What Are Dental Implants?
If you have never heard of dental implants, you are not alone. Dental implants are pieces of titanium that are surgically implanted into your jawbone to act as roots for your missing teeth. At Integrative Holistic Dentistry, we use our dental implants in Chapel Hill, NC to provide support for artificial teeth such as dentures, crowns, and bridges. Because they are implanted into your jaw, dental implants will not slip or cause any damage to your mouth or your jawbone and, after some time, you won’t even know they’re there!
Integrative Holistic Dentistry uses metal-free dental implants, typically made with zirconia. These implants offer many benefits, including:
A strong success rate: Zirconia implants have the same success rate as titanium implants and are perfect for our patients with metal allergies.
A natural appearance: Ceramic implants have a more natural-looking appearance than standard metal implants.
A shortened surgery and recovery time: Zirconia is easier to implant than metal, meaning that surgery is quicker and recovery is easier.
Reduced plaque adhesion: Plaque has a tougher time adhering to zirconia implants which can reduce gum and tooth infections.
How Do Missing Teeth Impact Nutrition?
Missing teeth can be unattractive and uncomfortable, but did you know that they can also impact your overall nutrition? When you’re missing teeth, it becomes harder to chew your food, and many of the most nutritious foods, such as fruits and vegetables, can become tough for you to chew if you don’t have a full set of teeth.
Even worse, missing teeth can make you gain weight. And while not all soft foods are inherently unhealthy, many “comfort food” choices, like soft bread and applesauce, contain lots of sugar which can have adverse effects on your health.
Those who suffer from pain while eating hard-to-chew foods often gravitate toward foods that they know won’t hurt to eat. This can result in nutritional deficiencies because the person is repeatedly eating the same things and likely missing essential vitamins and nutrients. To keep your entire body happy and healthy, you need to make sure your mouth is healthy, too.
Our Dental Implant Procedure in Chapel Hill
The idea of getting our dental implants in Chapel Hill may sound scary, but if you understand the process of how our dentists replace your missing teeth, it may seem a bit less daunting. Here is what you can expect during the dental implant procedure.
1. Evaluation
Before your procedure begins, you’ll spend time with our Chapel Hill dentist, Dr. Ralph Mensah for an initial evaluation. He’ll examine your mouth and decide on your next steps and a treatment plan that suits your oral care needs.
2. Tooth Extraction
If you’ll need to have one or multiple teeth extracted before your implants are placed, your doctor will typically put you under local anesthesia to keep you pain-free while removing your teeth. Typically, all you will feel is a small tug and then the extraction will be over!
3. Jaw Preparation
Once your tooth or teeth are removed, it’s time for us to prepare your jaw for the implant. This is typically done via a bone graft and is done so that your new implant will stay safely in place after insertion.
4. Inserting the Dental Implant
After extracting your tooth and preparing your jaw for the implant, you would need to wait 4-6 months to heal and have the bone graft fuse with your natural bone before placing the implant. During this waiting period, there will be a few appointments to check the progress of the bone to ensure proper healing and the development of new bone required for the implant.
Once you’ve grown enough new bone to support the implant, your dentist will cut your gum away to access your jawbone for implant placement—but don’t worry—you won’t feel a thing! Even though you’ll likely have local anesthesia for tooth removal, you’ll have the option of going under general anesthesia for the actual implant insertion procedure.
At Integrative Holistic Dentistry, we utilize the most cutting-edge technology to perform all dental implant surgeries using a surgical guide. Using cone beam computer tomography (CBCT) imaging and digital impressions, we can fabricate a surgical guide that yields no variability in the implant location. As a result, you will have a properly placed implant that will provide the best possible restoration once the implant has fused to your jawbone.
5. Healing Process
Once the implant is inserted, your dentist will stitch your incisions up so that the new implant can heal and your gums can grow around it. In many cases, you’ll wait 3-6 months to allow the implant to heal and fuse with your bone before you can return for your crown placement.
6. Crown Placement
Finally, once your mouth has healed, your dentist will place a fake tooth or a crown that matches the shape, size, and color of your existing teeth on the implant. Once completed, the look and function of your tooth is restored.
Will Dental Implants Improve How I Eat?
If you’ve been suffering from tooth pain due to missing teeth while eating, affordable dental implants can help end your agony. Dental implants will give you a new lease on life and allow you to eat the food you love without pain and trouble chewing. You’ll finally be able to eat the things you enjoy and even add some healthier, crunchy foods back into your diet.
However, it is important to ease into eating extremely sticky or crunchy foods immediately following your procedure because you may still feel pain and tenderness while your mouth is healing. After some time, you’ll be able to eat normally and your smile will look better too!
Dental Implant Treatment in Chapel Hill
If dental implants are in your future and you’re looking for dentists that perform implants near you, our dental implants in Chapel Hill, NC may be right for you. You’ll get the best dental implants available in a stress-free, friendly dental office.
Take a holistic approach to your dental care and keep your teeth beautiful and healthy for years to come. Contact us today to learn more about dental implants!