Dental implants to replace missing teeth in Walnut Creek, CA
Tooth loss can affect so much more than just the way your teeth look. It can affect your overall oral health, your facial appearance, and perhaps most importantly, your self-confidence. Dr. Troy Schmedding at Family Dentistry of Walnut Creek offers patients in the Walnut Creek, CA area several tooth replacement options, including dental implants.
What are dental implants?
Often called the “gold standard” in tooth replacement, dental implants are a tooth replacement option that has multiple benefits for patients who have lost one or more teeth. The implant itself is a small piece of titanium that looks like a screw, which is surgically placed into your jawbone. As it heals, it fuses together with your bone in a process called osseointegration to provide an incredibly sturdy, long-lasting foundation for your new replacement tooth. After that process is complete, a small connecting piece called an abutment is placed on your dental implant, and as the final step, a natural-looking false tooth (typically a dental crown) is placed on the abutment. While the process takes several months, patients find it is worth the wait for multiple reasons:
Dental implants are titanium roots, that are replaced with in the jawbone to resemble a tooth or group of teeth. A screw is inserted through the gums and into the jawbone. A porcelain crown is then attached to the screw to become the new tooth or teeth. They can be used to support dental prosthesis including crowns, dentures, and bridges. Today’s treatments are so natural looking, no one will know you had surgery. There’s approximately a 95% success rate for all implants. With modern advances in dentistry, some implants can be restored immediately with life like all porcelain crowns. For more details ask your dentist.
What are dental implants?
Dental implants are a big player in dentistry today. They’re the only treatment modality that allows us to single-handedly replace a missing tooth or missing teeth without involving any of the other surrounding teeth.
So what I mean by that is it’s technically utilizing a tooth replacement therapy. We will use a dental bridge using the teeth on either side of the missing space. We use those to be anchors to support a bridge that would fill in that space.
What are the benefits of dental implants, and how are they placed?
We have other treatment modalities that would utilize something removable, comes in and out of the mouth, that patients tolerate, not their favorite thing.
Thus, the increased demand for dental implant therapy in dentistry has allowed us to solely concentrate on only that single spot missing or multiple spots missing.
This is done by placing a titanium screw into the bone. Allowing that to integrate for some time will enable us to restore that with a single functioning tooth or teeth that you can treat as natural.
You would continue to floss, brush, eat with it normally and treat it just like a regular part of your dentition.
Make an appointment with us today to get your smile complete with dental implants.
- They are the sturdiest tooth replacement option because they most closely mimic your natural tooth structure
- Because they are fused with your jawbone, they place enough force on it to prevent the degradation of bone that can occur with tooth loss
- Filling in the gaps left by missing teeth prevents your other teeth from shifting and takes years off your appearance by filling in “hollows” in your cheeks
- With good oral hygiene and regular dental check-ups, implants can last a lifetime
Another option, called mini implants, may be appropriate for some patients. This smaller type of implant takes less time and is less invasive—in fact, it can be done in one visit and does not require sutures. However, mini implants are not as supportive as traditional implants, so Dr. Schmedding can discuss the pros and cons of each option with you and help you determine which is best for your specific oral health needs and treatment preferences.
Call us to learn more
If you are looking for a dentist who will discuss your missing teeth replacement options and give you the best advice for your individual oral health needs, call Dr. Troy Schmedding at Family Dentistry of Walnut Creek today! Our office can be reached at (925) 956-4266
