Dental Implants Timeline
At Silvers Family Dental Care, our Harrisburg cosmetic dentistry practice helmed by Dr. Warren D. Silvers, Sr. and his son Dr. Warren Silvers III, we offer a full range of restorative dentistry treatments, including dental crowns, dental bridges, and dentures. These tooth restorations are crafted to the highest standards to ensure the most durable and natural-looking results. For the most surpassing results possible, however, we always recommend that patients secure their restorations with dental implants.
Dental implants are, without exception, the most realistic and stable method of replacing missing or extensively damaged teeth currently available. Composed of pure titanium, dental implants are embedded directly in the jawbone, where they act as artificial tooth roots for crowns, bridges, or dentures. They look, feel, and function remarkably like natural teeth, fully restoring ease to such tasks as chewing, biting, speaking, and smiling. However, for all of the advantages they offer to our patients in Harrisburg, dental implants do require a substantial investment of time, which should be understood by all of those interested in the treatment.
If you are missing one or more of your natural teeth and are looking for the most true-to-life and highly effective restorative dentistry option available, dental implants may be the ideal choice for you.
Implant Dentistry: A Timeline
The amount of time required for dental implant placement varies from patient to patient, and is largely dependent on the individual patient’s jawbone density. Some patients are not immediately suitable candidates for implant dentistry because their jawbones have degraded due to disuse, one of the more serious issues associated with tooth loss. In such cases, patients may be able to improve their candidacy by undergoing a bone grafting procedure, which would add time to the overall implantation process.
Patients with sufficient bone density will first have the dental implants surgically embedded in their jawbones. The implants themselves are similar to screws, which facilitates their placement. Once in place, the implants are covered by gum tissue and allowed to fuse with the jawbone in a process called osseointegration. For many patients, osseointegration requires four to six months; again, this depends on the density of the jawbone to begin with.
Once the dental implants have fused with the jawbone, they are uncovered and abutments are attached. These abutments extend through the gum tissue, and will serve as the point of attachment for the replacement teeth. At this stage, the gums are given time to heal, which usually requires a month to two months.
Once the gum tissue around the abutments has healed, patients return to our Harrisburg restorative dentistry practice to have their crowns, bridges, or dentures placed. Because the body does not identify titanium as a foreign substance, there is little risk of implant failure or rejection. With routine dental visits and proper oral hygiene, dental implants can provide a lifetime of secure, stable support, essentially returning to patients the freedom and strength they had with their original teeth.
Learn More about Dental Implants
If you are looking to replace missing or badly damaged teeth, we would like to hear from you. Please contact our cosmetic and restorative dentistry practice in Harrisburg today to learn more about dental implants or to schedule your initial consultation with our experienced, talented dentists.
