A dental implant is frequently requested at the dental office to replace missing teeth. An implant has three components; an embedded port, a prosthetic tooth, and its post. Due to its composition, an implant is a long-lasting alternative to a natural tooth.
A dental implant is a perfect mix of professional surgery, science, and engineering.
Dental implants allow patients to smile, laugh, chew, and talk normally. The most common implant is an artificial tooth root, bio-compatible titanium, or zirconia screw surgically implanted into your jaw. After an amount of time, after the jawbone has grown around the screw to hold it securely, a new prosthetic tooth (a 3-D printed crown) is inserted into the port of the screw, by way of its post, to blend seamlessly with the adjacent teeth.
Read our article, ‘Can a Family Dentist Also Perform Cosmetic Surgery?’ or visit our services to learn more about Dr. Joseph’s Dentistry’s full range of dental services in London, Ontario.
The most common dental implant procedure is endosteal, inserted into the jaw bone. The other type of procedure primarily sits on top.
Endosteal a word first used in the late 1800s comes from the English word endosteum, meaning an internal hollow in a bone. An endosteal implant is by far the standard type of implant procedure.
An implant can take many forms: screws, blades, or cylinders surgically placed into the jawbone that holds one or more prosthetic teeth.
Subperiosteal means on the bone and is used mainly for patients lacking bone height required for an endosteal implant. Instead, a metal framework with posts holds the implant in position.
The most common material used for a dental implant is Titanium and remains the most commonly used material.
Titanium is a metal resistant to corrosion, durable, and perfectly bio-compatible. Bone affixes permanently around it, creating a long-lasting faux root for a prosthetic tooth.
Zirconia is a metal-free, mineral-free, artificial composite used for people with metal allergies. Its composite, cubic zirconia, made headlines in the 90s when it became part of the faux diamond fashion-jewellery industry. Zirconia favourably uses a one-piece system, lessening the details of the implant process.
There are alternative materials for dental implants: polymer, ceramic, gold, stainless steel, and cobalt-chromium. Each has favourable and unfavourable properties, all of which are measured in small degrees of differences. Depending on the patient’s requirements, it is an advantage to have many suitable options.
The timeline of an implant procedure:
Your implant procedure can take from six months to a year, give or take several months, depending on the particulars of the procedure. Crucially, an amount of time must be allowed for the bone to regrow around the implant’s threads, fusing them together. This natural occurrence is called osseointegration. To read more about the procedure steps, visit Dr. Joseph’s Dentistry, Dental Implants.
An implant procedure is chosen as:
- An alternative to a multi-tooth bridge
- A replacement for removable dentures
- As a necessary substitute(s) for one or more missing teeth due to periodontal (gum) disease, decay, or an injury
“We’ve built a family-owned dentistry business in the heart of downtown London at 529 Queens Ave, with lots of parking available.
We look forward to building a life-long relationship with you and your family.”
Please call us at (519) 672 5600 to start your dental consultation with us.