Are you tired of dentures that always need adjustment and won’t stop slipping out of place? Or are you thinking about getting a dental bridge but don’t really want to make permanent changes to your remaining teeth? Nowadays, when it comes to restoring your smile by replacing teeth, dental implants in Mesquite are the new gold standard; call Dr. Aldana or Dr. Vazquez at Soleil Dental Mesquite today to learn more about the process and whether it might be right for you!
Dental implants are custom prosthetics made of titanium that mirror the function of tooth roots. Placed within the jawbone, they fuse over time to deliver maximum support for custom-made dental crowns, bridges, or dentures. Their 30+ year lifespan makes them a worthwhile investment for millions of patients, and their ability to restore teeth from the roots up makes them unlike any other tooth replacement solution on the market.
To provide their unique benefits, dental implants require a multi-step process. Unlike traditional options like dentures or a dental bridge, rebuilding your smile with dental implants takes place over several stages and multiple months. While this may seem like a long time, their long-term benefits are well worth the wait! While every patient’s dental implant treatment plan will look slightly different, there are typically four steps you can expect: consultation, implant surgery, osseointegration, and delivery of the dental implant restoration.
The first step on your journey toward a complete smile is to visit us for a consultation. During this first appointment, Dr. Aldana or Dr. Vazquez will take the time to discuss your goals for your smile, review your medical history, and inspect your teeth and gums. Then, we’ll go over our findings with you and fully explain your tooth replacement options as well as our recommendations.
Sometimes, a patient will need to complete preliminary treatments like bone grafting, periodontal treatment, or tooth extraction before moving forward with their dental implant treatment. While these services will make getting dental implants take a little longer, they’re necessary to maximize your chances of successful treatment. Once your smile is healthy, we can move on to replacing your teeth.
Placing dental implants is a precise surgical procedure, so many other dentists need to refer their patients to local surgeons for this step. But that’s not the case here at Soleil Dental Mesquite! Thanks to Drs. Aldana and Vazquez’s years of experience and advanced training in dental implants, we are experts in rebuilding beautiful, healthy smiles.
During your surgery, we’ll first numb the area to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible. Then, we’ll make a small incision in the gums to reach your jawbone. The dental implant post is inserted directly into your jaw at predetermined places, and then the gums are sutured together. A small protective cap will be placed over the implant post to shield it and maintain the natural shape of your gums during the healing process.
Next, the dental implant post will undergo a process called osseointegration. This is where the titanium post fuses with the surrounding bone tissue to essentially become part of your jaw. Since this is a very gradual process, it will typically take somewhere between four and six months of healing before you can move on to the next step. While this is certainly a long time, this process is what will provide your new tooth or teeth unmatched functionality, comfort, and stability. Not to mention, osseointegration is what helps your dental implant stay in place for life with the right care!
Once you’ve healed enough, you may need one more minor surgery. This is to attach the abutments if they weren’t placed during your initial surgery. It will only take a few weeks to recover and then you’ll be ready for the last step of your dental implant treatment.
When we receive your custom-made crown, bridge, or denture, you’ll return to our office once again. We’ll securely fasten your final restoration in place on top of the implant post via the abutment. We’ll ensure that your bite feels comfortable and that you’re pleased with your results, and then you’ll be ready to show off your new, complete set of pearly whites!
Although implants aren’t right for everyone, we often encourage our patients to replace their missing teeth with implants more than with other solutions. Why are dental implants so widely recommended? The answer, of course, lies in the wide array of benefits that they offer. Their nature-imitating structure gives implants several advantages over traditional dentures and bridges, including increased stability, more durability, and a younger-looking facial structure. When you take into account everything implants provide, you can quickly find that they are well worth the investment.
If you’ve spent even one day wearing traditional dentures, you know how tedious it can be. Although modern dentures are more comfortable than ever, they still don’t compare to the natural feeling of implants. Dentures can easily slip out of place while you’re eating or talking, possibly affecting your confidence, and the daily care of dentures requires significantly more steps than regular oral care. With implants, you don’t have to adjust the way you speak, chew, or maintain your smile. You can treat these dental prosthetics just like real teeth! In addition, with implants, you don’t have to worry about getting that old, sunken look that is common among those who suffer tooth loss.
When a tooth is lost, it affects more than just your appearance. The root is no longer there to stimulate bone growth in the jaw, leading to bone deterioration over time, which in turn, causes a weaker bite. As a result, those who wear dentures tend to have about 25 percent of the biting strength they had before. Unfortunately, dentures and bridges alone do not stop this process from happening. Dental implants, on the other hand, do! They act just like real tooth roots and keep the jawbone strong and stimulated, restoring about 70 percent of your biting strength and allowing you to continue enjoying a healthy, balanced diet.
Did you know that people who wear traditional dentures tend to have a shorter lifespan? Studies indicate that eating fibrous, healthy foods like vegetables can help you stay strong and well-nourished as you age, but doing so with dentures and a weak bite can be difficult, to say the least. As a result, those with dentures tend to live about 10 years less than those who have a full set of teeth. However, when you replace your teeth with dental implants, it’s as if you still have your natural, durable smile, meaning you can more easily eat the foods that keep you healthy.
One of the most amazing traits of dental implants is their longevity. Instead of having to be adjusted or replaced every few years like regular dentures and bridges, implant restorations can last for several decades! As a result, many patients with implants find that this treatment actually helps them save money in the long run.
Are you struggling with tooth loss? Do you expect to have one or more of your teeth extracted in the near future? If so, you should consider dental implants as a solution! This state-of-the-art tooth-replacement option can help patients who are missing one tooth, all of their teeth, and everything in between! If you’re interested in finding out if you’re a candidate, then give our Mesquite dental team a call so we can schedule a consultation. You’re also welcome to read on to learn more!
In addition to reviewing your medical and dental history, Dr. Diana Vazquez or Dr. Jose Aldana will conduct a comprehensive oral exam. In the process, they will determine if your gums are healthy, if there’s enough bone in your jaw to support the posts, and the severity of your case. With all of this information, they can either recommend dental implants or one of the other tooth-replacement solutions we offer, like dentures.
Are you missing only one tooth? Good news: we can fill the gap in your smile with a single dental implant! First, we will surgically insert the implant into your jawbone. Then, we will allow your mouth to heal and your jawbone to fuse with your implant (this normally takes about 4-6 months). After that, an abutment is placed on the implant and a custom dental crown is secured on top. The final result is a complete, healthy, and beautiful smile.
In the past, traditional dental bridges were used to help patients who were missing several teeth in a row. Although this continues to be an effective solution, there is one downside: small amounts of enamel are removed in the treatment process. Fortunately, there is now another option: implant bridges. This involves securing a dental implant on both ends and attaching the appropriate number of false teeth to “bridge” the gap.
Traditional dentures are secured in place with denture adhesive, natural suction, or both. Implant dentures, on the other hand, are secured in place with 4-8 strategically placed dental implant posts. As a result, you can count on them to firmly stay in place without the help of any messy adhesives.
It’s important to figure out roughly how much your dental implants will cost as early as possible in the process. While we examine your mouth during your initial consultation, we’ll consider the number of implants you’ll need, the type of restoration required, and the individual steps of the implant process. Once we’ve figured out how much you can expect to pay, we can discuss using insurance or other financing options to keep your out-of-pocket costs to a minimum. Although the cost of dental implants in Mesquite is higher than that of other forms of tooth replacement, they are a worthwhile investment that can provide you with decades of benefits.
Many patients require gum disease treatment, tooth extractions, or a bone graft before they qualify for dental implants in Mesquite. Each of these services comes with its own fee.
Dental implant surgery has a separate price, which depends on things like the number of implants being placed and the type of sedation used. Since we can perform this complex procedure right here in our office, we can provide you with a candid price estimate right from the beginning. You won’t have to worry about dealing with the financial policies of an outside specialist.
Not all dental implant treatments are the same. Implants come in various sizes and may be made out of different materials. They also come from a range of manufacturers. Additionally, various techniques can be used in implant procedures. All of these factors have a bearing on your procedure’s overall cost. Your restoration (the crown, bridge, or denture on top of your implants) has a separate price that depends on its size and the materials used to make it.
Dental implants cost more upfront than traditional forms of tooth replacement. However, they offer excellent value. They last for decades, a fact that may make them cheaper in the long run than regular dentures, which typically have to be replaced every 5 – 7 years or so. Also, because dental implants protect your oral health, they can spare you from having to pay for treatment to address things like gum sores and jawbone deterioration.
Some dental insurance plans cover dental implants, while others do not. You’ll have to look at your specific policy to see how it applies. Even if it doesn’t cover the implants themselves, it is likely to cover other portions of your procedure, such as preliminary treatments or your final restoration. Our practice is happy to help you navigate your benefits and file your claims. We are even in-network with several major plans. Contact us today to find out how we can work with your insurance.
As your implant dentist in Mesquite, we want you to be able to afford your new smile! In addition to assisting you with insurance, we can also help you save on treatment by:
Since we handle dental implant placement in-house, our patients depend on us to make sure that every step of the process is carried out with precision. As such, we take full advantage of the latest technology in order to plan the dental implant procedure and provide our patients with fully customized replacement teeth. Advancements such as 3D cone beam imaging and digital impressions can make all the difference when it comes to rebuilding your smile; read on to find out why.
Dental implants can’t be placed just anywhere in your jaw; they must be inserted into precisely the right spots. To determine where those spots are, we’ll need to use a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scanner. This device can capture multiple images of your mouth and jaw, then combine them into a comprehensive, three-dimensional model.
Thanks to our CBCT scanner, we can determine the location of nerve pathways, blood vessels, and various important dental structures. This information is essential for planning a successful dental implant surgery that keeps the risk of complications to a minimum. And there’s no reason for patients to worry about having the scans taken since the process doesn’t cause any discomfort.
You may wonder why we use a CBCT scanner instead of standard dental X-rays for the dental implant process. The answer is simple: while a dental X-ray is generally a highly useful diagnostic tool, there are quite a few details in your mouth and jaw that it can’t capture. A CBCT scanner helps ensure that we’re able to gather as much information as possible, which can ultimately make all the difference when it comes to replacing teeth with sturdy dental implant posts.
Dental implants are highly versatile and can support crowns, bridges, or dentures in order to replace any number of teeth. However, these prostheses are not “one size fits all”; they need to be customized for each patient’s mouth.
In order to design your prosthesis, an impression of your mouth will need to be taken. In the past, this might have meant biting down on a piece of putty for a certain amount of time. Not only was this approach uncomfortable, but it often had to be redone due to errors. Thankfully, our practice is now able to take advantage of more reliable digital impressions.
Taking a digital impression simply involves scanning your teeth and creating a virtual model of your mouth. Using this model, we can determine the correct size and shape for your new dental prosthesis. You’ll be able to look forward to receiving new teeth that have been fully personalized with your unique smile in mind. And thanks to the precision of digital impressions, you’re more likely to receive a prosthesis that fits properly the first time.
No matter how many teeth you’re missing, dental implants can help! However, you’ll need to have a few things to be considered a good candidate, including:
At Soleil Dental Mesquite, you won’t need to see an unfamiliar specialist to have your dental implants placed. Thanks to advanced training and state-of-the-art technology like the CT/Cone Beam Scanner, our dentists are able to perform every step of the dental implant process right here in our Mesquite dental office!
Several factors contribute to how long the dental implant process takes, including:
Once the dental implant post has been surgically placed in your jaw, it will need time to fuse with the surrounding bone tissue. In most cases, this takes four to six months to complete. While this may seem like a long time, the result is a beautiful and comfortable restoration you’ll be able to rely on for decades to come.
While other tooth replacement options like dentures and dental bridges can replace your missing teeth right away, they’re not designed to last forever. Inevitably, they’ll lose their fit, become uncomfortable to wear, and need to be replaced. Not only is this inconvenient, but it can be quite costly over the years. On the other hand, the one-time cost of dental implants can easily last for 30 years or more. In fact, with proper care, you can expect to enjoy your newly rebuilt smile for life!
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