An effective way to replace and restore the function of missing teeth.
If you’ve had a tooth knocked out or extracted, dental implants are an effective and permanent way to restore your dental health. Here on the Sunshine Coast, active lifestyles can lead to unfortunate accidents, including tooth loss. Adult tooth loss can be a serious issue, leading to discomfort and health problems.
Dental implants have their root in 1950’s dentistry, when dentists discovered that titanium implants were able to fuse with human bone, leading to a long-lasting, comfortable replacement for lost teeth. Since then, dental implants have advanced due to research and better dental technology.
What are the options for replacing a tooth?
What are the costs of replacing a tooth?
Today, dental implants are the #1 way to replace adult teeth lost due to accidents or dental disease.
Dental implants are the best treatment option available for replacing missing teeth. They help to restore both your smile and overall dental health. However, they must be inserted by dentists who have received the appropriate training in partnership with specialist oral surgeons and prosthodontists.
Dr Alastair McGregor, our general dentist, has been inserting and restoring dental implants for over 15 years now to help patients replace lost teeth.
Benefits of Dental Implants
When it comes to replacing missing teeth, there are a range of benefits in terms of dental implants.
Each tooth relies on the others for support. Missing teeth can lead to other teeth shifting into the gap, resulting in discomfort and compromised dental occlusion. Dental Implants offer strong support to your other teeth so that your smile remains straight and healthy for decades. Moreover, dental implants are made to look like your natural teeth.
Dental implants can also be used to support dentures. They simply snap on and off with plastic clips inside the denture onto the titanium implant abutments. This offers a more secure, comfortable solution than traditional dentures especially the lower one that usually slides around relying on muscle control to stabilise them. These are known as implant-supported dentures.
lastly, missing teeth can cause your jawbone to shrink, which can cause weakness in the facial muscles and bones and a host of oral and digestive health problems. Replacing a missing tooth with a dental implant prevents these problems from occurring.
The Dental Implant Process
Implant Placement
During your initial visit, Dr McGregor will perform an exam, take x-rays and get CT Dentascans to determine if dental implants can be inserted or not. Sometimes a bone graft is needed for augmentation of the ridge of bone to provide adequate bone for an implant. This is a simple in-house procedure under local anaesthesia.
Implant insertion is less traumatic than regular tooth extraction.
Healing
The main benefit of dental implants is the fact that your jawbone fuses with the implant over 6 months. Before the replacement tooth can be installed, you’ll need time to heal so that this fusion can take place naturally. Dr McGregor will monitor your healing process over a period of several months, until the implant has integrated with the bone.
Prosthesis Placement
Once the titanium implant has fused properly, the surgery is over and Dr McGregor will install your replacement prosthetics with mechanical tools which have no trauma on the tissues. We use custom-made abutments that the support the crowns, which give you a comfortable, natural smile that will last decades.
Dental Implants Noosa
If you’re unsure whether dental implants are the best option for you, we’ll be happy to provide a low-cost examination to determine the best approach based on your needs. Contact us to schedule your appointment!