Dental implant surgery in Los Angeles offers an alternative welcome to bridgework or dentures that do not fit well. They also offer an option when the absence of natural teeth root does not allow bridgework tooth replacement or building denture.
Performing dental implant surgery depends on the condition of your jawbone and the type of implant. Also, the dental implant may involve multiple surgical procedures. One major advantage of an implant is it provides strong support to your new teeth – a process in which the bone requires to tightly heal around the implant. This is because the bone requires time to completely heal, so the process may take a few months.
Types of dental implant
There are 3 types of dental implants. They are as follows:
- Endosteal implant: This is the most common type of dental implant. The endosteal implant is suitable for many patients however; they need to have a healthy, good jawline for the post to fuse to.
- Subperiosteal implant: Subperiosteal implant is the main alternative to an Endosteal implant. A subperiosteal implant is done on the top of the bone rather than getting fixed into the jawbone.
- Zygomatic implant: This type of dental implant is used very rarely. This is because the Zygomatic implant is a very complicated procedure and this procedure should only be used when you do not have enough jawbones for the endosteal implant.
Why dental implant surgery?
A dental implant is a surgical procedure in which your jawbone gets placed and serves as the root of the damaged or missing tooth. The titanium used in the dental implant gets fused with the jawbone. As a result, the implant doesn’t make noise, slip, or cause damage to the bone as the way denture or fixed bridgework might. Also, the material used in dental implants won’t decay as natural teeth do.
Hence, dental implant surgery might be the right choice for you if:
- You have more than one damaged or missing teeth
- Your jawbone stops growing
- Your oral tissue is healthy
- The bone is adequate to secure the implant or can have a bone graft
- You do not smoke
- Improvement of speech
- You do not have health problems that can affect the healing of bone
- You want to avoid dentures
- Prepared to commit multiple months to the process
What are the risks of performing dental implant surgery?
Like other surgeries, dental implant surgical procedures also have some health risks. Following are the risks that can occur after dental implant surgery. They are as follows:
- Infection may occur at the implant area.
- Damage or injury may occur to the surrounding structures such as other blood vessels or teeth.
- Nerve damage may occur. This can be quite painful and may cause tingling or numbness in your gums, chin, lips, or natural teeth.
- Sinus problem may occur when the implantation in the upper jaw protrude into one of your sinus cavities.
How to prepare for dental implant surgery?
The preparation for the dental implant process may require several specialists. This can include a doctor specializing in treating the conditions of the jaw, mouth, and face, a dentist that specializes in treating structures supporting the teeth such as bones (periodontist) and gums, a dentist that specializes in designing and fitting artificial teeth (prosthodontist), and even occasionally involve ENT (ear, nose, and throat) specialist.
This is because dental implant surgical procedures always require one or more procedures. So, you need to thoroughly evaluate to prepare for the dental implant procedure. This can include the followings:
- Review of your medical health history: Here, you just need to tell your doctor about your history of medical health conditions including the medicines you are taking such as over-the-counter and prescribed supplements and drugs. If you have certain orthopedic or heart problems then the doctor may prescribe several antibiotics before the procedure to help in preventing infection.
- Comprehensive dental examination: You may undergo several examinations before the dental implant procedure such as taking a 3D image, dental X-rays, and making models of your jaw and teeth.
- Treatment planning: the treatment plan will be arranged in accordance with the condition of your teeth. The conditions of your jawbone, how many teeth you need to replace, and the remaining teeth, etc are some of the determining factors.
What to expect from dental implant surgery?
A dental implant surgical procedure is an outpatient procedure meaning there is a time for healing between the procedures. The placing process of a dental implant involves several steps which are:
- Removal of damaged teeth
- Grafting (jawbone preparation). If needed
- Placement of dental implant
- Growth and healing of bone
- Placement of abutment
- Placement of artificial teeth
These entire processes may take several months to complete from beginning to end. It takes time to heal and new bones to grow in your jaw. Depending on your conditions, the material used in the procedure and the specific procedure performed may sometimes be combined.
