What Is a Dental Implant?
(Part 1)
When a person’s tooth gets extracted, the usual remedy is to replace the lost tooth with dentures.
The problem is dentures lack tooth roots that go beyond the gum line to provide an anchor to one’s jaw.
For this concern, the dentist can use a bridge to hang the denture to two teeth or to another existing tooth. If this still becomes a problem, instead of dentures, the dentist may opt to use dental implants.
So what is an implant?
An implant—which is also known as an endosseous fixture—is a titanium stud, post, or frame that will be placed using surgery into one’s jawbone, which is underneath the gums.
An implant allows the dentist to place replacement crowns, bridges, or dentures into the area where there is some missing tooth, which is being replaced by a denture.
We know that denture is known for getting loose and may be secured using a dental glue so it can securely stay in the mouth.
Implants are successful in giving people the feeling of having real teeth even if they only have dentures or bridges.
Ossointegration is a process involving the use of materials as titanium to form a bone bond.
After the implant is surgically put in place, it is then left onto the bone in order to osseointegrate with the bone, which results in a fusion. Then the dentures will be added. The healing time may vary from person to person.
Osseointegration takes time and more often it will depend on the time for the surgery to heal.
The denture is attached to the implant after osseointegration is done or the implant would be too loose.
There are cases where implants can be loaded immediately but usually it takes 2 to 6 months to ensure the healing and full bone fusion with the titanium implant.
Next week we will talk about the types of implants that one can get in order to get a better smile.