Dental implants can replace a single missing tooth, or provide a durable bridge or a fixed set of dentures. They even preserve your jawbone structure and facial features! But how do we plan and place them? In today’s blog, your Conroe, TX, dentist talks about how to prepare smiles for dental implants.
Planning with Digital Technology
First, we need to plan the procedure in detail, and to understand the causes of your tooth loss in case we need to treat these underlying issues. Our team will take detailed digital x-rays of the smile, which gather detailed pictures without bitewings or the need for development in harsh chemicals. Instead, these images are displayed instantly on a chairside monitor. We also take CAT scan imagery too. These let us see your smile as a whole, so we can find out if you need gum disease treatment to manage it, or if you have enough bone tissue to support a dental implant with the need for grafting or sinus lifts. Once we have these images and plan the treatment in detail, you’re ready for dental implant placement.
Anesthesia and Sedation
We want to make sure the process of placing your dental implants is a comfortable one, even if you have dental anxiety or special needs. We will administer a local anesthetic to numb the areas where the new roots are being placed. Our team will also offer sedation to help you enter a calm and relaxed state, choosing a sedative based on your age, weight, medical and dental history, and anxiety levels. This medication helps you enter a calm and relaxed state.
Preparing Your Smile with Laser Dentistry
Our team may need to prepare your smile for the placement of dental implants. For example, we could extract diseased or decayed teeth, or remove the last few to make room for a complete set of dentures. You may also need to undergo grafting and sinus lifts, which we will discuss in detail further on. Either way, we can use lasers to help reshape tissues and remove teeth, providing care with detail and precision. Lasers also prevent the need for sutures or scalpels, and the treated area can heal much faster.
Grafting and Sinus Lifts
If you have lost too much structure in your upper or lower jaw due to breakdowns in mass and density, which occurs following tooth loss, then we can rebuild weakened areas so you can support dental implants. With jawbone grafting, we add new tissues to the lower jaw, taking bone tissues from the rear of your jaw or from your hip, or from donor or synthetic sources. This provides structure to support an implant post. For the upper jaw, we can use sinus lifts to raise the sinus floor and uncover new tissues to support your dental implants.
Inserting Your Dental Implants
Once your smile is ready, we will gently guide the post into place with advanced technology. Once your dental implants are in place, we can add abutments to them. With CAD/CAM technology, we can create your dental crown or bridge in the same visit, placing it on the post so you leave with a full smile. The technology ensures lifelike and durable results, which can handle bite forces and look natural too. Our team can also secure dentures, both full and partial, to address more severe cases of tooth loss. We want to make sure you enjoy a full smile, and avoid the complications with how you eat and speak that usually follows tooth loss. Addressing the gaps with dental implants also means your new teeth could last for decades to come, even a lifetime, with proper care and attention.
If you have any questions about how we handle missing teeth with implant dentistry, or what to expect from the process, never hesitate to reach out to our team. We can help you enjoy a complete smile again with advanced technology and lifelike materials, so you can maintain your youthful features and even a full smile for years to come.
Do You Have Questions About Replacing Missing Teeth?
We would like to help you on your journey to a complete and beautiful smile, and can do so with advanced dental implant technology. To learn more about treating the loss of your teeth with a durable and long-lasting solution, then please contact The Dental Centre of Conroe in Conroe, TX by calling 936-441-4600 and schedule your next appointment with our team today. You can smile without hesitation again, and we can help you do so, so contact us soon!