Dental implants are an option for people who have lost some or all of their natural teeth. They consist of permanent titanium posts--one or several--that serve as supports for individual replacement teeth of bridges. In terms of age, anyone who has completed adolescence and thus has mature bone growth can get dental implants.
Benefits
Titanium dental implants have both cosmetic and functional advantages over dentures and traditional bridges. In terms of appearance, they are hard to distinguish from natural teeth. As a permanent tooth-replacement method, they tend to be highly durable and stable. They also function like natural teeth, allowing you to eat and drink what you'd like. Patients who have been bothered by missing teeth or by dentures that slip can achieve significant improvement in comfort and ability to chew food. Titanium implants are an option medically for anyone who can undergo routine dental care.
Time Frame
Titanium implants can generally be placed in one session, but at that point, the process is far from finished. The implants take three to six months to undergo a process called osseointegration in which the titanium fuses with the underlying jaw bone and heal. After osseointegration is complete, the dentist can install artificial teeth or crowns.
Cost
A single implant may cost anywhere between $1,000 and $5,000, according to the Consumer Guide to Dentistry. But some people need more than one implant. If you need to recreate your entire set of teeth, upper and lower, you can expect to pay between $24,000 and $100,000. Dental implants themselves tend not to be covered by insurance, according to Dr. Michael Keenan of Implant Dentistry of Washington. However, some portions of your procedure may be covered by dental or medical insurance.
Warnings
A smoking habit creates a higher chance that your implant procedure will fail, so if you smoke, there's a good chance your dentist will advise you to quit before you get titanium dental implants. Once you have the implants, proper oral hygiene is still important, despite the fact that implants and prosthetic teeth do not get cavities. The danger is that peri-implantitis--essentially, gum disease such as periodontitis--will develop and wreck your expensive dental work.
Expert Insight
When you begin to lose teeth and do not replace them, a host of problems can occur, according to Keenan. Bone loss begins and can extend throughout the mouth and cause the loss of other teeth. In addition, dental treatments, including implantation, become difficult or impossible to perform because there is less bone to anchor to. He compares it to taking a brick from the middle of a brick wall. "Eventually, the brick above starts to fall in from lack of support," Keenan says. "the bricks to the side start shifting toward each other and those eventually fall out; then the process starts all over for those bricks nearest them." The bottom line: It is best to pursue dental treatment early on.
