Ideally, your natural teeth will last for life, but unfortunately, this often isn’t the case. Tooth loss can occur because of tooth decay or gum disease or trauma. We know losing even a single tooth can be a miserable experience, and it’s important to think about replacing it soon after it is removed. When you do lose a tooth, your dentist in Ajax may well suggest you consider dental implants. A single dental implant can be a wonderful solution for filling that gap in your smile.
What Is a Single Tooth Dental Implant?
A single tooth dental implant in Whitby has several components. The dental implant itself is made from titanium or zirconium, which is a strong ceramic material. It is shaped like a small post or screw and is surgically inserted into the jawbone, replacing your real tooth root. An abutment made from zirconia or titanium is attached to the implant, connecting the implant to the implant crown. The crown may be all-ceramic or made from porcelain fused to metal and fits onto the abutment where it is screwed or cemented in place. The crown closely replicates a real tooth in a shade that blends in beautifully with the rest of your natural teeth.
Why Choose a Dental Implant?
There are several reasons for restoring a single tooth with a dental implant in Clarington.
- Your implant crown will look just like your own tooth because it is surrounded by gum tissue, just like a real tooth.
- Choosing an implant crown helps protect the adjacent teeth, ensuring they cannot drift out of place and into the empty gap.
- With an implant crown, we don’t need to modify these adjacent teeth. If you were to have a bridge, then these teeth must be reshaped substantially.
- Pickering dental implants are long-lasting with the right dental care.
A dental implant protects your jawbone. When you lose a real tooth, the bone that surrounded your tooth root begins to resorb. Having a dental implant in Courtice helps prevent this bone loss, as the implant post provides stimulation to the bone around it, ensuring old bone cells are renewed as they die.
What Is the Process for Having a Single Tooth Implant?
The process for planning and fitting a single tooth implant in Oshawa is very straightforward, and Durham Dental Solutions is equipped with all the latest technologies to ensure your treatment is as smooth and as comfortable as possible.
Initially, we must evaluate your jawbone using a cone beam CT scan that produces detailed 3-D digital images of your jaw and existing teeth. These images allow us to determine if your jawbone is strong and healthy enough for the dental implant as otherwise, we would need to build up the bone with a dental bone graft in Newcastle.
We use the CT scan to plan your implant placement, and once we have this plan, we make a computer-generated stent or surgical guide for use during the surgery to place the implant. Using a surgical guide helps to ensure the implant is placed accurately and quickly. Usually, it takes around an hour to place a single dental implant.
Once the implant is in place, it needs time to heal and fuse with the bone around it. We can fit a temporary tooth for use at this point, so there is no need to worry that you will have a gap in your smile. It takes around three months for the implant to fuse with the jawbone, at which time we can replace the temporary tooth with your new implant crown.
