Who Is a Candidate?
Encinitas, CA
We love implants. Of course, we love implants - what's not to love? We know that dental implants give our patients a way to restore their smiles, as well as the shape of their face. We love restoring natural looking smiles to our patients. When you are able to smile, it can change your whole life. If you need to restore your smile, or you are trying to prevent major damage to your jaw due to tooth loss, you may be thinking about getting implants. Implants are a great solution, but implants are not for everyone. In fact, there are people who are not a good candidate for implants at all. If you’re wondering who would make a good candidate for implants, we’re here to tell you. Let Encinitas Periodontics & Dental Implants give you information on who would make an excellent candidate for implants.
What Are Dental Implants?
That word implants gives us images of bionic people and Luke Skywalker’s fake hand. Implants do manage to fit right in, because they are metal screws that are screwed into your mouth. A prosthetic tooth covers the screw. With implants, we can replace one tooth or several teeth. We can even give you an entire new set of teeth - upper, lower or both. Implants are great for patients who lose their teeth all at one time, or who gradually lost their teeth due to gum disease or tooth decay.
Are There Different Kinds of Dental Implants?
We use two types of dental implants. The first kind is an endosteal implant. These implants are done when we place a screw into your gum through an incision. We screw it into your jawbone. Once your screw is firmly in place, and the area has healed, we place a prosthetic tooth on top. These endosteal implants help our patients who want a permanent solution rather than bridges or partial dentures for tooth loss. There is another kind of implant available, called subperiosteal implants. These implants are placed on top of the jaw, rather than screwed into the gum. We use these implants when our patients do not have enough bone mass to support a traditional implant.
Am I A Good Candidate?
In order to determine whether or not you are a good candidate for implants, we use several different factors. First, we may ask about your medical history, because you need to be in good overall health. If you have a chronic health condition, it is more difficult to support implants. You also have to be in good oral health. If you have severe gum disease, for example, it will be difficult for you to support implants until your gum disease is treated. The good news is that if you want implants, but you are not a good candidate at the moment, there are steps you can take to make your health - your overall health and your oral health - better. If you need our help to improve your oral health, why not make an appointment to come in and see us? Are you a good candidate for an implant procedure? We can help. Give Encinitas Periodontics & Dental Implants a call at 760-632-9055. |
