Tooth loss means more than just an embarrassing gap in your smile. Over time, missing teeth could lead to weakened jawbone structure, further tooth loss, and even a prematurely aged appearance. To combat these complications and offer lifelike results, we can secure one or more dental implants. When you experience tooth loss, let your Fort Worth, TX oral surgery office secure a new smile with dental implant surgery.
Examining Your Smile
Our team will first carefully examine your smile with digital imaging technology, so we can understand the cause of your tooth loss and also assess the strength of your jawbone. The information we obtain will help us plan your dental implant surgery with precision and detail. The procedure is a team-oriented situation, as our surgical team will communicate with your dentist during and after the surgery, ensuring your care can continue afterward with your general dentist or orthodontist.
Bone Grafting
When we lose our natural teeth, the jawbone could shrink and distort as the body no longer sends calcium and phosphate to the structure around the missing root. These negative changes could lead to further tooth loss and an older appearance, and could mean there isn’t enough jawbone structure to support one or more dental implants. But with jawbone grafting, also known as ridge augmentation, we can essentially rebuild what has been shrunk or lost.
For the lower arch, we will reshape the bone and add new tissue taken from other parts of your jaw or from synthetic sources. This provides new structure to support a dental implant, or to preserve the smile following tooth extraction. For the upper arch, our team can offer a sinus lift. The procedure involves repositioning the sinus floor to uncover new tissue that can support the placement of your new teeth.
Inserting Your New Teeth
The actual implant surgery to place your new teeth occurs in two stages. The first is a procedure that places the post into the jawbone. Once the new root is in place, it will bond with the jawbone through osseointegration, a period that takes about three to six months. The second procedure involves uncovering the post and attaching a small connecting abutment. The abutment will extend just above the gum line, so we can attach a restoration or a portion of a prosthetic. The entire process could take between six and eight months, but will leave with you with a long-lasting and natural-looking replacement tooth!
TALK TO OUR FORT WORTH, TX ORAL SURGERY OFFICE ABOUT DENTAL IMPLANT SURGERY
Our team can help you whether you have a single missing tooth, or have suffered total tooth loss. For more information on this service, please call Robert B. Peak, DDS in Fort Worth, TX today at (817) 522-1833.