Dental Implants Winthrop

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

When preparing for dental implants, we start the process with a scheduled consultation. Dr. Stephanie will complete a thorough exam and review your full medical history. She will take a CBCT scan of the missing tooth area and determine whether you are a candidate for dental implant placement. The treatment will be discussed with you that day and all questions answered. Financial arrangements will also be discussed at this time. With all this information, Dr. Stephanie can determine the next steps and schedule you for treatment.

Dental Implant Surgery

While many general dental practices in the greater Winthrop community have to refer their patients to outside specialists for this portion of care, Brooks Dental is happy to offer this service right here in-office. Dr. Stephanie will place the implant(s) using local anesthesia, and you will leave with either a cover screw underneath the gum or a healing cap, which pokes out slightly above the gum tissue.

Uncovering

After implant placement, your jawbone will need time to grow and attach to the dental implant. This portion of healing is called osseointegration, and it is critical not to rush this process. Osseointegration can take 3 to 6 months depending on the area of the mouth and the patient’s healing capacity. After this period of healing, Dr. Stephanie will “uncover” the top of the implant fixture, which involves reopening the gum tissue. It is considered a minor procedure. She will remove the cover screw and place a healing abutment, which pokes out of the gum tissue. You will then wait 3-4 weeks for the gum tissue to heal around the abutment prior to the next step. Not all cases require an uncovering; some patients will get to skip this step

Final Impression and Delivery of Implant Abutment and Crown

It is finally time to create your permanent restoration! We will have you in to take a final impression in the form of a digital scan. The digital scan is sent to the laboratory who will fabricate both a custom titanium abutment and ceramic crown. The custom abutment will be screwed right into the implant fixture, and the crown cemented on top of the abutment will mimic your natural tooth. About 3 weeks later, your prosthetic is ready, and you’ll come back to our office to enjoy your permanent smile!

Day-to-Day Benefits

Every day, you need to have prosthetic teeth that look and feel realistic. Fortunately, dental implants are the closest thing to natural dentition. In fact, because they replace the entire tooth structure, including the root, implants offer stability and security that traditional prosthetics can’t. As a result, you don’t have to be concerned about slippage at any time, giving you confidence in many situations.

In addition to looking just like real teeth, dental implants need the same maintenance that natural teeth require. Daily brushing and flossing—along with regular checkups—are easy to integrate into your schedule and lifestyle, especially when you compare this care routine with the high maintenance of dentures!

Health Benefits

Although having traditional dentures is often better than having no replacement teeth at all in terms of your eating ability, these prosthetics give you only about 25 percent of your biting strength. Consequently, you may turn to more processed foods, which tend to be unhealthier and can affect your overall health negatively. In contrast, with dental implants, you can regain about 80 percent of your biting force. With this ability, you can enjoy a more varied, nutritious diet, helping you maintain a higher quality of life.

Did you know that once your tooth roots are gone your jawbone slowly deteriorates from the lack of stimulation? Dentures and bridges do nothing to stop this process on their own, but when they are attached to dental implants, the jawbone remains stimulated and properly dense.

Long-Term Benefits

As the jawbone shrinks over time with normal dentures or bridges, facial features can change, looking more sunken and collapsed. However, dental implants protect your facial structure for the long term. In fact, these replacements have the potential to last for a lifetime. This longevity, along with many other priceless benefits, can make them a smart investment. Paying to replace dentures and bridges every few years adds up and can surpass the initial cost of dental implants, making this treatment often a more cost-effective and long-lasting alternative.

Who Is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

With innovations in the placement process and materials, more patients than ever before are good candidates for dental implants. Some limiting factors may include:

• Poor general health
• Inadequate bone structure
• Diseased gums
• Chronic oral health problems such as teeth clenching and grinding (bruxism)
• Systemic diseases
• Unhealthy habits such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption

However, if you’re not initially a good candidate for dental implants, we can often help you become one with preliminary treatments like bone grafting or gum disease therapy. Once you qualify for dental implants, we can design your treatment plan around how many teeth you’re missing:

Missing One Tooth

When replacing a single tooth, an all-porcelain dental crown can be paired with an individual dental implant for an outstanding result. This modern procedure is superior to anchoring a traditional dental bridge in place because it doesn’t require the surrounding natural teeth to be negatively altered in any way.

Missing Multiple Teeth

All-porcelain dental crowns can be fitted over multiple dental implants throughout the mouth. However, if we need to replace several missing teeth that used to appear in a row, an implant bridge is another viable option. We will place two dental implants on either side of the gap and fit the prosthetic teeth into place over them, replenishing the space with a sturdy, lifelike replacement.

Missing All Teeth

If you have more advanced tooth loss, an implant denture may be recommended. Partials fill gaps in the smile, replacing numerous consecutive and nonconsecutive teeth, and can usually be supported by three to four implant posts. Full dentures replace an entire row of missing teeth, and they are usually anchored using four to six implant posts.

How Much Do Dental Implants Cost?

The cost of a single dental implant post can run between $500 and $3,000 depending on the material used, the size of the implant, and the type of implant post. Luckily, many manufacturers offer discounted pricing if you need more than one implant post.

What Influences the Cost of Implant Tooth Replacement?

In addition to the price of the implant posts and their surgical placement, there are several other treatments you may need that will affect the cost, including:

• The need for preparatory treatment like tooth extraction and bone or soft tissue grafts
• Sedation dentistry services that help you maintain comfort and relaxation throughout treatment
• The tooth replacement prosthetic, including dental crowns, bridges, and dentures

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

In most cases, dental insurance does not cover the cost of dental implant posts or their surgical placement, but you will likely receive coverage for some other aspects of your treatment plan. Many policies provide coverage for preparatory tooth extractions and grafting, sedation dentistry, and your replacement tooth or teeth. We will help maximize this coverage to ensure you have the lowest possible out-of-pocket costs for your treatment plan.

How Does the Dental Fee Plan Work?

We are happy to offer financing through our Dental Fee Plan. With pre-approval, this plan can be a great option to help you spread out the cost of implant placement over several months. Additionally, we are happy to work with third-party financiers that specialize in providing low- and no-interest payment plans. Please don’t hesitate to ask about the Dental Fee Plan or third-party financing during your consultation.

Can I Use My FSA or HSA Funds for Dental Implants?

We are happy to accept payments from flexible spending accounts (FSA) and health savings accounts (HSA). If you have one of these accounts through your benefits provider, let us know when we are planning out your payments, and we will be happy to help you put these monies to their best use to offset treatment costs.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

Even though your dental implant post(s) or restoration will not ever contract a cavity, your mouth still needs to be cleaned on a daily basis. In fact, brushing twice per day for 2 minutes each time and flossing at least once per day are still just as important as they are with natural teeth. Plaque contains bacteria that can cause bacteria that cause peri-implantitis, an infection that leads to implant failure. Without ridding your teeth and gums of plaque every day, your replacement teeth may not last as long as you wish they would.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Part of keeping your mouth clean and implant friendly is making the right food choices. Too much sugar, starch, and carbohydrates encourage bacterial growth. On the other hand, nutritious foods like vegetables, fruit, lean meats, and more can strengthen your body’s ability to fight infection and keep your smile strong. We’re not saying you can’t have any sugar—just limit your consumption to preserve your dental implants and keep using them every day.

Break Bad Habits

Just as good habits can benefit your smile, bad ones can threaten it. After all, your implants are not indestructible. Tendencies like biting your nails or opening packages with your teeth can put excessive pressure on your implants and increase the chances of failure. Do your best to end these things.

Although some serious habits can pose a huge challenge to stop, such as smoking, vaping, or using tobacco, these can put your implants at risk of failure. If you need help, seek assistance from your loved ones, friends, and even mental health professionals or addiction specialists.

Protect Your Dental Implants

A blow to the mouth can knock out a dental implant, which means that wearing a mouthguard is a great idea, particularly when you plan to play or participate in a contact sport or other activity like skateboarding. A custom mouthguard especially absorbs the hit, helping to lower the impact to your dental implants as well as your brain.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Again, although your prosthetic teeth will never develop cavities, your gum health is essential for the longevity of your implants. As a result, you need to continue coming in for regular checkups with us. We can identify early signs of infection and take care of the issue before it endangers your full smile.