Are You a Good Candidate For Dental Implants?

Are You a Good Candidate For Dental Implants?

Dental implants have been around for more than three decades. Each year, more and more dentists, such as Dr. Robert Wyler, your dental expert in Waukesha, WI, place implants as superior tooth replacements for patients missing any number of teeth. If you have unhealthy and unattractive smile gaps, implants could be for you!

What is a dental implant?

It's like nothing you've seen before, especially if you're accustomed to traditional prosthetics such as partial dentures, full dentures, and fixed bridgework. In contrast with implants, traditional tooth replacements cannot improve gum tissue or jaw bone density, and they typically cause some wear and tear on adjoining teeth which help to support them.

Conversely, the single-tooth implant composed of a titanium screw, metal alloy abutment and authentic porcelain crown, does everything conventional tooth replacements cannot. Because your dentist inserts the implant screw into your jaw bone, the artificial tooth gives you excellent anchorage and improved gum and bone density. This is due to how the bone literally fuses to the implant through osseointegration. No other prosthetic features this amazing natural process, and it's the reason why dental implants in Waukesha are so successful.

Are you a good candidate?

To find this out, Dr. Wyler will examine your mouth and take digital X-rays. If he determines that you are healthy and your jaw bone is dense and strong, the treatment can happen in just a few visits. Both dentist and patient must allow sufficient time between implant placement and restoration with the abutment and crown. Given this necessity, appointments are typically spaced several weeks apart so that the implant sites can heal completely and withstand the pressures of biting and chewing.

Additionally, good candidates brush and floss daily. Ideally, patients should also be non-smokers as tobacco degrades implant sites which can cause an infection called peri-implantitis. It resembles periodontitis and may ruin implant sites and necessitate removal of the devices.

Even if you are missing several teeth, you likely can receive implants. Again, jaw bone density is key, as is the condition of your remaining teeth!

Look forward to a new smile

Dental implants are a wonderful alternative to the awkward partials and dentures you keep in a cup on your bedside table. If you are motivated and patient, dental implants could be for you! Find out more during a consultation with Dr. Robert Wyler. Call his Waukesha office today to arrange your examination: (262) 784-5757.