Rebuilding Your Smile From the Ground Up
Your teeth perform vital functions that allow you to go through everyday life easily and confidently. Unfortunately, when they fall out or become damaged and need to be extracted, this can leave you with large gaps in your smile and make it hard to complete basic tasks such as chewing and speaking. When your natural teeth go missing, it can cause a huge problem for your oral health down the road as well. Dr. Christy Savas, your dentist in Worcester, restores and places implants and has over three decades of experience. With his knowledge, he’s able to rebuild your grin from the roots upward, restoring the function and aesthetic of your smile once again.
Benefits of Dental Implants
Dental implants are an advanced restorative procedure that offer a variety of unique benefits that traditional tooth replacement options, such as dentures, aren’t able to. Here are some advantages that make this procedure incredibly popular among patients:
Indications for Dental Implants
Many patients aren’t aware of how versatile dental implants are. Whether you’re missing a single tooth or all of your teeth, this restorative solution can fix it all. When you visit our office for a consultation, we’ll examine your mouth and discuss each of your options with you. If you’re a good candidate for dental implants in Worcester, we may suggest one of the following treatments.
Missing Single Tooth
For a single missing tooth, we can fill the gap by using one dental implant placed below the surface of your gums and attach a customized dental crown. This will replace both the root and biting surface of your tooth to prevent surrounding teeth from drifting out of place to fill the gap.
Missing Multiple Teeth
If you’re missing more than one tooth, we can replace them with two dental implants that will hold a bridge into place. Instead of needing to alter your natural teeth in order to support the artificial ones, like what you would need to have done with a traditional bridge, your implant-retained one will function without affecting your natural remaining teeth.
Missing All Teeth
While traditional dentures are a great option for some patients, they’re not for everybody. In this case, we’ll suggest an implant-retained denture. This involves the placement of anywhere from four to eight implants on each arch of teeth that will hold in place a customized denture. Instead of relying on natural suction to stay in place, this one will be secured to abutments for maximum stability and strength.
Understanding the Cost of Dental Implants
The cost of your dental implant procedure in Worcester can vary depending on a variety of factors. These include how many dental implants you’ll need to have placed, what type of restoration you require, and whether or not you need any preparatory procedures such as bone grafting. The best way to learn the cost of the procedure is to schedule a consultation with Dr. Savas. Our team will walk you through the process and price breakdown. We also accept additional financing through CareCredit if you’d like to learn more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Choosing to replace your missing teeth with implants can feel like a big step. We want to guide you through the decision process by providing answers to some of the most commonly asked questions. Read on to learn more information about implants, and be sure to give us a call if you would like to discuss implant in greater detail. We’re here to help, and we can schedule a consultation for you with Dr. Savas!
How Successful Are Dental Implants?
Overall, dental implants have a high success rate—about 95 percent even 20 years after placement! That’s because we take time before the procedure to make sure your mouth is healthy enough for implants, helping you avoid complications. Also, keep in mind that the success of your dental implants will largely depend on how well you maintain them. Implants for molars, because of the stress they endure from chewing, are also more likely to fail than front teeth implants.
How Long Do Dental Implants Last?
Dental implants have often been known to last for 30 or more years. To ensure a long lifespan, you need to brush and floss your teeth, including the artificial ones, on a daily basis. You also need to visit Dr. Savas at least every six months for a checkup and cleaning to make sure gum disease or other problems don’t arise. A nutritious diet and other healthy lifestyle choices can also prolong your dental implants’ lifespan.
Do Dental Implants Decay?
Implants are made of dental porcelain and will not get cavities. However, if you have remaining natural teeth, they are still susceptible to decay, and your gum tissues may still be vulnerable to infection. That’s why it is essential that you continue caring for your smile even after tooth replacement.
Is There Anything I Shouldn’t Eat with Dental Implants?
For a day or two following the placement procedure, you should eat only soft foods, such as oatmeal, eggs, or mashed potatoes, but do not use a straw during this time. After a few days, you can resume your normal diet. Once the dental implants have become integrated with the jawbone, you are free to eat basically any foods you would with natural teeth. Sticky foods may cause your restoration to become dislodged, and chewing hard foods, such as nuts or ice, may damage your artificial teeth, so you still need to be careful.
Will Others Be Able to Tell That I Have Dental Implants?
Sometimes those who have ill-fitting dentures have to hold their lower jaw in an unnatural position to keep the dentures from slipping out. This isn’t a problem with dental implants. Once we’ve placed the implant into the jawbone and the tissue has healed, we will take impressions of your mouth to create a custom restoration. When it’s in position, your artificial tooth should look and feel just like your natural ones, and your smile should appear as if all your teeth belong.