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Guide to Full Dental Implants and Their Benefits

Restoring the radiant, luminous smile you once enjoyed is very important. Not being confident in your smile and in your teeth, or holding back a smile or a laugh to conceal your teeth is no way to live your life. Some of us need full dental implants. Perhaps a whole row, or even the entire mouth. Though the procedure is involved and expensive, restoring a beautiful smile might just be worth all of the trouble. Dr. Liberman of Great Neck Dental Care provides a variety of dental services - from dental restoration, cosmetic dentistry, and pediatric dentistry. Dr. Liberman can help restore your smile to what it once was. Now, we are going to consider who full dental implants are for and what their benefits are.

Who are Full Dental Implants For?

Full dental implants are not for everyone. If you think you might be a candidate, the first thing you should do is schedule an appointment with Dr. Liberman and she will explain how to best treat your unique circumstances. The first instance in when full dental implants are needed is when the patient is missing just about all of his or her teeth and the patient does not want dentures but something permanent. The second instance is when a patient has most of his or her teeth, but the teeth that they do have are rotten, decayed, or severely damaged. Importantly for both instances, dental implants will only be used if the patient is committed to strong dental hygiene. If the patient does not take dental hygiene seriously, then there may be complications with the implants.

What Does the Process of Dental Implants Look Like?

Consultation

The first step of full dental implants is a consultation with the dentist. The dentist will look at the oral cavity and take note of the bite and relationship between the upper and lower jaw. This initial consultation will inform the dentist if you are a candidate for full dental implants and if there are any contraindications.

X-Rays or a CT Scan

Before full dental implants are installed, a dentist needs to know what the quality of the bones in the jaw are. By taking an X-Ray and potentially a CT scan, a dentist can assess the integrity of the bones and their overall structure. These images will also help the dentist figure out exactly where the implants should take root.

Surgical Stent

This is the final step before surgery. The dentist will mock-up some drawings of how exactly the teeth should be aligned and implanted into the jaw. The mock-up is important because it will allow the dentist to assess the quality of the implants once the surgical procedure is completed.

Surgery

The next step is surgery. The details of the surgery might vary, which will depend upon the patient’s unique circumstances and the dentist’s experience. The implants fuse with the jaw bone, which takes about four to six months.

Final Construction and Follow-Up

After the implants fuse to the jaw bone, the patient is then to come back to the office and the dentist will assess how the implants are taking. The dentures are finally placed and the implants are compared with the mock-up, to ensure that there are no significant discrepancies.