Dental implants are one of the most celebrated tooth replacement options due to their strength, durability, and incredible realism. However, they’re also one of the only ones that are likely to involve surgery.
That isn’t as much of a problem as you’d imagine—most people are healthy enough to get dental implants, but they may need some additional procedures beforehand. Here are a few examples of procedures that may be necessary.
Tooth Extraction
Dental implants are typically used to replace teeth that have already been lost, but in some circumstances, your dentist may recommend removing a severely infected tooth before replacing it with a healthy dental implant.
In that case, you’ll probably need to perform a tooth extraction beforehand. It’s usually recommended that you heal completely from the extraction before replacing the tooth, so you’ll probably have a 3-6 month gap between getting rid of it and placing the dental implant.
Bone Graft
Dental implants rely on the strength of the jawbone for support. However, if you’ve been missing a tooth for a while, it’s possible that your jaw may have shrunk from chronic disuse, like a muscle that hasn’t been worked.
If that’s happened to you, it’s possible that you may need to get a bone graft before getting dental implants. Your dentist can move bone from other parts of your body or place a synthetic bone-like substance in the jaw, then wait for it to heal into place.
The process is incredibly safe and effective. After the graft has healed, you should be perfectly prepared to get the dental implants you’ve been looking forward to.
Sinus Lift
These procedures are used mostly in circumstances when you’re trying to place a dental implant in the upper jaw, close to the sinuses. Due to their proximity to the upper jaw, there’s sometimes a chance that you’ll risk puncturing the sinuses with the dental implant if the bone isn’t sufficiently large.
A sinus lift involves a bone graft, but also entails slightly moving the sinuses away from the jaw to minimize the chances for complications.
As you can see, you may need to do a little bit of work before you can get the dental implants that you’d like, but if you’re willing to put in the effort, you should have a beautiful smile to show for it.
About Our Practice and Dental Implants
At Stonebriar Smile Design, we come to work every day with the goal of helping our patients to get not only beautiful smiles, but healthy lives in general. We take a holistic approach to your oral health, considering your entire medical history and working closely with other physicians to ensure that you can live a life of overall wellness.
If you have any questions about dental implants, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (469) 361-0081.
