Dental Implants – Virginia Beach, VA

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

During your first appointment for dental implants, one of our dentists will sit down with you to discuss your specific needs. Not only does this give our team a chance to confirm specific aspects of your care, (i.e. how many teeth you need to replaced, which ones, etc.) but whether or not you are eligible to receive dental implants in the first place. For example, if you need preparatory treatments to receive dental implants, such as gum therapy or bone grafts, we’ll be able to determine that during the earliest phases of the planning process.

Dental Implant Surgery

One of the dentists at Smile by Design of Virginia Beach will refer you to a specialist for the initial phase of your dental implant procedure. During minor oral surgery, this specialist will administer local anesthetic to remove any sensations during treatment. Then, they make a small incision in your gum tissue in order to insert a small titanium post into the bone. This ensures that your new tooth is as strong as the teeth you already have. Finally, the gum tissue is stitched closed and given time to heal.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment

The beauty of a dental implant is that this post mimics the form and purpose of a natural tooth root. As you heal from your surgery, the post and surrounding bone tissue fuse together to create a firm anchor for the tooth restoration that will eventually be attached to the implant.  This fusion process is known as osseointegration and it is the foundation for your long-term tooth replacement. Moreover, the implant ensures that your jaw remains healthy by stimulating it to generate new bone cells. This also prevents the jawbone from breaking down and changing shape, a common side effect of tooth loss.

Once the implant has fully fused, you’ll go back to the specialist to have the abutment placed. After reopening your gum tissue, this metal connector is attached to the implant so the future restoration can be placed.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)

Once enough time has passed and your bone tissue has successfully joined with the post, your Smile by Design of Virginia Beach dentist will be able to attach your permanent new crown, bridge, or denture, which was handcrafted to match your other teeth in size and color. That way, no one but you and our office will know you even had teeth replaced to begin with! If you’d like to whiten your other teeth before your crown is attached, we have Zoom! whitening available to remove stains on your teeth.

Day-to-Day Benefits

• Eat all your favorite foods again: Options like dentures and dental bridges only restore 25-30% of your biting power. Dental implants can restore 85% or more of your natural biting force, allowing you to easily and comfortably eat all your favorite foods once again.
• Drink what you like without worry: Drinking hot beverages can potentially warp dentures. With dental implants, you don’t have to worry about that at all!
• Vastly improved comfort: Dental implants are built and situated like natural teeth, which means they’re just as comfortable! Meanwhile, other options tend to cause gum irritation and tooth sensitivity.
• Regain a complete, confident smile: Each restoration is carefully custom-made from beautiful, high-quality materials to look incredibly lifelike. Once placed, your dental implant will be practically indistinguishable from the rest of your smile!
• Stability you can count on: Since dental implants are anchored into your jawbone, they will never slip or pop out of place at embarrassing times.

Health Benefits

• Prevent jawbone deterioration: Since dental implants replace the roots of a missing teeth as well as its crown, they prevent jawbone deterioration that naturally comes with tooth loss.
• Preserve a youthful appearance: Many people who suffer from tooth loss develop an aged, sunken appearance in their facial features. Preserving your jawbone with dental implants prevents this.
• Easily maintain great oral health: Dental implants can be cared for just as easily as natural teeth, which encourages better oral health and in turn, better systemic health as well.

Long-Term Benefits

• Live longer: A complete smile can help you live longer. Studies show that those with 20 teeth or more at the age of 70 have a considerably higher chance of living longer than those with less than 20 teeth at that age.
• Reliable, long-term success: Even 10 years after their placement, dental implants boast a success rate of over 95%. With the right care, they can easily last a lifetime.
• Save time and money on your smile: While dental implants have a higher initial cost than options like dentures and dental bridges, they are more cost-effective in the long run since you won’t have to replace them, repair them, or use special products to clean them.

There are plenty of reasons why dental implants are becoming more and more popular every year! If you have more questions about how dental implants can potentially change your life, don’t hesitate to give us a call!

Who is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

To be clear, our practice will determine your candidacy at the consultation. This visit lets us perform an oral exam to see if you have certain qualifying factors. The most common of these elements include:

• Good Overall Health - Placing implants counts as a minor surgery, meaning your body needs strength to bear it. Otherwise, your odds of post-surgery complications increase.
• Great Oral Health - If you suffer from gum disease or cavities, your implants will fail soon after placement. Given that fact, oral problems should be addressed before surgery.
• Sufficient Jawbone Density – Implants rely on the jawbone for support. That being the case, your jaw’s bone tissue needs to be highly dense for successful placement.

Should you not be a good candidate now, you can qualify for implants later. Just get preliminary work like tooth extractions, gum disease therapy, or bone grafting. From there, you’ll have the necessary support to handle implants based on how many teeth you lack.

Missing One Tooth

If you only lack one tooth, a single implant post and crown is the best option. The implant can be attached to an all-porcelain crown using an abutment. The result would be a new, free-standing tooth that doesn’t “lean” on other teeth to stay in place. It thus doesn’t require any enamel to be removed.

Given an implant’s security and stability, patients can enjoy a tooth that works seamlessly with the rest of their smile.

Missing Multiple Teeth

Are you missing more than one tooth in a row? In that case, two implants fused to a pontic can replace the missing teeth, as well as support the surrounding ones. The resulting device – an implant bridge – would then seamlessly fill the gap.

Notably, an implant bridge is much more cost-effective than replacing each tooth with an individual implant. Furthermore, it’s much more natural-looking and stable than a traditional one.

Missing All Teeth

Perhaps you’re missing a large number of teeth, or maybe contend with an ill-fitting denture slipping out of place. If so, you should seriously consider implant dentures.

Implant dentures secure directly to the jawbone with implants, making them far more stable than other prosthetics. Plus, these dentures can restore an entire arch of teeth in just one visit. All it takes is the patented All-on-4 procedure and you’ll have a full smile again.

Learn More About Implant Dentures