When you lose your teeth to gum disease, we want to not only manage the disease, but address the gaps in your smile. With dental implants, we can offer lifelike and biocompatible replacement that can last for years to come. In today’s blog, your Encinitas/San Diego, CA, periodontist explains the process of placing dental implants.
The Link Between Gum Health and Tooth Loss
How does periodontal disease lead to tooth loss? Your gums frame your smile and help support your teeth. When periodontal disease reaches a more advanced stage, known as periodontitis, this could weaken and destroy the bone tissue supporting the teeth, leading to adult tooth loss. In addition, the weakening bone structure could increase the risk of a prematurely aged appearance too. Which is why treating and managing periodontal disease is so essential for keeping your smile whole. But once you have lost teeth, we can help with dental implants.
Preparing Your Smile for New Teeth
First, we need to carefully examine the smile with advanced digital technology, so our team assesses the state of the disease and recommends care to manage it and prevent implant failure. We then look at the jawbone. If it is too weak to support one or more dental implants, then we can conduct laser-assisted ridge augmentation to strengthen the lower jaw. The position, depth, and angles of the dental implants will be decided based on the digital images we take of your smile. We want to ensure proper stability and long-lasting results!
Placing and Restoring New Teeth
When the time comes for placement, our team will administer a local anesthesia and sedation to help you enter a deep state of calm and relaxation, so the placement process is comfortable. We then insert the implant posts, which are made from biocompatible titanium, into the jaw. These act as new roots, which stimulates the growth of jawbone tissues to preserve your smile. Once the posts are in place, we will attach an abutment to them that extends above the gum line and enables us to attach a restoration. This completes an individual one. But if you have more severe tooth loss, we could discuss bridges or even fixed dentures.
If you have any questions about how we place dental implants or about managing gum disease, then contact our team today. We want to help you enjoy a whole and healthy smile, one free of major concerns like gum disease and tooth loss.
Talk to Dr. Kania About Tooth Replacement
We can offer our patients durable and lifelike replacement for missing teeth. To learn more about treating your tooth loss, or to schedule your appointment, give us a call at our office in Encinitas, CA today at 760-642-0711.