When you suffer from a severe case of tooth loss, then you may need more than individual dental implants. However, to prepare smiles for the placement of new dentures, we may first need to extract teeth and possibly perform jawbone grafting. In today’s blog, your Santa Rosa, CA, oral surgeons will explain how we get your smile ready for implant dentures!
The Dangers of Tooth Loss
When we begin to lose natural teeth, this makes negative changes to the health, function, and beauty of your smile. You run the risk of losing jawbone density, which causes further tooth loss and an aged appearance. Other complications could include decay, infection, misalignment, and even TMJ disorder and bruxism. However, to clear the way for an implant-supported prosthetic and a new smile, we may need to perform an extraction. After all, while we want to preserve as many natural teeth as possible, we also want to make sure complications with your remaining teeth don’t lead to further issues down the road.
Extraction
Occasionally, you may have a few left, which could prevent you from receiving a set of implant-secured dentures. Or in some cases, you may have a severely infected or damaged tooth that stands in the way of an individual dental implant or bridge, and could impact the health of surrounding teeth unless addressed. We start by planning the treatment process in great detail. With clear digital images gathered of the smile, we can make sure we remove the tooth and prepare the extraction site to receive a dental implant, making note of any nerves or sensitive tissues.
Next, we administer dental sedation and anesthesia to ensure you remain calm and comfortable throughout the process. We gently remove the tooth with forceps, preserve the site and suture it, and then send you home with special aftercare instructions.
Implant Placement and Prosthetics
When the time is ready, we will proceed with tooth replacement. We insert a biocompatible titanium post into the extraction site, where the implant post bonds with the bone tissue through a process known as osseointegration. For dentures, we can often complete the entire process in one visit, inserting the posts and attaching a prosthetic with abutments. You then enjoy a full smile, with a durable and stable denture that never slips and lasts for decades to come. If you have any questions about extraction or implant placement, then please contact our team today to discuss possible solutions.
Do You Have Questions About The Implant Process?
Our team knows that a full smile is the key to good oral health and improved quality of life. To learn more about preparing smiles for tooth replacement, then schedule a consultation by calling Santa Rosa Oral Surgery in Santa Rosa, CA, today at 707-545-4625.