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Dental Implants

Your teeth have many important responsibilities. If you suffer tooth loss, replacing those teeth is important for maintaining normal functioning of your mouth as well as your quality of life. Replacing missing teeth used to mean either a bridge or a denture. Today, you have more options. Aesthetic Dentistry of Bend – Thomas E. Wold, DMD can meet a variety of different tooth replacement needs with dental implants.

Modern-Day Tooth Replacement

For many years, replacing missing teeth meant either a bridge or a denture. Dental implants are a modern solution for replacing missing teeth. The result of an accidental discovery in the 1950s, dental implants use small titanium posts that are surgically placed into your jawbone to provide support for your replacement teeth. Your bone fuses to the titanium as you heal, integrating the material into your jaw. This turns the posts into sturdy replacement roots that hold your new teeth, made from ceramic, securely in place.

Versatility For Many Needs

Dental implants can be used to meet many different needs. We offer several different types of dental implants, including:
  • Single tooth. A single tooth implant replaces an individual tooth. One post supports a single ceramic crown.
  • Multiple teeth. A multiple tooth implant, or implant supported bridge, replace two or more consecutive teeth.
  • Full arch restorations. A full arch restoration replaces an entire arch of teeth. Typically, this restoration requires the use of 6 to 8 implant posts to hold the arch in place.
  • All-on-4® Treatment Concept. All-on-4 is a full arch restoration that is used when your jawbone is too weak to support the usual number of implant posts. When the bone is too weak, the posts may fail. The failure of even one post could mean the failure of the entire restoration. With All-on-4, we use only 4 posts, which are placed to take advantage of your existing bone mass, maximizing bone fusion without the need for a bone graft.

The Process Of Placing Dental Implants

Surgery is required to place dental implants. This procedure is generally done under a local anesthetic and sedation, which ensure your comfort during treatment. We create incisions in your gums to gain access to your jawbone. Small holes are drilled into the bone, and the titanium posts are placed inside. Your gums are then sutured closed, and temporary teeth are set into place. Healing from dental implant surgery can take several weeks to several months. During this time, your bone gradually fuses to the titanium posts, integrating them into your jaw. Several follow up visits during your recovery allow us to monitor your healing and make sure that there are no complications. Once you have fully healed, we then design and create your final dental restorations. When they are ready, the teeth are secured into place with small screws.

Benefits Of Dental Implants

  • Your ceramic crowns look exactly like your real teeth, perfectly restoring the quality of your smile and boosting your confidence.
  • Dental implants feel and function exactly like your natural teeth. You can bite and normally chew, which aids in improving digestion and nutrition. Your speech is also restored without the need to adjust how you speak to accommodate a foreign object.
  • Your teeth are held securely in place. They will not move around or fall out.
  • You can brush and floss your implants exactly like your natural teeth.
  • The posts restore stimulation to your jawbone, stopping and preventing bone loss in your jaw.

Sinus Lift

Sinus cavities are air-filled pockets in your head that are lined with a thin layer of soft tissue called mucosa. There are several of these cavities located around your nose. The maxillary sinus cavities, which are the largest of these cavities, are located right behind your cheeks. The roots of some of your molars extend up toward the floors of these cavities, separated only by a layer of bone. If these teeth are lost, the layer of bone could become thin, making the placement of Dental Implants more difficult. Aesthetic Dentistry of Bend – Thomas E. Wold, DMD can increase the success of dental implants for these teeth with a sinus lift.

What Happens To Your Jaw After Tooth Loss?

One of the roles of your teeth is to provide stimulation for your jawbone. This stimulation occurs every time you chew, and it tells your body to send the nutrients required to keep it strong and healthy. Following tooth loss, your jawbone loses some stimulation, which results in fewer nutrients being sent. Over time, the jaw begins to lose bone mass and weaken. It also begins to change shape, which alters your bite and can lead to issues such as bruxism and TMJ disorder.

Dental Implants And Your Maxillary Sinus Cavities

Dental Implants are a popular treatment used to replace missing teeth. We surgically place small titanium posts into your jawbone. Your bone fuses to the posts, integrating them into your jaw, and enabling them to provide your new teeth with stability. When you do not have enough bone mass, however, your jawbone may not be able to fuse properly, which can result in loose implant posts and implant failure. When you lose teeth in your upper jaw, particularly near the back of your mouth, you face an additional issue. The bone that separates your jaw from your maxillary sinus cavities becomes thin. Not only is it less able to fuse properly, but implants placed in this condition can also pierce your sinus cavities, leading to chronic sinus infections. It can also lead to the failure of your implant treatment.

Sinus Lift For Dental Implants

Just because the bone is thin, this does not mean you cannot receive dental implants. To make implants possible in this region of your mouth, we may recommend a sinus lift. A sinus lift is a surgical procedure that is done to restore missing bone mass and create greater separation between the jawbone and your sinus cavities. A sinus lift requires a surgical procedure and a bone graft. Surgery begins with small incisions in your gums, right near your premolars and molars. We then make incisions in your jawbone. Small tools are used to lift the floors of your sinus cavities, creating an empty space underneath. Bone grafting material is placed in this space. As you heal, your existing bone fuses to the graft, restoring strength and distance. Once you have fully healed, your implants can be placed in more successful treatment.

Types Of Bone Grafts For A Sinus Lift

To perform a sinus lift, we need to also perform a bone graft. There are a few different types of bone grafts that may be performed, including:
  • Autogenic. An autogenic graft uses bone mass taken from your own body.
  • Allogenic. An allogenic graft uses donor tissue from another human.
  • Xenogenic. A xenogenic graft uses bone mass from a non-human source. The bone is typically harvested from a cow.