Sometimes, when you suffer major tooth loss, we need to prepare your smile for dental implants with an extraction and possibly even ridge preservation. In today’s blog, your Santa Rosa, CA, oral and maxillofacial surgeons talk about this process, and the benefits of undergoing care to address tooth loss.
Dental Implants
Dental implants are an advanced option for addressing tooth loss, whether you have lost just one tooth or have lost all of them. While bridges and dentures rely on crowns, clasps, and suction to stay in place, these are actually inserted into the jawbone. The posts, made from a biocompatible titanium, actually bond with the jaw and prevent the jaw ridge from breaking down with time, which usually follows tooth loss. As a result, these don’t need to be replaced every five years or so like traditional prosthetics, and instead can stay in place for decades to come, or possibly a lifetime!
Tooth Extraction
When we see you, we will take a close look at your smile. You may have decayed or diseased teeth beyond repair, and that require removal. Likewise, if you’re missing most of your teeth then we may need to remove the last few to pave the way for your new dental implant dentures. We will plan the process with detailed digital x-ray images, and then administered a local anesthetic and sedation to ensure you’re calm and relaxed as we take out these last teeth. We do so with forceps, and then suture the area closed. You will need to rest for a day or two, and once the area heals completely, we can move forward with dental implant placement.
Ridge Preservation
If you have weakened jawbone structure due to tooth loss, in addition to extraction we could help prepare your smile with grafting, adding new structure to the weakened portions to ensure you can support a new smile. We use structure from your jaw or hip, or from donor or synthetic sources. We could also offer sinus lifts for the upper jaw, uncovering new support for dental implants by raising the sinus floor. If you have any questions about our approach to general tooth extraction, or about dental implant placement, then contact our team today to learn more. We want to help you enjoy a full and stunning smile once again!
Do You Have Questions About Oral Surgery?
Our team wants to help prepare your smile for lifelike and long-lasting tooth replacement, whether you have minor or major tooth loss. To learn more about the process of gently removing teeth and replacing missing ones, then schedule a consultation by calling Santa Rosa Oral Surgery in Santa Rosa, CA, today at 707-545-4625.