Understanding Dental Implants: When You Want To Restore Your Smile
Posted on: 5 January 2017
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When you have missing teeth, there are ways you can have your smile restored by your dentist. You can choose to have a bridge created, or you can have dental implants. If you are missing many of your teeth, you can have dentures created to give you the smile that you want. If you are considering dental implants, there are a number of things you should know about this amazing technology. In general, as long as you are in decent health and you are not a smoker, you will be a good candidate for getting dental implants to restore your smile.
How Dental Implants are Used to Replace Missing Teeth
Dental implants are really a titanium rod with a crown attached to the top of the rod. The titanium rod is placed into your jaw, where it is allowed to fuse to your jaw bone before the crown is placed on top. The crown is created using porcelain or synthetic materials, and it screws onto the top of the titanium rod once the fusion is complete. Once the implant is in place, this new tooth looks and acts just like any of your natural teeth.
Why Being a Smoker Prevents You From Getting Dental Implants
If you need another reason to quit smoking, you are not a viable dental implant candidate if you are a smoker. Once you quit smoking, you will be able to use this technology to replace missing teeth. The act of smoking causing problems with the ability of the titanium rod to embed into your jaw bone. The sucking movements and the dry mouth caused from smoking cause titanium implants to fail. Your dentist isn't going to waste their time or yours trying to put in an implant when you are still a smoker.
It Takes Several Visits to Finalize Your Implants
The process for getting implants can take anywhere from three to six months. It depends on how long it takes for the implant to fuse properly into your jaw. Once this occurs, you can get the crown placed and you are done with the process. Some people find that the rod falls out of their mouth, and they need to start the process over again. While this can be frustrating, the end product is worth it when you have a permanent tooth back in your mouth.
If you want to try dental implants to restore your smile, click here for info on your options.