Dental Implants: Advantages, Risks, and Insurance (FAQs)

Millions of Americans confront tooth loss primarily because of tooth decay, injuries, and periodontal disease despite the advances in dental care. For decades the sole treatment options for replacing teeth were bridges and dentures. However, dental implants have presently taken over the market for tooth replacement solutions as a gold standard.

What Precisely Are Dental Implants?

Dental implants are replacement options for your missing tooth root providing a stable foundation for fixed or removable dental prosthetics fabricated to match your lost natural teeth.

Advantages of Dental Implants

Dental implants have many advantages that will likely surprise you. Notable among them are:

• Appearance: Dental implants appear and feel like your natural teeth because they are created to integrate with your bone to become permanent replacements for your natural teeth.
• Speech Improvements: ill-fitting dentures slip and shift in your mouth, causing discomfort when speaking to mumble and slur words. Dental implants permit you to talk without concerns about your teeth slipping.
• Enhanced Comfort: As dental implants become part of your body, they eliminate the discomfort of removable dentures.
• Improved Self-Esteem: Implants return your smile, making you feel better about yourself.
• Better Oral Health: Implants don’t need tooth structure removal from the neighboring teeth as it is familiar with tooth-supported bridges. As the adjacent teeth are not compromised to support the implant, they remain intact, improving long-term oral health. In addition, implants also allow easier access between your teeth for cleaning to improve dental hygiene.
• Durability: Implants are incredibly durable and last for many years. The replacement solution lasts for a lifetime with appropriate dental hygiene practices and regular visits to the dental implant provider.
• Convenience: Removable dentures don’t offer convenience because they need removal every night for cleaning and storage. Implants eliminate the inconvenience of removing the prosthetics besides needing messy adhesives to hold them in place.

Success Of Dental Implants

Dental implant success rates vary between patients and where the implant placement occurred. However, implants have success rates of around 98 percent, and the replacements remain with you for life.

Is Everyone Suitable for Dental Implants?

Generally, if you are healthy to undergo dental extractions or oral surgery, you can consider yourself eligible for dental implants. Patients considering implants must have healthy gums and sufficient jawbone to secure the placement. Implants also require patients to commit to excellent dental hygiene and frequent dental visits. In addition, patients who smoke or have uncontrolled chronic disorders like diabetes or heart conditions or undergoing radiation therapy to the head and neck need evaluation individually. If you consider dental implants, it helps if you discuss them with a dentist near you to assess whether you are suitable for them.

Do Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implant Costs?

Presently the costs of dental implants are not covered by dental insurance. However, you might receive coverage under the medical plan depending on the insurer and the reason for tooth loss. You can discuss with your dentist and insurance provider the questions about your needs and how they relate to insurance.

What Does Getting Dental Implants Entail?

If you intend to get dental implants in Ancaster, ON, the first step includes developing a personalized treatment plan. The strategy handles your specific needs and is created by a team of specialists specially trained and experienced in oral surgery and restorative dentistry. The team approach provides coordinated care depending on the implant option best suited for your needs.

After that, a small titanium post to function as the tooth root implant is embedded in the edentulous socket of the missing tooth. As your jawbone heals, it integrates around the new post to anchor it securely in the jawbone. The process requires three to six months.

After the implant integrates with your jawbone, an abutment, a small attachment is attached to the implant to hold your replacement tooth securely. The dentist impressions your teeth to create a model of your bite to have your new tooth customized by a dental laboratory. The replacement tooth, a dental crown, is finally attached to the abutment.

If you do not favor one or more separate crowns, you can request extensions placed on the implant to have and sustain a removable denture. Your dentist also matches the colour of your replacement tooth to your natural teeth. As the implant is secured to the jawbone, the replacement teeth appear, feel, and function like your natural teeth.

Are Dental Implants Painful?

Patients receiving dental implants don’t complain about pain or discomfort but comment the treatment is comfortable because of the anesthetics used during the procedure. In addition, most patients state the process involved less pain than getting a tooth extracted.

You might experience soreness and swelling after getting dental implants placed into your jawbone. However, the discomfort is manageable using over-the-counter pain relievers or prescription medications recommended by your provider.

Caring for Dental Implants

Caring for your implanted teeth is not challenging because your replacement teeth need similar care to your natural teeth. It includes brushing twice daily, flossing once, rinsing with antibacterial mouthwash, and six monthly dental prophylaxis.

If you consider dental implants for missing teeth, Ancaster Family Dentistry provides them in this region. Schedule a dentist appointment at the dental practice today to start preparing for your dental implant procedure and replace your missing teeth as soon as possible before the consequences of tooth loss affect you.