Usually a dental implant is a piece of titanium screw that will replace the root portion of your missing tooth. It fuses with your tooth bone, and it becomes a proper anchor for the replacement tooth. Dental implants is good solutions for replacing single or multiple missing teeth.
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What is a Dental Implant?
When you lose a tooth, you may need a dental implant to replace that tooth. A dental implant is like an "anchor" that is placed to support the new tooth. They are clean and very secure so that there is no slippage or movement of the tooth. These implants can be used to replace one tooth, or be "anchors" to a denture or a bridge.The procedure requires a titanium "rod" to the placed into the jaw that fits into place. This then replaced the missing root of the tooth that was once there. Once the new root, or rod, is placed, it will then take four to six months to heal and integrate with your jawbone. Once that is healed, you will then receive a new permanent crown to be placed on top. Your new tooth will fit and feel like it was the original tooth.
- Teeth adjacent to the missing tooth will tip (rotate) into the missing space. Given enough time (many years) the teeth adjacent to the missing space could rotate completely sideways (falling into the space where the missing tooth is).
- The teeth opposing the missing tooth will grow toward the missing tooth space (a process called super eruption).
- The combination of rotation and super eruption could lead to a collapse of the bite.
- The collapse of the bite could lead to sagging of mouth and an older appearance as well as jaw joint problems (TMD, TMJ).
- Missing teeth decreases your ability to chew and can affect speaking.
- Missing teeth can negatively affect your smile.
I-CAT (Computer Aided Tomograph) Scans
We provide un-paralleled technology that allows us to diagnose disease we wouldn’t otherwise be able to assess in our Santa Barbara dental location. We are able to calculate bone density, volume and nerve paths for more accurate implant placement.As patients increasingly ask for more sophisticated and immediate procedures, our advanced in-office imaging systems provide more accurate information for expanding general dentistry, oral and orthodontic surgery, implantology, TMJ analysis, airway assessment, periodontal, orthodontic, impaction and many other dental procedures. Johnson Family Dental has one of the only I-CAT scanner in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Solvang dental locations.