Warren, New Jersey Dental Implants - Warren Oral Surgery
New Jersey's Premiere Dental Implant Specialist - Improve your quality of life.
Once you learn about dental implants, you will finally realize there is a way to improve your life, whether you have lost several teeth due to current circumstances or whether you have lived without teeth for years.
What Are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are artificial tooth replacements that are used to counter tooth loss. It is generally made of titanium and covered with a porcelain crown or a bridge to give the appearance of real teeth.
Dental implants are changing the way people live. They are designed to provide a foundation for replacement teeth which look, feel and function like natural teeth. The person who has lost teeth regains the ability to eat virtually anything, knowing that teeth appear natural and that facial contours will be preserved. Patients with dental implants can smile with confidence.
Although you have a number of restorative options for the treatment of missing teeth, none have proven to be as functionally effective and durable as implants. In many cases, dental implants may be the only logical choice for the restoration of all necessary functionality of the teeth and supporting structures.
Why Dental Implants?
Dental implants are the new standard of care. They are the most predictable and conservative ways of replacing missing teeth with the best long term success. Implants do not decay, and adjacent healthy teeth do not require crowns to support them. And because it is easy to clean and floss between implants, the gum tissue and underlying bone are more likely to remain healthy. Dental implants can be your doorway to renewed self-confidence and peace of mind.
Are You A Candidate For Dental Implants?
If you are considering implants, your mouth must be examined thoroughly and your medical and dental history reviewed. If you mouth is not ideal for implants, ways of improving outcome, such as bone grafting, may be recommended.
Do Dental Implants Need Special Care?
Once the implants are in place, they will serve you well for many years if you take care of them and keep your mouth healthy. This means taking the time for good oral hygiene (brushing and flossing) and keeping regular appointments with your dentist. Patients should have a professional dental cleaning and check up every 6 months.
The Surgical Procedure
For many patients, the placement of dental implants involves only one surgical procedure. First, implants are placed within your jawbone and allowed to bond with your jaw bone for about 3 months. You will be able to wear a temporary prosthesis during this 3 month period so that you never have to be without teeth; we have a high regard for the esthetics and facial appearance of our patients.
After the implant has bonded to the jawbone, the second phase begins. Now your dentist will attach an abutment to the implant which will act as anchor for the artificial teeth. The crown will then be cemented or screwed into the post achieving a highly esthetic final result. The entire combined procedure, by our Oral Surgeon and your Dentist, usually takes about 4 months. Most patients experience minimal disruption in their daily life.
Surgical Advances
Utilizing the most recent advances in dental implant technology, our surgeons sometimes are able to extract a tooth and place an implant at the same time. However, sometimes this is not possible and the extraction site needs to be augmented with bone prior to implant placement. The augmented bone needs to bond to your jaw bone for about 3 months prior to implant placement. The bone utilized is mostly from a cadaver that has gone through rigorous processes to ensure an infection free environment. There has not been one reported case of a transmissible disease with the cadaveric bone. We can utilize your own bone as donor bone but this creates an additional surgical site.
There are select cases where we can place implants and provide an immediate restoration that same day. This is sometimes referred to as teeth in a day or immediate loading. The advantage is that the patient does not have to wait that 3 month period for the implants to bond to the bone prior to placing the teeth on the implants. In summary, the patient comes in the office has the implants and teeth placed that day without ever having to go one day without a prosthesis (teeth). The quantity and quality of the jaw bone has to be very good for us to utilize this highly efficacious and esthetic technique.
Who Performs The Dental Implant Placement?
Implants are a team effort between an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and a Restorative Dentist. While one of our surgeons performs the actual implant surgery, initial tooth extractions and bone grafting if necessary, the restorative dentist (your dentist) fits and makes the permanent prosthesis. Your dentist will also make any temporary prosthesis needed during the implant process.
What Type Of Prosthesis Are Available?
A single prosthesis (crown) is used to replace one missing tooth – each prosthetic tooth attaches to its own implant. A partial prosthesis (fixed bridge) can replace two or more teeth and may require only two or three implants. A complete dental prosthesis (fixed bridge) replaces all the teeth in your upper or lower jaw. The number of implants varies depending upon which type of complete prosthesis (removable or fixed) is recommended.
A removable prosthesis (overdenture) has attachments that engage into the implants. The prosthesis can be removed for easy cleansability by the patient, whereas a fixed prosthesis is permanent and removable only by the dentist. Many patients with ill-fitting lower dentures greatly benefit from an overdenture. A complete lower denture many times will necessitate the daily use of cumbersome denture adhesives. Many times even with the best made lower denture and adhesives, the lower denture exhibits gross movement and a lack of stability during function (speech and chewing). The placement of just two implants in the lower jaw can transform a previously non-functional and ill-fitting lower denture to one that is extremely stable and functional. The patient may now discard the denture adhesives and not have to worry about the denture moving during function.
Our surgeons perform in-office implant surgery in a hospital-style operating suite, thus optimizing the level of sterility. Inpatient hospital implant surgery is for patients who have special medical or anesthetic needs or for those who need extensive bone grafting.
Pre-Prosthetic Surgery
The preparation of your mouth before the placement of a prosthesis is referred to as pre-prosthetic surgery. Some patients require minor oral surgical procedures before the placement of implants. There may be problematic teeth that need to be extracted, bone grafting procedures (bone augmentation) and/or gum grafting to augment the gum tissue.