Single Tooth Implant

You might also begin to experience problems with your other teeth because they shift around to take the place of your missing tooth and fill in the gap. Over time, your teeth shifting could affect your bite and even your jaw. Do you have a missing tooth that you need to get replaced? Let Cape & Islands Periodontics and Oral Surgery talk to you about how a single tooth implant can change the look of your smile, and replace that tooth you lost.

Why Should You Replace A Single Tooth?

Many people think that if you are missing one tooth, you can get by with not replacing it. That is true of wisdom teeth. You can lose all four of your wisdom teeth without any consequences for your bite at all. Wisdom teeth are the third set of molars, which we haven’t needed for thousands of years because we cook food rather than chewing all of our food raw. If you are missing a tooth, you have other problems besides a missing tooth. If you don’t replace your missing tooth, your jaw will begin to lose bone, because your body thinks that your jawbone is no longer needed in the area where your tooth was. Over time, you could lose bone and tissue in the area where your tooth used to be. Your missing slivers of jawbone could change the structure of your jawbone and your face over time.

How Will a Dental Implant Help?

Dental implants are a great help for people who have lost teeth. Implants are the closest substitute for your actual teeth that we have. An implant is a prosthetic tooth, which is a crown attached to a metal screw. The screw is set into your jawbone, so it acts like a tooth root. It anchors your prosthetic tooth to your jawbone. Your jaw believes that your tooth is still in its place within your jawbone. Your implant will function the same way your tooth does. In fact, the implant will look like the real tooth you lost previously.

How Is a Tooth Implanted?

To implant a tooth, we first need to check and make sure you are a good candidate for dental implants. We have to make sure that if you have gum disease, it is treated before we do an implant procedure. We also need to make sure that you have the bone mass to get an implant in your jaw because your jawbone needs to be strong enough to hold the implant. We then can numb your gum, and make an incision into your gumline. We screw your implant screw into your jaw. Some patients can get their prosthetic tooth immediately, while others need to wait for the screw to heal first, and then get a prosthetic tooth on top of the implant screw.

Schedule an Appointment

Contact us to schedule a consultation at our Hyannis, New Bedford, or Falmouth office.