If you have lost a tooth, or even if you have lost all of your teeth, our team is ready to help you. With dental implants, we can secure an option that looks and functions like natural teeth. In today’s blog, your Brooklyn, NY, periodontist and implant expert talks about how we secure replacements for missing teeth with implant dentistry.
The Causes of Missing Teeth
Tooth loss is a serious concern, and one we want to address to help your smile remain full and beautiful. Even if years have elapsed since you lost your natural teeth, we could still help secure a new smile in many cases with implant dentistry. Tooth loss is often caused by poor oral health. Untreated tooth decay or infection could lead to a lost tooth. In most cases the cause is due to periodontitis, the advanced stage of gum disease. If this is the case for you, we can help manage the issue with periodontic care to help ensure the longevity and stability of your dental implants. Injury could also be a factor behind your missing teeth.
The Complications for Your Smile
Some complications are obvious. You could feel uncomfortable with your appearance and even avoid social engagements, which leads to a lower quality of life. There could be issues eating a variety of foods, which denies you your favorite dishes or even essential nutrients. For others, speaking clearly could be complicated by missing teeth. But there is a complication that is less obvious, but is one of the most severe: the loss of mass and density in the jaw.
The body will stop sending doses of calcium and phosphorus to the jaw around a lost tooth, which causes the area to weaken and break down, causing further tooth loss. Eventually, you could also develop an aged appearance. But with dental implants, then the flow of nutrients can resume and so the smile remains intact!
Starting Your Implant Placement
We will start with a careful examination of your smile. We want to assess the strength of your jaw to ensure you can support dental implants. If the loss of mass and density is too severe, we could strengthen the lower jaw with a grafting procedure, or use a sinus lift to receive new structure in the upper portion to support your new teeth.
We then plan the placement to ensure your new tooth roots will sit at the right angle, position, and depth to support your teeth. We guide them in place with digital surgical guides too.
Securing Your New Roots
Once your dental implant posts are in place, they eventually bond with the jawbone. This stimulates the growth of jawbone structure to ensure your smile is intact and that you don’t lose mass and density in your jaw.
Attaching a Dental Crown
If you have an individual missing tooth replacement with a single dental implant, we will complete your new tooth with a crown. We connect an abutment to the post that extends above the gum line, providing structure to connect the crown. The restoration will be custom-made from lifelike materials and shaded to blend with the smile for a natural appearance. The restoration is also durable and able to handle daily bite forces and pressures with ease.
All-On-Four
If you are missing most or all of your teeth, we could secure a full smile supported by dental implants in only one visit. The same-day process starts with our team inserting four dental implant posts into the upper and lower arch of your smile. These require less structure for support, so you may even avoid the need of grafting or a sinus lift. We then connect a full row of new teeth to them in the same sitting, so you leave with a complete smile.
LAPIP
To ensure the placement area heals quickly so we can move forward with completing your new teeth and you can return to your normal routine sooner, we could use advanced technology. With the LAPIP laser system, we can help destroy harmful bacteria to ensure the area heals, and make any necessary adjustments to your jaw, gums, or connective tissues with precision and accuracy.
If you have any questions about how we take on tooth loss with our dental implants, or if you are ready to start your treatment journey now, please reach out to our team today to get started.
Schedule Your Tooth Replacement with Brooklyn Periodontics
A full smile is possible with durable and natural-looking dental implants. For more information on treating your missing teeth, please call Brooklyn Periodontics & Implantology in Brooklyn, NY at (718) 444-3800 today.
