About Dental Implants
Common Reasons Patients Need Dental Implants
1. If You Have Missing Teeth
If you are missing one tooth or several teeth, dental implants can be a great option (and a popular option) to solve your problem. A dental implant fills in the space where your gap is and looks natural like the rest of your smile, so you won’t have to worry about it looking fake or out of place compared.
2. If Your Tooth Is Infected And Needs To Be Replaced
If your tooth is infected, it can either be saved with certain procedures or extracted. If your dentist diagnoses that the tooth can’t be saved, your tooth will need to be extracted. In that case, the dental implant will serve as your new tooth. It will be as strong and durable as your natural teeth.
3. If You Have Ill-Fitting Dentures
Unlike dentures, you will not have to fear that your dental implants may fall out while you are eating or laughing. The implants will look and feel like your natural teeth. There is no reason to suffer with the many problems that loose dentures can pose.
Dental Implant Procedure
Before we begin the procedure, your gums and jawbone need to be healthy and strong. If we identify any cavities or signs of gum disease, we will need to treat it prior to the dental implant procedure.
Once you are cleared for the procedure, our staff at Dr. Daisy P. Alvarenga, DDS will take an impression of your mouth to create your implant. Your synthetic tooth will match the size, color, and shape of the surrounding teeth to make your smile appear completely natural.
The next step is implanting a metal post under the gum line. The metal post is secured to the jawbone in order to create a durable, synthetic root system. Over the course of a couple of months, the metal post and jawbone will fuse together to create durability.
Afterward, we will secure the new synthetic tooth to the metal post at the surface of the gums. The new tooth is attached so securely that patients don’t need to fear their tooth becoming loose or falling out.
The team at Dr. Daisy P. Alvarenga, DDS provide dental implants in a way that is comfortable and functional. We take the time to make sure that every aspect of the procedure is completed correctly – the first time.
Caring For Your Implants
Once implants have been installed, they are extremely easy to care for. Since we install dental prosthetics by creating a synthetic root system, they are durable and secure. The dental prosthetics will not fall out or become loose. In order to care for your implants, we advise patients to brush and floss their teeth throughout the day like normal.
Additionally, it is important to schedule dental exams and cleanings with Dr. Alvarenga at least twice a year. The staff at Dr. Daisy P. Alvarenga. DDS will help to clean your teeth and ensure that they stay healthy. While dental prosthetics cannot become infected themselves, the teeth around them can.
The Best Dental Implants Dentist in Lake Forest
The team at Dr. Daisy P. Alvarenga. DDS is friendly, welcoming, and will take the time to inform you of all of your options. If you are suffering from missing teeth, we can help you by transforming your smile. Schedule an appointment and let us transform your smile into something as beautiful as you are.
FAQs of Dental Implants
- Q: I need to replace two missing teeth next to each other. Can I just have one implant placed and attach it to one of my natural teeth to make a bridge?
- Q: I lost my upper back teeth on one side and have gone for years without doing anything about it. My sinuses always seem to bother me more on that side than on the side that I have back teeth. Could these problems be related to one another?
- Q: I’ve had dentures for several years and have lost a lot of jawbone. My lower dentures are floaters and I need help. Is there still hope for me?
- Q: I am missing all of my teeth and am now wearing a full upper and lower denture. I can no longer tolerate my lowers. Will I need an implant for every tooth I am replacing on the lower jaw?
- Q: I consulted a dentist several years ago about using implants to replace my lower denture and he told me that I did not have adequate bone available to place enough in-the-bone implants without danger of fracturing my now fragile jawbone. Are there any alternatives?
- Q: I had a root canal on a tooth that fractured and now it has to be removed. Can it be replaced with an implant or do I have to have a bridge or a partial?
A: Generally, this is not a good idea. Over the years, we learned that it is generally much better not to attach implants to teeth. We frequently attach implants to each other, which can improve strength and works well. So in a case like this, although it may be more expensive in the short term to place two implants instead of one, the long-term success is likely to be much better with the two implants.
A: In a large majority of people who have had their upper back teeth missing for a long period of time is the increasing downward growth of the maxillary sinus. At birth it is the size of a pea, and progressively grows as the skull matures. This growth is at the expense of the surrounding bone. If you are considering replacing those upper back teeth with fixed teeth that stay in all the time, it may be necessary to perform a sinus elevation procedure to allow room for placement of dental prosthetic implants into this area to support those teeth. This involves placement of bone and/or bone substitutes into an area which was previously occupied by the lower part of the maxillary sinus. Most importantly, this procedure increases the available bone use to place implants and restore the missing back teeth.
A: In most cases, with the new options available today in the field of dental prosthetic implants, some form of treatment can be done. We encourage people to get help as soon as possible if they are already having some problems with their current situation. These problems include: excessive use of denture adhesives, chewing only soft food, unable to taste some foods, constant mouth sores, unhappy with the appearance of one’s teeth and bite position (in some cases the nose and chin getting closer together). The sooner the problems are corrected with dental prosthetic implants the more choices one has available for treatment. If you have any or all of the above symptoms, implants could very well be the answer for you.
A: It is not necessary to have an implant for every tooth that is being replaced. The number of implants necessary to provide support depends on the type of implants used and the type of teeth (removable vs. non- removable) that will be attached to the implants. A thorough oral exam and panoramic x-ray is all that is necessary in most cases, to determine which implant can be used and how many must be used. Sometimes additional x-rays or CT scans are used in more complicated cases.
A: Because of the advances in the field of implantology, there are now more choices and techniques. It’s the rare person that cannot receive an implant or a combination of implants. Today we have available many types of implants designed to accommodate multiple problems.
A: Teeth that have root canals can fracture more easily than other teeth because they are weaker and somewhat dehydrated. They can sometimes be as brittle as glass. In the past the best available treatment was to remove the tooth and file down the adjacent teeth and make a bridge – caps on the adjacent teeth with an attached “dummy” tooth in between. Sometimes this still is the only way. However, in many cases an implant can replace the fractured tooth and no teeth need to be ground down at all.
Other Services
Copyright by Dr. Daisy Alvarenga, DDS 2019. All rights reserved.
Copyright by Dr. Daisy Alvarenga, DDS 2019. All rights reserved.
