Dental implants can help many people with missing teeth regain both their smile and their self-confidence. It doesn’t matter whether you lost the tooth due to decay or an injury or trauma to it. San Francisco Dental Implant Center serves patients from Foster City, CA, and all throughout the Bay Area. We can help you determine whether you’d be a good candidate for dental implants.
What Are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are tiny posts made using titanium or ceramic. They are placed in your jawbone and become the root of your new tooth, which will look just like the rest of your teeth. Simply put, dental implants are a natural-looking way to replace missing teeth. Their success rate has been reported as high as 98% in certain scientific publications.
What Are the Benefits of Dental Implants?
There are many advantages to dental implants, especially when compared with traditional dentures:
- Ability to Chew: Dentures have the potential to slip and slide around your mouth, but implants are fixed in your mouth, so you can chew all types of food without any qualms.
- Ability to Speak: Dentures can sometimes get in the way of your tongue and lips, causing you to mumble or slur your words. Since implants are fixed, you’ll have no such worries with them.
- Mouth Comfort & Gum Health: Dentures that slide around your mouth can irritate your gums and cause infections. Also, your gums change their shape to fill holes in your mouth. Therefore, your dentures will not fit as well after a while. However, because dental implants are affixed in your mouth, they’re far more comfortable over the long run.
- Oral Health: Bacteria can grow and thrive in the empty crevices of your mouth, but dental implants fill those spaces while still allowing you plenty of room to floss as you should. There’s no need to file down surrounding teeth as is the case with dental bridges sometimes, which also contributes to long-term oral health.
- Longevity: Implants are exceptionally durable and should last you the rest of your life if you take proper care of them. In contrast, your dentures need to be realigned every so often and completely replaced every 5-8 years.
- Bone Loss Prevention: As the roots of your teeth are anchored in the jawbone, they help to stabilize it, much like load-bearing walls help to stabilize your home. Losing teeth without replacing them can affect the stability of the jawbone, leading to bone loss and thus to changes in your face shape. Since dental implants are placed in your jawbone, they help to keep your mouth and jaw stable.
Contact us for a consult or call (415) 992-9188 now!
What Is the Step-by-Step Process for Getting Dental Implants?
Dental implants will involve at least one surgical procedure. Please note the entire process will take months to complete, as your gums and jawbone must be given enough time to heal in between stages.
Before anything else happens, you will undergo a thorough medical evaluation to make sure you don’t have any medical conditions that would possibly hinder the healing stage. You’ll have digital images taken of your mouth, which will be used to create models of it. Make sure your dentist or oral surgeon has a copy of all your diagnosed medical conditions, as well as a list of any medications you are currently taking, including OTC medications. If you are currently on blood thinners, you may be asked to temporarily stop taking them, but don’t stop taking anything without first speaking with your doctor or dentist. People who have had joints replaced or who have certain other conditions may be prescribed an antibiotic to prevent infection during surgery. If you are one of these people, be sure to take it exactly as prescribed.
At San Francisco Dental Implant Center, we offer sedation to our patients. If you choose to be sedated during your procedure, you will need to schedule a ride to and from our office. Once the preliminary steps are completed, we will schedule you for the first surgery.
During that first procedure, we will remove any old, decaying teeth before we do anything else. Then, we will complete bone grafting if you lack adequate jawbone to properly hold the implant in place. Bone will be taken from another area of your body. We may also complete a sinus augmentation if that is necessary.
Only once this prep work is complete and your body has had a chance to heal from it will the implant itself be placed. An incision will be made in your gum, and small holes will be drilled to hold the implant in place. If the implant itself is exposed, you will be given a temporary denture to cover it.
Your jawbone must be given adequate time to then heal and grow around the implant, which is typically several months. This ensures a strong root for your new tooth.
After your jaw has healed, the abutment, or piece that connects the new tooth to the implant, will be placed. Once again, you will have to let your gums heal for a bit, but in this case that only takes about 2 weeks. Then, finally, your new tooth will be placed over everything. You have the option of having a removable or fixed tooth.
Please contact our office if you need clarification regarding any portion of the process or have any other questions we can answer.
Why Choose an Oral Surgeon for Your Dental Implants?
San Francisco Dental Implant Center offers personalized care and treatment plans in a comfortable office environment. Our office is in downtown San Francisco and easily accessible from Foster City, CA. Dr. Alex Rabinovich is not only a dentist, but also a medical doctor with advanced training in oral, maxillofacial, and facial plastic surgery. He has great skill in both dental implant placements and bone grafting procedures. If you’ve been told by another provider that you do not have enough bone in your mouth for implants, contact our office. We also offer All-on-4 implants, which are a complete set of teeth portioned in just 4 implants.
Contact our office today to schedule a consultation regarding dental implants.
Call the San Francisco Dental Implant Center today at (415) 992-9188, or email us at info@doctorrabinovich.com.
