Dental Implants in West Palm Beach

If you are missing one or more teeth, you are not alone. More than 178 million people in America are missing at least one tooth. Luckily, no matter if you have lost teeth due to tooth decay, gum disease, injury, genetics, or a variety of other reasons, there is a solution. You can effectively restore your smile with dental implants.
 
Bone Grafting
Before getting dental implants, it is important that you have a healthy jawbone. This is because your new implants will be anchored directly into your jawbone. If you lack sufficient bone to support your implants, then you may need to undergo a bone grafting procedure.
 
What is a Bone Graft?
Bone grafting is a surgical procedure in which we provide new bone to repair your damaged jawbone. This procedure will make your jawbone stronger, while improving functionality and appearance.
 
Typically, missing teeth can cause vital jawbone tissue to recede. Your tooth maintains the shape of your jawbone and can shrink once there is no tooth to keep it in place. Jawbone deterioration can cause your skin to sag around the mouth—a sign for premature aging.
 
Jawbone deterioration is caused by the following:
• Trauma
• Gum disease
• Tooth extractions
• Misalignment
• Diseased joint
 
Types of Bone Grafts
Depending on the nature of your jawbone health, we will perform one of the following procedures:
 
Allograft
-bone harvested from a deceased donor (cadaver)
-cannot generate bone naturally
-acts as a structure to keep the jawbone’s shape
 
Autograft
-requires patient’s bone taken from elsewhere in the body (i.e. hip, lower )
-contains living bone and cells that grows on its own
-needs two procedures: 1) harvest the bone 2) repair the jawbone
 
Xenograft
-bone harvested from an animal (i.e. cow)
-acts as a structure to keep the jawbone’s shape
-cannot generate bone naturally
 
The Process
During your visit, we will discuss which bone graft procedure is best for your condition. Before the procedure, we will put you under general anesthesia to alleviate the pain. An incision will be made into your jawbone’s surrounding tissue and filled with the designated bone.
 
The graft will be held in place with pins, screws, plates, or wires. Your surgeon will close the treated area and it will be stitched and bandaged. We recommend taking any medication or antibiotics prescribed by your doctor.
 
Types of Implants
We take pride on getting you the smile that you’ve always wanted. There are many types of dental implants in West Palm Beach FL and to provide you with foundational support.
 
The types of implants include:
Endosteal
-placed into the jawbone
-replaces a full bridge or denture replacement
-most popular option
 
Subperiosteal
-anchored directly onto your jawbone
-the head of the implant is exposed
-stitching is used for gum tissue
 
Dental Implant Treatment
We will begin your dental implant process by setting up an initial consultation to discuss your condition. We will ensure that you know the benefits, risks, and information about what we do before your scheduled procedure.
 
Then, you will be put under general or local anesthesia before treatment. A titanium post will be placed into your bone socket—the area that has the missing tooth. The jawbone must bond with the new post for approximately 6 to 12 weeks, called osseointegration.
 
Once the jawbone integrates with the implant post, an abutment will be attached to hold your new tooth in place. We will create your dental crown from teeth and bite impressions taken at our office. A crown is placed atop the abutment and will look, feel, and match the color of your natural teeth!
 
If you’re interested in learning more about dental implants in West Palm Beach FL, call Premier Dentistry today!