Implants

Dental implants are metal posts that are inserted into the bone of your jaw to take the place of missing teeth.  Once healed in place, these posts can be used as the foundation for crowns or as anchorage for dentures.

Why replace missing teeth?

• A hole in the front of your smile, or a gap between teeth further back in your mouth can cause most people to feel self-conscious about their appearance.
• Teeth adjacent to a missing tooth tend to tip at an angle into the empty space.  This can start a chain reaction that alters the normal bite, creates areas of gum disease, and makes the teeth prone to decay.  The missing tooth will eventually require orthodontic treatment for correction before the gap results in further tooth loss.

Why implants?

Crowns supported by implants are the method of choice for replacing missing teeth in almost every instance, and have many advantages over methods formerly used for this purpose.

• No other teeth are involved, and the adjacent teeth remain easily accessible for cleaning.
• Teeth replaced with implants are permanently affixed and do not come out.
• Implant-supported crowns appear and function normally.

Your choices

• Replace a single tooth – Implant-supported single crowns are the ideal solution for a single missing tooth.
  
   
• Replace several teeth - Two or more implants can be used to replace multiple teeth.
  
   
• Anchoring a denture – Multiple implants can be used to hold a denture in place in a way no other method can match. Implants also serve to protect the bone that would otherwise be adversely affected by the denture.

Call our office to learn about all the options modern dentistry can offer. We will help you make an informed decision about whether implants are right for you.