Dental Implants Stuart FL
Dr. Crystel Riggs in Stuart, Fl has taken advanced training in dental Implants to provide her patients dental care options to having missing teeth, loose dentures or even partial dentures. She has completed a mini-residency with the Biomet 3i Implant Continuum, as well as Nobel-Biocare Implants “Teeth-in-a-Day” Training with the Institute for Facial Esthetics.
Dental implants are becoming the standard for taking care of one or more missing teeth with replacement teeth. Rather than drilling down the two adjacent teeth to place a traditional bridge or needing bridge dental work, a single tooth implant offers a conservative long-term solution for our patients. Many of our patients tell us they can’t even tell the difference between a dental implant tooth or their own natural teeth.
Dental implants are traditionally completed in two phases. The first phase of dental implants is the surgical placement of the titanium fixture (which looks like a small screw) into the jawbone. This essentially creates a root for the crown to sit on. We work very closely with our local surgeon to select the correct size, angle and location to optimally help our patients enjoy chewing again with a properly placed dental implant.
The second phase of the dental implant process is the restorative phase, in which we often use our Lightwalker® laser to uncover the head of the dental implant after it has had a few months to integrate into the bone. An impression is taken of the dental implants and then working closely with our skilled laboratory technicians, we design a custom-made abutment and crown to fit securely over the implant. Because the dental implant is made of titanium and the crown typically is made of porcelain, there is never a concern about a cavity developing or the tooth root needing a root canal! Dental Implants are essentially considered by many to be a “permanent” restoration and should last your lifetime with proper care and maintenance.
Typically, the dental implant procedure can be done on anybody, but generally speaking the healthier you are the easier the process and healing period will be after getting your dental implants. Generally speaking, we wouldn’t place an implant on a young teenager, as the bone and the lower jaw hasn’t fully developed yet, and because of that, it could potentially shift as they got into their later teenage years. Oral health is important as well.
Dental Implant treatment allows us to replace missing or damaged teeth with a natural–looking alternative that will not only look like your own tooth, but also function like natural teeth do in terms of speech, chewing and esthetics. Being able to chew your food properly is often taken for granted until you lose a natural tooth. Now we have a dental care option (dental implants) to restore that condition.
As mentioned earlier, not all patients are ideal candidates for implant surgery. If you don’t have enough bone height or width, or density from bone loss, that could compromise the longevity of the restoration. We can get a 3D conebeam x-ray to evaluate your mouth to see if you qualify for a dental implant.
If you are dealing with a missing tooth or have been considering some kind of tooth replacement you may want to consider dental implants. Dental implant surgery has become quite popular in the last several years. Dental Implants are great if you have been looking for replacement teeth options or even just a single tooth.