Single Tooth Replacement With Dental Implants

When a tooth has been lost, whether due to injury or decay, there are several options for replacement, but only one option to fully restore the tooth without the reliance on and alteration of neighboring teeth, by placing a dental implant. A dental implant restores the root of the missing tooth, allowing a specialist at Cameo to then place a dental crown. We invite you to meet with our staff at Cameo Dental Specialists for an evaluation, and information on how a dental implant can restore your tooth and protect your oral health.

WHAT IS A DENTAL IMPLANT?

Increasingly, patients are learning about dental implants, the only way to not just replace a tooth, it restores a tooth. Using this system, a specialist at Cameo not only places a false tooth

but rebuilds the foundation for a dental crown to be placed. A dental implant is not a tooth, but a tooth root. When a patient loses a tooth, they also lose the root, the connecting piece that attaches the tooth to the jawbone. When looking to replace a tooth, their options will include a dental bridge or partial denture, designed to attach to the neighboring teeth. These devices cause damage to surrounding teeth, a bridge requires us to reduce the healthy anchoring teeth in size, making a permanent adjustment to otherwise healthy teeth, and a partial denture uses clasps that scratch and damage the enamel of the healthy anchor teeth. Only a dental implant allows for a permanent restoration that does not rely on anchor teeth to keep it in place.

A dental implant is made of titanium, making it extremely strong, lightweight and biocompatible. In size and shape, the implant resembles what we think of as a construction screw. Depending on the work being done, implants range in width and length. a specialist at Cameo will review your options with you before treatment.

 

The implant is surgically placed directly into your jawbone. The remarkable next step is the response from your own body. Decades of research has found that the properties of titanium are extremely biocompatible, our bone is willing to heal and grow around it. As the bone heals, it will create connections with the titanium post that essentially bonds the two together, making the bone and post one. This healing response is known as osseointegration. Today, surgeons use titanium to make surgical repairs all over the human skeleton, including in the knees, shoulders, hips, and more. In dentistry, this discovery allows us to restore the entire base or root of your tooth.

 

Once the implant and jawbone are firmly healed together, we can then customize a dental crown. With the crown in place, we have done more than replace a missing tooth, we have fully restored a missing tooth. This will help keep your jawbone healthy, your teeth from shifting, and can even improve your ability to chew and speak.

DOING MORE WITH DENTAL IMPLANTS

If you would like more information on restoring a single tooth, or multiple teeth, with dental implants, we have options for you. a specialist at Cameo and our staff at Cameo Dental Specialists can help you create a treatment plan that will increase your oral health, giving you more reason to smile! (630) 332-8717