Dental Implants – Westfield, MA
A Lasting Solution for Tooth Loss
For children, losing a tooth is often exciting. But for adults, it’s always a devastating event. Permanent teeth are intended to last your entire life; if they’re lost, they don’t grow back. Even if only one tooth is missing, it can still have a major impact on your oral health and your quality of life. While you can fill in the space with dentures and dental bridges, both of these restorations will likely need to be replaced every few years. Dental implants, on the other hand, offer a more permanent solution to tooth loss and are often seen as the next best thing to getting your natural teeth back. Reach out to EMA Dental of Westfield today to schedule your initial tooth replacement consultation and find out if dental implants in Westfield are the right option for you.
Why Choose EMA Dental of Westfield for Dental Implants?
- Prosthodontic Specialist and Experienced Team
- Dental Implant Placement Performed In-House
- Variety of Dental Insurance Plans Accepted
What Are Dental Implants?
A dental implant doesn’t look like a tooth on its own; instead, it’s a small post that resembles a screw. Most dental implants are made out of titanium, which is a very biocompatible material. When dental implant posts are placed in your jaw, they can form a strong bond with the surrounding bone tissue, allowing them to provide your replacement teeth with unmatched strength and stability. Also, the stimulation from the implants will help prevent bone loss in the jaw.
A small connector piece called an abutment is used to secure a customized restoration to the implant post. The number of posts required and the type of restoration used depends on how many teeth are missing. For example, a single tooth can be replaced by one implant and a crown; multiple missing teeth may call for a full denture and a minimum of four strategically placed implant posts.
The 4-Step Dental Implant Process
The dental implant process isn’t exactly the same for everybody, but it virtually always follows these four steps:
- First, we hold an initial consultation to examine your mouth and confirm that you can have dental implant surgery performed. Before moving on to the next step, bone grafts and other preliminary treatments might be required.
- Next, the dental implant posts are surgically placed in your jaw. For your convenience, we can perform dental implant surgery right here at our Westfield dental office instead of referring you to a specialist.
- After the surgery, a process called osseointegration occurs; the implants fuse with the jawbone over the next three to six months. Then abutments are attached to each post.
- Once your mouth has completely healed from the previous steps, we can design the final restoration, which will be attached to your implant(s) during one last appointment.
Benefits of Dental Implants
Why do so many dentists recommend dental implants? Simply put, the treatment has many unique benefits. It’s the only kind of tooth replacement that can act as new tooth roots, thus helping you maintain a healthy jawbone while also giving your new smile enough stability to handle all kinds of foods. Furthermore, dental implant posts have a very long lifespan. In fact, it’s not unusual for somebody to keep the same dental implants for the rest of their life.
Who Dental Implants Can Help
Regardless of how many teeth are missing, dental implants can be a viable choice for completing your grin and restoring your ability to eat, speak, and smile without issue. To determine whether you’re a good candidate for dental implants, we’ll need to evaluate the current state of your oral health. Sometimes preparations need to be made to ensure a successful dental implant process. If dental implants are right for you, the treatment will be customized depending on how many teeth have been lost.
Missing One Tooth
A dental implant can be placed in the gap where the missing tooth used to be. Once your mouth is finished healing, we can start the process of designing a custom crown. For the most lifelike results, our crowns are made out of materials that closely resemble natural enamel, including the way they reflect the light. The crown will feel very comfortable alongside your natural teeth, and it can completely fill in the space in your mouth to prevent dental drift.
Missing Multiple Teeth
We can use a bridge supported by two dental implants to replace multiple consecutive missing teeth. Implant bridges are very lifelike and allow you to fill in larger gaps with a single treatment. One of the most important advantages of implant bridges is that they don’t require any changes to your natural teeth. Instead of being placed on abutment teeth (which would require us to remove some enamel), the bridge gets all the support it needs from the expertly placed dental implant posts, letting you restore your smile while protecting your natural dental structures.
Missing All of Your Teeth
Only a few strategically placed implants are needed to support all of your teeth at once. A full denture can be reliably supported with just four to eight implant posts. Implant dentures tend to be much more comfortable than removable ones, and they stay secure in your mouth. Whether you’re chewing your favorite foods or having an important conversation at work, you can rely on your teeth to stay exactly where they need to be. At our office, you can choose between fixed implant dentures and removable ones. A fixed denture can be brushed the same way as your natural teeth, but a removable denture will require fewer implant posts.
Mini Dental Implants
A mini dental implant is very similar to a traditional implant except it is significantly smaller. This is typically a good option for patients who want to enjoy the benefits of implant dentures but don’t have enough bone density in their jaws for a traditional implant procedure. Furthermore, mini implants tend to be a less costly option, and your mouth will recover faster after the surgery. Feel free to ask if mini dental implants might be a good choice for your smile.
Accelerated Dental Implants
The traditional dental implant process can take months and requires several appointments; consequently, it can leave you without a full set of teeth for a while. But at EMA Dental of Westfield, we have a modern implant solution that will let you enjoy a complete smile much sooner! Dr. Mariano is a prosthodontic specialist who is an expert in performing both TEETH-IN-A-DAY™ and TEETH-IN-AN-HOUR™ treatments, which allow you to get new teeth on the same day as your dental implant surgery. If you’re interested in accelerated dental implant treatment, schedule a consultation with our team today.
Understanding the Cost of Dental Implants
It’s probably not a surprise that dental implants usually cost more than traditional dentures and bridges. The exact price can vary since every dental implant treatment is different. The number of teeth that have been lost, the number of implant posts required, and the necessity of preliminary treatments like gum disease therapy and bone grafting can all affect the amount you end up paying. The cost of dental implants can be a worthwhile investment in the long run, though; since the implant posts can last for decades, you won’t have to pay for replacements as often as you would with other restorations, if ever.