What is a dental implant?

Dental implants are the most effective and long-lasting treatment to replace damaged or missing natural teeth. We tell you all there is to know about how to get a dental implant.

What are dental implants?

The dental implant is a screw, usually, titanium, implanted in the jaw through a small surgery. It is the first component placed in the mouth when replacing a natural tooth that has been lost or deteriorated to the point of being unrecoverable.

Its mission is to make the root of the dental prosthesis that will replace the original tooth that could not be preserved.

When we talk about dental implants, we usually refer to the set formed by the implant itself and by the dental prosthesis that works like a natural tooth and meticulously replicates the appearance of an original tooth.

 

Goals: healthy mouth and jaw

Dental implants are the optimal and permanent way to improve the stability and health of the mouth. If you miss a tooth or use dentures, you will get a healthy and beautiful smile with a dental implant or the implants you need. The quality and durability of these pieces guarantee you the best results.

Why do dental implants improve the mouth's stability, strength and health? It's very simple: when you lose your original teeth, your jaw weakens, and you lose the ability to chew. On the other hand, from an aesthetic point of view, your face and your smile will reflect, becoming ugly without natural teeth. So what do we achieve with dental implants? Well, something very important: prevents bone loss in your jaw, thus preventing structural, functional and aesthetic deterioration. Dental implants stimulate the strength and growth of the bones in your mouth.

Each tooth plays a crucial role in your mouth.

We have already said that dental implants help to preserve the health of the jaw bones, an objective that directly impacts both the health and the aesthetics of the mouth.

Leaving a hole in your mouth can cause oral problems as severe as they are painful. And it is that each tooth plays a specific role in the patient's dental health, so it is important to have all the pieces.

Missing teeth can make chewing and biting difficult, deteriorate your jaw, and alter your face's appearance.

If the jawbone loses bone mass due to missing teeth, the healthy teeth it contains may shift. In other words, there would be the risk of losing more teeth, thus entering a vicious circle.

Implants for stimulation of the jaw bones

Constant stimulation is necessary for the bone structure hidden by your gums to maintain density and shape. The dental implant is the only procedure that stimulates the jaw bone. Neither dentures nor dental bridges stimulate bone mass.

What is the main advantage of dental implants?

The great advantage of a dental implant is that it is the closest thing to an original and natural tooth. The implant blends into the jawbone and perfectly fulfills the role of the root of your new dental piece. As a result, the new teeth you open through implants have the strongest roots you can get through dental treatment.

The key is Osseo integration. Thus, the dental implant's titanium melts with the bone mass of the jaw, preventing the implant from slipping or shifting, making noise or causing damage to the bone (which can happen with dental bridges and dentures).

The materials of a dental implant can hardly deteriorate, just as healthy teeth on which a dental bridge is supported can degrade.

 

What is a dental prosthesis?

The dental prosthesis is the artificial crown that, with an impressive resemblance to a natural tooth, is placed or loaded on the Virginia dental implants.

There are dentures:

• Provisionals: those that are worn during the time that the dental implant is being integrated into the bone.
• Definitive: those that are for life.

Provisional dental prostheses guarantee that from minute 1, you will have a beautiful smile without unsightly gaps in your mouth. Also, of course, you can chew and speak as if you already had the final pieces on.

Types of removable prostheses

In immediate-load dental implants, where tooth extraction, implant placement and prosthesis loading are performed within a few hours, the first prosthetic crown will be placed in the provisional one. It is a prosthesis anchored on one or more dental implants.

Regarding other types of implants, the dentist places a temporary removable resin prosthesis. This prosthesis is anchored on the neighboring teeth of the implant or, in the case of a toothless person, on the gum itself.

Provisional dentures are not always crucial. In cases where only one tooth is missing, and the gap is not very visible (back teeth are replaced), the person can calmly wait for the implant to fuse with the jaw before putting on the final crown. Neither the aesthetics of his mouth nor his ability to chew and speak will suffer greatly.