Dental Implants Replace More Than Your Visible Tooth Crown
What’s your first thought when you lose a front tooth to an injury or altercation? You think you will never smile again because of the visible gap between your teeth. Having lost a single tooth and knowing well enough that you cannot expect another tooth to erupt, you continue brooding for a while before you consider closing the gap permanently using an excellent solution from dental implants in Stockton.
Having decided to replace the missing tooth with a dental implant, you prepare yourself mentally and financially to ensure you get the replacement as soon as possible to avoid the embarrassment you currently endure day in and day out. You also face challenges when trying to bite foods with your front teeth causing you to cut large chunks of food for chewing directly by your molars. You may not realize it until you visit the dentist near me, who informs you the remaining teeth in your mouth are moving towards the vacant space and will soon result in a bad bite. However, you remain satisfied that you are soon getting the tooth replaced by a solution considered the gold standard for replacing missing teeth.
Learning about Dental Implants
Dental implants are not an instant solution for replacing teeth. In reality, unless you request dental implants near me to give you a temporary denture over the implanted post, you will likely display the gap in your mouth for six months or longer until you recover from the surgical process. However, dental implants near you also understand your situation to suggest they can provide you with a temporary replacement for your missing tooth over the dental implant.
You may inquire about the dental implant procedure to understand more of what you must endure until you have your natural-looking artificial tooth back in your mouth again. The dentist happily provides information that the process is intensive and requires healing time between six to nine months before you can have a beautiful dental crown made from porcelain or ceramic over it.
Furthermore, the dentist evaluates your jawbone density, your physical health, besides your oral health, to determine whether any dental infections affect you. If you are a smoker, you receive advice to quit smoking or refrain from the habit during dental implant placement and recovery. You must commit to adhering to every request of the dentist if you want to have a replacement tooth lasting you for a lifetime.
What Happens When Getting Dental Implants Embedded?
On the day of your procedure, you arrive at the dental office in Stockton, CA, to have a biocompatible titanium post surgically embedded into your jawbone to replicate the artificial tooth root you lost. If you are not overly anxious about dental procedures, you can undergo dental implant surgery in an outpatient setting under local anesthesia. On the other hand, if you are anxious, you receive more robust anesthesia and must remain at the dental office until you recover from the procedure.
You can return home after you have recovered with your dental implant and the temporary replacement placed over it. You will encounter some discomfort from the surgical process, but dentists provide you prescription or over-the-counter painkiller recommendations to ensure you manage the pain comfortably. In addition, you receive advice to brush and floss your natural teeth and visit the dentist for regular checkups until you recover from the osseointegration, the process in which the embedded implant integrates with your jawbone to become part of your body.
Although covering the gap in your mouth, the temporary replacement tooth is not permanent and requires replacement after you have entirely recovered. Upon recovering fully, you revisit the dentist to have an abutment placed over the implant in another surgical process requiring a further two weeks of recovery. In the meanwhile, the dentist begins creating a customized dental crown to fit over your dental implant.
Two weeks after abutment placement, you can have the dental crown fitted over the implant by the dentist to have a permanent and lifelike replacement tooth remaining with you for your lifetime so long as you don’t get into any altercations or injuries later.
Having received your replacement tooth and overcome the embarrassment of showing gaps in your mouth, do not forget to maintain excellent dental hygiene, brushing your teeth twice, flossing at least once, and visiting dentists or six-monthly exams and cleanings. Do not let dental plaque build over the replaced tooth because plaque is a leading cause of gum disease, resulting in implant failure. Finally, care for your artificial tooth appropriately if you want it in your mouth for your lifetime.