What is a tooth implant? It is basically an artificial tooth meant to replace a missing real tooth that has been lost either from a traumatic injury or an extraction procedure.
Dental implants are by far the most innovative solutions today for tooth replacement treatments given their record breaking long term durability as well as their unmatched success rate that is no less than 90%.
But before you move ahead and book an appointment with your top dentist in New Jersey for a tooth implant procedure, consider first these questions that are meant to make you understand what you will undergo with this process and what to anticipate so as to avoid failed expectations or worse disappointments.
1) Are you missing a tooth or is it just broken, cracked, or chipped?
A dental implant has three (3) basic parts: the fixture, the post, and the prosthetic. The titanium screw that will be implanted on the jaw through one or several gum incisions is called the fixture; this screw should reach deep within the bone so that the element can grow or integrate with the tissues over time. This will stabilize the prosthetic tooth or crown to be attached later so that the fixture can serve as the new root.
It is primarily for this reason that the real tooth should be uprooted entirely from the oral cavity prior to this treatment. If you natural tooth is still in place but is in no good shape, a dentist will need to extract it first; however, a prosthodontist who specializes in dental restoration would recommend treatment options other than tooth implantation instead because it’s more important for him to preserve natural teeth as much as possible.
2) Are you emotionally and physically prepared for the procedure?
There are three (3) major steps in this implant technology: the implantation of the screw, the attachment of the post or abutment, and the fastening of the artificial tooth. Of these steps, the most important to consider is the first, wherein the titanium element will need to integrate with the bone tissues and the gum should heal from its incision first before proceeding further to the treatment plan.
This integration and healing period usually takes about four to six months, given that no complication arises. It is possible that the body would reject the titanium because of allergy although none has been reported so far. But what you should be rather concerned is the pain after the local anesthetic from the procedure has worn off.
The severe toothache can be medicated with analgesics or pain-killers as prescribed by the dentist, yet the discomfort in eating and speaking during this healing time must be accounted for. A support group consisting of your family and friends is highly suggested by doctors so as to carry you through the recovery and eventual success of the treatment.
3) Are you financially stable to pay for your implants?
One of the biggest obstacles in getting a tooth implant is the cost of the entire procedure, from the dentist’s fee to the commercially pure Titanium (cpTi) fixture as well as theprosthetics’ material.
The market rate for a single implant is no greater than $3,000 while for a full arch (or a set of complete teeth, either the upper or lower jaw) is around $40,000. Fortunately, cosmetic dentists and even prosthodontists in the state of New Jersey offer their services at a reasonable price, especially for affordable yet quality dental implants.
