Dental implants have changed the face of dentistry over the last 25 years. It used to be that if you lost a tooth the only options were to live with the space, have a removable denture or have a dental bridge held off the adjacent teeth. None of these solutions was ideal and all of them require some form of extra load being placed on the remaining teeth.
A dental implant is a small titanium screw that is placed in the bone of the jaw to replace the missing tooth or teeth roots. The bone of the jaw grows towards the titanium screw and it becomes integrated into the jaw, it can then have a tooth or many teeth built on top of it.
Who can have dental implants??
If you have good general health then dental implants will almost certainly work for you. However, habits such as heavy drinking or smoking can increase the number of problems associated with initial healing and thereafter may negatively influence the long-term health of gum and bone surrounding each implant. The remaining teeth might also be compromised making treatment planning less certain.
How do you choose your implant dentist?
The placement of dental implants requires additional training following qualification as a dentist, make sure your dentist has been appropriately trained and is experienced. Using a dentist who only uses the highest quality materials is also to be advised, there are some dental implant companies who do not have a lot of evidence supporting their product. Here at The Courtyard Clinic our implant surgeon is extremely experienced and we only use the best implant materials to make sure we provide the highest success rates for our patients.
If you are missing one or more teeth and would like to see if you are suitable for dental implants, give Alison a call today on 01932 582949 and book in for a free consultation.