At Torrey Hills Family Dentistry, we place dental implants as permanent replacements for natural teeth designed to blend in with your surrounding teeth. They restore function and appearance when a tooth has suffered from severe decay or has been knocked out due to a sports injury or accident.
The small metal implant post is surgically placed into the jawbone, where bone cells will grow around it. Over several months, the formerly damaged tooth socket grows around the new dental implant to create a strong bond that supports restorations like dental crowns, bridges, and dentures. Once the area has healed and the dental implant is secure in the mouth, the implant is restored with a custom-made restoration that looks and functions like a natural tooth. This restores your smile and makes eating and chewing simpler again.
The Benefits of Dental Implants
- Improved Appearance
Your teeth can be dramatically improved by replacing one or more missing teeth with dental crowns or bridges. This restores your smile to its natural beauty and boosts confidence from knowing you have a beautiful smile that looks great!
- Easier Eating
Missing teeth can make it very difficult to chew or bite into food. This makes eating very difficult and painful. Dental implants can replace missing teeth so you can enjoy all your favorite foods again!
- Maintain Tooth Alignment
When a tooth is lost, the surrounding teeth can shift out of place, leading to serious misalignment issues. A dental implant helps restore the structure of your mouth so surrounding teeth don’t shift out of place.
- Long-Term Results
Dental implants are a long-term solution to replacing missing teeth. Other restorations, such as bridges and dentures, only last around five to seven years and must be adjusted or replaced regularly. With proper care, you can enjoy the benefits of implant-supported restorations for the rest of your life.
The Procedure for Dental Implants
We will numb your mouth with local anesthesia before inserting the implant posts. As the dental implant procedure progresses, we will place the implant posts directly into the jawbone to provide enough strength to support a tooth crown later. The treatment site will then be allowed to heal for a period of up to six months to allow the jawbone to grow around and secure the implant post.
Once healed, an abutment is placed on the implant post to connect the tooth to the gumline. Then, the dental crown is crafted to fit onto the abutment, completing the dental implant process.
The dental crown will be custom designed to match your natural smile and provide the same function as a natural tooth. Your new dental implant will look, feel, and function like a natural tooth and can last a lifetime with proper care.
For more information about how implants can restore your smile, contact Torrey Hills Family Dentistry at 4765 Carmel Mountain Rd Suite 209, San Diego, CA 92130, or call (858) 481-0080.
