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Dental Implants Naples, FL

When you need a tooth or several teeth extracted, or they fall out on their own, it might feel overwhelming, but we want you to know that it’s not the end of your smile. Massa Dental Center offers a range of tooth replacement options to help you look and feel great. Dental implants are the best way to replace teeth because they’re secured to your jaw, giving you the most natural-feeling replacement option. Find out if they are right for you.

Are you missing teeth? Contact Massa Dental Center by calling (239) 597-7333 to determine if dental implants are the right tooth replacement option for your smile.

Dental Implants Naples, FL2024-02-21T10:50:19-07:00

What Are Dental Implants?

Dental implants are tiny titanium posts resembling screws that our implant dentists surgically place in your jawbone to replace missing teeth. Once placed, your jawbone will bond with the posts to create a stable and strong foundation. Replacement teeth are then attached to the dental implants. The result is a stable tooth replacement that feels like a natural tooth.

What Is The Cost?

Although dental implants are a great procedure, the price puts many patients off. Before you write off implants altogether, take a few factors into consideration. To start, your dental insurance may cover a portion of your procedure. This can cut the price down. Prices also vary per patient. This is because not all patients need the same number of implants or have the same procedures. Although your sister paid thousands of dollars for her implants, yours might not be the same.

Lastly, dental implants offer benefits you can’t get with any other treatment. When you weigh the health benefits and consider that your implants will last you the rest of your life, the investment is well worth the money.

Benefits of Implant Dentistry

mature adult man smiling with teethDental implants offer a wide variety of benefits to patients, including:

  • Natural feeling
  • Comfortable
  • Effective biting and chewing
  • Durability
  • Convenience
  • Improved self-esteem
  • Improved appearance
  • Maintain bone in the jaw

Dental implants are so much like natural teeth that many people forget they have them. It’s like getting your natural teeth back–that’s how natural they look, feel, and function. You’ll be able to eat all your favorite foods, have a smile that you’ll be proud to show off, and make minimal changes to your daily hygiene routine. 

Who’s a Good Candidate?

If you think dental implants sound like a good tooth replacement option for your smile, visit us to find out if you’re a good candidate. Generally, most patients are good candidates if they have good oral health and adequate bone in their jaw. If there is not enough bone to hold implants in place, we can use smaller implants or give you a bone graft to help you qualify for the procedure. We will also check to see if you have a medical condition that may cause implants to fail.

Dental Implants Procedure

Your dental implant procedure will consist of five steps starting with your consultation with our implant dentists, who handle all implant treatments at Massa Dental Center. 

Consultation and Evaluation

During your consultation, he will give you a full oral exam and take x-rays and a cone beam CAT (computerized axial tomography) scan, also called a CBCT, to determine if you have sufficient bone density in your jaw. If you have enough jawbone, he will move on to the next step. Otherwise, he will recommend a bone graft or other procedure.

Treatment Planning

Your implant dentist will work with you to design the best implant procedure. He’ll want to understand your appearance, functional goals, and limitations imposed by your budget and timing. He will combine this information with data about the current state of your oral health to make decisions about your dental implant procedure. 

You’ll move on to the next step if you approve the treatment plan. 

Implant Placement

Next, we will place the dental implant in your jaw. Sometimes your implant dentist needs to drill a small hole to make room for the implant. Other times it can go right in the hole left after extracting a natural tooth. The implant looks like a screw and is screwed into your jaw.

Once the implant is placed, your implant dentist will evaluate its stability. We may immediately place a provisional dental crown or bridge if it’s stable enough. This is attractive and gives you a whole smile the day of your procedure, but it can also help your implant heal.

If your implants aren’t stable enough for this, we will likely place healing caps, which preserve space for the abutments in your gums. Sometimes, we will close your gums over your dental implant or implants to protect them for healing. 

Healing Period

Next in your dental implant procedure is the waiting game. For the next three to six months, osseointegration occurs where your jawbone grows around the implant to hold it in place.

We’ll give you specific instructions about how to care for your implant based on whether you have a provisional restoration. 

Permanent Restoration Placement

Once you’re healed, we will determine the next step based on whether you have a provisional restoration. Suppose you have a provisional restoration, and your implant or implants look healthy. In that case, we will simply take impressions and create a permanent restoration to replace the provisional one. 

If you don’t have a provisional restoration, your implant dentist will move on to the next step, where he attaches the abutment to the post. The abutment is the piece that connects the implant to your replacement tooth. If you have healing caps, we can simply remove these and place the abutments. If you don’t have healing caps, you will need another minor surgery to expose the implants and place healing caps. Healing from this procedure will take a few weeks before you are ready for a permanent restoration.

Our Naples, FL, implant dentists will then take impressions of your mouth to create your tooth replacement, whether that be a dental crown, bridge, or dentures. You will wear a temporary set until your permanent pair returns from the dental lab.

Once your crown or other dental restoration is ready, your implant dentist will attach it to the abutment. Your restoration will look like a natural tooth, even colored and shaped to blend in with surrounding teeth.

Follow-Up and Maintenance

Once you get your permanent restoration, care for your dental implants becomes easy. Eat a healthy diet, brush and floss daily, and make regular dental appointments for professional cleaning. 

The exact cleaning routine for your dental implants depends on their structure. It’s essentially like cleaning a natural tooth for a single crown implant, though flossing is a little more challenging. For removable dentures, you will clean them more like traditional dentures. Finding the right tools and techniques to get implants fully cleaned might take a few tries. 

At your regular checkups, your implant dentist will evaluate your oral health and recommend changes in hygiene if necessary.

Contact Our Dental Implants Dentist in Naples, FL

You’re on your way to a brand-new smile in just five steps. Although the process takes months, the results are well worth it. If you think your smile can benefit from dental implants, find out if you’re a good candidate. Call our Naples dental implants specialist to schedule a consultation today at (239) 597-7333.

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