Dental Implants Specialist

What are dental implants?

Dental implants are oral prosthetics that replace your permanent teeth. Unlike dentures, they don’t rest on top of your gums. Instead, your surgeon inserts them into your jaw during an outpatient procedure. Following placement, the implants integrate with your bone, creating a base for dental restorations like crowns, bridges, or implant-retained overdentures.

Dental implants function like your natural teeth. With routine dental checkups and good oral hygiene, they often last decades. 

What are the benefits of dental implants?

Dental implants offer many benefits, including:

• Easing biting and chewing
• Improved oral hygiene
• Confidence
• Durability
• Easier speaking

Dental implants are easy to clean and maintain. Instead of soaking them in a solution overnight like dentures, simply brush them twice daily.

Can anyone get dental implants?

To qualify for dental implants, you need healthy gums and enough bone to anchor them. To determine if you’re a candidate, your provider conducts an oral exam and takes digital X-rays. If they detect any abnormalities, they might recommend a prerequisite procedure like gum disease treatment or a bone graft. 

If you’re living with a chronic condition like diabetes or heart disease, let your provider know. These ailments won’t prevent you from getting dental implants, but they can increase the risk of complications, so it’s important they’re stable.

What does getting dental implants involve?

At Nova Dental, getting dental implants takes several appointments and a period of 6-12 months.

First appointment

If your provider determines you qualify for implants, they administer a local anesthetic and insert a series of titanium posts into your jaw. Following the procedure, your provider writes a prescription for pain medication and antibiotics and provides care instructions.

Second appointment

When the implants finish fusing with your jaw, 12-16 weeks later, you return to Nova Dental. Your provider takes impressions of your mouth with an intraoral scanner and sends them to a dental laboratory. The technicians at the lab use your impressions to design and manufacture restorations, like crowns, a bridge, or implant-supported overdentures.

Third appointment

When Nova Dental receives your restorations from the lab, you return to the office for the final time. Your provider administers a local anesthetic, bonds the restorations to your implants, and polishes them. The procedure takes less than 60 minutes and requires no recovery period or downtime.

To see if you’re a candidate for dental implants, make an appointment at Nova Dental by calling the office, or clicking the online booking tool today.