You’ve had your dentures for a while now, and they are starting to be on your mind more and more. You find yourself worrying about them when eating or speaking, and frankly—you’re tired of having to take them out to clean them every single night. While these issues are certainly better compared to dealing with missing teeth, you do have an option that could solve everything—dental implants. Many people in your situation choose to upgrade, and their only regret is that they didn’t do it sooner. But what is the process like? Keep reading to get a quick, step-by-step guide.
Step 1: Exam
First things first—you should reach out to a dentist and let them know you’re interested in transitioning from dentures to dental implants. They’ll ask you to come in for an exam where they’ll look at the overall health of your mouth, paying particular attention to the strength and density of your jawbone.
Step 2: Bone Graft
Dental implants need adequate jawbone to keep them stable and secure. Most denture patients have experienced some degree of bone resorption, or a natural shrinking and weakening of the jaw. This is the result of it not receiving stimulus or blood flow due to the lack of natural teeth. A bone graft uses tissue from another part of a patient’s body or donated tissue to build up the area of the jaw that will hold dental implants.
Step 3: Placement Surgery
It typically takes three to six months for a bone graft to cause new tissue growth, and once the mouth is ready, the dental implant posts will be placed. This is a relatively minor surgery, and a temporary denture will be placed on the implants during healing so the patient doesn’t have to go without teeth.
Step 4: Osseointegration
The reason that dental implants are so successful is because they naturally meld with the bone around them through a process called osseointegration. While your mouth will heal relatively quickly following the surgery, osseointegration may take several months before the posts are ready to hold your final denture. During this time, a patient will be asked to alter their diet, focusing on soft foods before gradually introducing heartier items as the implants stabilize.
Step 5: Final Denture
At this point, the dental implants are ready to be attached to a patient’s final denture. Getting the right look and feel may require multiple fittings that happen during the end of the healing process. Once in place, the denture will be fixed and can only be removed by the dentist.
With dental implants, a patient will enjoy a much stronger bite force compared to dentures (meaning they can eat anything they want) on top of clearer speech, and maintenance only involves routine brushing and flossing. Altogether, this process can take close to a year, but implants can easily last for 30+ years while helping patients look and feel like their teeth never went missing.
About the Author
Dr. Michael Kirk has been taking care of Oklahoma City smiles for more than 30 years as a trusted implant dentist. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, he went on to earn a certificate in dental implantology from the University of Texas, and he also holds Fellowship status in the International Congress of Oral Implantologists, making him one of the leading implant dentists in the state.
If you’d like to learn more about dental implants in Oklahoma City and what they could do for you, contact Grand Dental Studio today.