What Is Dental Implant Restoration?

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If you are dealing with missing teeth, dental implant restorations may be a great way to effectively restore your smile.

Because of their structure, dental implants will perfectly blend in with the rest of your natural teeth and help support jaw bone health. 

Keep on reading to learn everything you need to know about dental implant restorations.

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How Do Dental Implant Restorations Work?

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Dental implants are made up of three elements:

• Metal post - This is the artificial root and gets inserted into the jaw bone to replace the missing tooth;

• Abutment - Connect the metal post to the dental crown, and helps absorb some of the pressure put on the tooth when chewing;

• Dental crown - The visible part of the dental restoration which helps complete your smile.
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Implant surgery involves making a small incision into the gum and inserting the metal post. While the surgery itself is pretty straightforward, you will need around 6 months to heal from it. Once the metal post is inserted, the body kickstarts a process called osseointegration, where the bone and other tissues fuse to the implant and keep it in place.

Once you are fully healed, the metal post is ready to receive the abutment and crown, which will take around 2-3 additional weeks.

Dental implants have lots of great benefits, such as:

• Restoring the smile’s natural appearance
• Helping support overall oral health and jaw bone health
• Permanently replacing missing teeth
• Providing easy maintenance, which mostly involves proper oral hygiene, etc.

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What Are the Different Types of Implant Restorations?

Depending on the extent of tooth loss you’re experiencing, you may need different types of dental implant restorations:

• Single implants - These are single artificial teeth, usually used for patients who are dealing with one missing tooth, or several ones that are placed further apart;

• Bridges - If you are missing two-three teeth in a row, the surgeon may recommend an implant bridge. It’s a prosthetic that replaces multiple teeth at once, which can be more cost-effective than getting several individual implants;

• Full or partial implant-supported dentures - For patients with more extensive dental damage, replacing the full or partial arch may be more beneficial. The procedure involves getting 3-4 metal posts strategically inserted throughout the jaw, then attaching a full or partial implant on top to restore the patient’s smile.

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How to Know Which Implant Restoration Is Right for You

Dr. Mary Qian can help you discover which dental implant restoration is suitable to give you back a healthy and stunning smile.
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You will need to go through a thorough oral health assessment which will allow Dr. Qian to see the full extent of your dental damage. This will help reveal the most optimal treatment plan for you.

To get started, book a dental implant restoration appointment at Mary Qian Dental Group online, or call us at (650) 327-3172 for a short chat.