Before we begin to discuss the kinds, let’s take a moment to understand dental implants. There are several types of procedures that can restore your smile. Those procedures can repair your teeth and improve the look and function of teeth at the same time. Dental implants are one way to address missing teeth or repair damaged teeth. If you have lost one or more teeth, you understand it can diminish your ability to enjoy meals, and more. When you have severely damaged or missing teeth it changes your face and smile. A more urgent situation is the bone loss that is happening all the time, when you have a missing tooth. The gap left behind will cause your jaw bone to deteriorate. You loose twice as much bone in the same amount of time when you have a tooth missing. When the jaw is not supporting healthy teeth, it becomes less firm and the jaw bone can weaken. Filling the gap is important, to stop unnecessary loss of bone.

Dental implants are the only procedure that is proven to help prevent deterioration of the jaw bone and stimulate bone growth. They can also reduce bone loss. Stopping the loss of your healthy bone is important. The main reason most people want an an implant is to restore the look and function of teeth. They want to improve their face and smile. Most of our patients say that they want to be able to eat, smile, laugh and talk better. They also want to stop feeling self-conscious because they have missing or damaged teeth. That’s a great benefit of dental implants. They get you back to doing and eating the things you love; they help recover your lifestyle and smile! Click here to read more about dental implants in Birmingham, AL.

Single Tooth Dental Implants

A single dental implant is the most common type of replacement tooth. It’s what most people think about when they think about replacing a missing or damaged tooth. First, an implant which looks like a screw is placed in the bone and allowed to fuse with the bone for approximately 4 months. During this time, a temporary tooth cap can be used to cover the implant base to keep your smile looking natural. After 4 months, the base will have fused with bone and a permanent tooth crown is attached to the top of the base. Now, you have a fully restored and functional replacement tooth, completing your smile. Each client will have different needs and requirements, and cases are treated on an individual basis. It begins with a discussion of your needs and how we can help. Ultimately the goal should be to end up with a tooth that will could last a lifetime, with proper care.

Multiple Tooth Dental Implants

If you have a few teeth next to each other that need to be replaced, it is common to place 2 or more implant bases and then affix a crown that has several artificial teeth fitted together. With 2 implant bases you could span a distance of 3 teeth. Spanning 3 teeth is called a bridge. While the cost of a bridge may be a little less in the beginning, they are not as durable as having 3 full, individual implants, and you may need more work done in the future, with a bridge.

Full Hybrid Permanent Dentures

Another option for people who have lost all of their upper or lower teeth is a hybrid denture. A hybrid denture is very similar to a dental implant except the entire set of dentures is fastened to six dental implants. Procedures similar to this are called “All-On-4” procedures because a full set of upper or lower teeth are permanently fastened to four (4) dental implants. Rather than the “All-On-4” process, we recommend hybrid dentures for several reasons.

We prefer hybrid dentures instead, because the “All-On-4” procedure requires the removal of large amounts of your bone to accommodate the “All-On-4” implants. We prefer not to remove any more of your bone than is necessary. Second, the hybrid denture is installed on six (6) implant bases, which can offer more stability and it reduces the need to drill deep into your bone. Drilling deep is required in the “All-On-4” procedure. Third, we prefer hybrid dentures because they are more cost-effective, resulting in savings for you. All three of those points are valuable considerations. We consider the Glidewell Laboratories’ dentures a good choice for some clients.

Give Us A Call Or Complete This Form For A Free Evaluation

The best way to begin is to let us help review your situation and then offer some helpful solutions for you to consider. Call (205) 979-0478 and you will leave our clinic with a solid idea of what options are available to you and the cost of each one. Some people would like to pay over time, and to help with that we accept CareCredit. It’s a flexible payment platform that can make payment simpler and easier. Touch here to call us at (205) 979-0478 and discuss dental implants. Read more about us and connect. We’re glad to answer your questions.