a tooth. It's a metal post that is placed in the bone and then we can attach materials to that to replace a missing tooth. So if a person has a missing tooth or multiple teeth that are missing and they want to replace them with a permanent solution, not a removable type of an appliance like a partial denture or a full denture, then we place an implant. I do implants a little differently here, I partner with oral surgeons. There's a few around town that I use and we work together as a team. So the first thing that I do if someone is interested in getting more information or following through with an implant is I'll have them visit and consult with the oral surgeon. They'll do radiographs, they may do a CT or a CAT scan, so that they can check on the ability for the patient to support an implant, and also very precisely determine where they're going to place them. So once the implant is ready to receive the restoration, they return to me, and that allows me to attach a post, and then I'm able to put a crown or a fixed permanent bridge on those posts which are attached to the implant. Once we're done with that, then basically the patient is restored. They can go back to normal full function eating, chewing. Generally, it's very easy, most patients when I asked them, how was your recovery from the implant placement? They'll say, "Gosh, it was a lot easier than when I had a tooth pulled."