Besides the natural look and feel that dental implants provide, they provide for a more stable support for loose dentures. Dental implants can replace a single tooth or numerous teeth or a full denture. If a person has just recently lost a tooth a dental implant will offer them a long term solution ( 20 years or more), and a remarkedly natural looking tooth structure with the assurance of being able to talk, smile, laugh and chew with confidence. If a person has worn a denture for many years, this denture can start to slid around causing sores and pain in the mouth. Even as few as 2 dental implants can help to secure the denture plate.
Dental implants are made of titanium and are surgically place right into the jaw bone, either upper jaw or lower jaw. A tooth structure can then be fitted onto the implant shortly after placement. On occasion, a longer time period is needed for the dental implant to heal before placing a tooth structure of denture onto the implant(s).
The jaw bone has to be wide enough and high enough to accept an implant. If teeth have been absent from the jaw been for some time, the jaw bone resorbes causing the bone to become thinner and not as high. Therefore some people will need to have bone grafted to the area that the dental implant is to be place, before it can be placed. The sinuses on the upper jaw can be bone grafted to allow dental implants to be placed into the upper jaw. A single tooth socket site can be grafted. The width of the bone can be increased with a bone graft to then allow for the diameter of the dental implant. If bone grafting is necessary to make a person a candidate for dental implant surgery, then usually about 6 months of healing is required for the bone graft before the dental implant can be placed.
