A dental implant is a small titanium post that serves as an artificial tooth root. They are inserted into your jawbone during a minor oral surgery procedure that takes place in our office. Once the implant is in place, it can support a crown, bridge, or dentures. A dental implant is as strong as your natural tooth. This is the closest option to your natural teeth that we can offer at our practice!

What are the benefits of implants?

The benefits of dental implants include the following:

• Improved appearance: A dental implant is meant to look and feel like a natural tooth. Your replacement teeth are customized to blend with the rest of your teeth for a seamless smile.
• Enhanced comfort: With implants, you don’t need to tolerate the slipping or wiggling of dentures in your mouth. You’ll be able to eat and speak with confidence and comfort. This also helps preserve the existing bone density in your jaw.
• Easier to care for: Caring for your replacement teeth is essentially the same process as caring for your regular teeth. You may need to use special tools to clean under your new teeth on occasions, such as an interdental brush or water flosser.
• More reliable: Since your replacement teeth are supported by an implant root, they won’t slip out of place the way that removable dentures can. This makes eating more comfortable and allows you to speak clearly.
• Long-lasting results: With the right aftercare, your dental implants can last for the rest of your life when you practice good oral hygiene. However, the crown on top of the implant may eventually need replacing due to normal wear and tear.

Why replace a missing tooth?

When you lose a tooth, the jawbone and gums that used to surround it begin to deteriorate. Over time, this can lead to additional problems down the road. Without a root structure in place to stimulate the jaw and keep it healthy, your jawbone will begin to deteriorate. Likewise, your gums can begin to recede, which can lead to further tooth loss in the future.

But replacing a missing tooth with a dental implant can help prevent these problems and maintain your oral health. An implant is a small titanium screw that is implanted into the bone where your tooth used to be. This stimulates the surrounding tissues and encourages the growth of new bone cells.
Dentistry often uses this process to help patients achieve optimal oral health after tooth loss. 

What happens during dental implant surgery?

During your procedure, we’ll administer local anesthesia to numb the surgical site and prevent discomfort. Then our team will make a small incision in your gums before inserting the implant post into the jawbone. The implant post needs time to fuse with the surrounding bone tissue in the jaw before we can secure a custom crown on top. 

This takes three to six months, during which you will need to wear temporary crowns to protect the site from damage. Once your implants have healed properly, we will place your permanent restorations on top of them. These can last for decades with proper brushing and flossing habits!

To find out more about the dental services offered at our dental practice, call (954) 368-6264 or schedule an online consultation. You can also visit us at 10187 Cleary Blvd STE 103, Plantation, FL 33324.