Dental Implants Can Save Your Smile!

Missing teeth are more than just embarrassing. They can ruin your smile, and missing teeth can even have a negative impact on the shape of your face. Your appearance is important to you, and a poor smile that’s characterized by missing teeth is a blow to your confidence that can be felt in all the aspects of your life.

Don’t live with the shame of missing teeth any longer! Dental implants can restore your smile, your confidence, and help you get more out of life. Really Smile has helped so many people in the Carmel, IN area get their smile back. Isn’t it your turn?

What Are Dental Implants? 

Dental implants are a permanent solution for missing teeth. They have two components: an anchor, which holds it in place, and a crown. The crown is the visible part of the implant and looks just like your other teeth.

Dental implants don’t work like bridges, which require other teeth to hold an artificial tooth in place. Dental implants are installed directly into the bone of the jaw. The anchor, which holds the crown in place, is made of a material that will be able to merge with the bone around it; in most cases, that material is titanium. This process is called osseointegration. This basically means the bone will grow around the anchor to hold it in place. This allows dental implants to last for decades. The anchor, which is also referred to as the implant, resembles a screw.

Once the anchor and bone are sufficiently integrated, the crown will be placed. The entire process of installing a dental implant can last several months, but it’s worth it, because afterward your smile will be returned to its youthful vibrance.

Who Can Use Dental Implants? 

Not everyone can use dental implants. Good candidates for dental implants are those patients who have gums and bone that are healthy. The first thing your dentist will do is examine your teeth and gums to make sure that they are healthy enough to undergo the treatment and to determine if the implant will be effective. People who smoke heavily, or those whose oral health is in bad condition are not candidates. That’s because they’re at risk for a specific kind of gum disease called peri-implantitis which can cause the implant to fail. Patients with osteoporosis can’t receive implants, nor can those who use steroids to treat a health problem. Teeth grinding (bruxism) is also problematic for people seeking an implant.

What Can I Expect? 

If you are a good candidate for a dental implant, your dentist will create a specialized plan for your procedure, based on your health, the type of implant you’re receiving, and other factors.

At Really Smile, we use a CT Scan to determine where your implant should go. A CT scan takes multiple X-ray images of bone, blood vessels, and soft tissue. The images, which are taken at different angles, are combined to create a single “map” of the area that needs an implant. The major benefit is this drastically reduces the amount of surgery that needs to be done. Without the CT scan, it would be necessary to create an incision and peel back the gums like a banana. By avoiding this, patients can heal much faster, and this puts them at a much reduced risk for post-procedure problems.

Your dentist will make a pinhole, about the size of a BB, in your gums. Based upon the situation and the implant, additional work will be needed to expand the hole so that it can receive the implant, which is then screwed in.

Because we use CT Scan imaging technology to eliminate much of the surgery required to place an implant, patients usually have very little to no discomfort following the procedure!

Over time, healthy gum tissue will grow around the implant, and the process of osseointegration will begin. It can take several months for the implant and bone to “grow together”. Once this occurs, the implant is permanently fixed in your mouth. A correctly placed implant will last for decades, and it has virtually no chance of failure.

What are you waiting for? 

If you have missing or severely damaged teeth, there’s no reason to delay having an implant placed. Since it takes so long for an implant to be completely installed, the faster you make your appointment, the faster you’ll have your smile back!

Getting a dental impact isn’t traumatic, but if you have severe anxiety about going to the dentist or undergoing a surgical procedure, we have sedation and relaxation treatments that will eliminate your nerves and fear.

If it turns out you’re not a candidate for an implant, Really Smile can still help you: we have lots of options to help you get your best smile, and what’s more, we’ll get your oral health back to normal as well.

Call us now at 317-597-8748, or make an appointment online.

We look forward to serving you!