Studies show that missing teeth can not only affect your health, but also ruin your confidence, damage your professional and social life, and generally interfere with your entire life. Fortunately, all of these can be regained with dental implants.
Dental implants are a state-of-the-art tooth replacement option that also replaces your roots, giving you the strength, stability, and bone stimulation that you would enjoy with natural, healthy teeth. The implants prevent bone loss and help to restore your youthful appearance, giving you added confidence.
But can anyone get dental implants?
Dental implants are recommended for most adults, and have been successfully placed in over 95% of patients between 18 and 90 years, who have lost one, several, or even all their teeth. They’re not recommended for children and teens because their jaws are still developing, and placing the implant might affect proper growth of permanent teeth.
There are very few medical or dental conditions that could prevent a successful dental implant placement. For patients with severe bone tissue loss, your dentist may recommend bone grafting to ensure that you have sufficient bone tissue to integrate with the titanium implant, and subsequently provide strong support for your replacement teeth. If you have a medical condition or taking medications that may affect bone healing, your dentist will advice on the best course of action during the consultation.
Starting your Treatment
If you want to restore the proper health and function of your mouth, get rid of ill-fitting dentures, or avoid treatments that affect the structure of healthy teeth (like bridges), dental implants are a great option. But if you have already experienced too much bone loss, your dentist may recommend bone-augmentation to rebuild the lost bone tissue before proceeding with the procedure. This may, however, increase your treatment time by a few months, from the standard 5-8 months needed for a standard dental implant procedure.
Your dentist will examine your case and determine your suitability for the procedure before progressing with the treatment.