How Do Dental Implants Differ from Extraction?

Your pearly whites are designed to be your companions for life. That’s why they are sturdy and can withstand almost anything hurled at them. However, accidents, poor dental hygiene, or oral diseases may cut short their lifespan, forcing you to seek restorative treatments from our dentist in Rockwall, TX.

When you have damaged teeth, you have a few options. But when our dentist cannot save your tooth, an extraction will be performed. But you have the choice to go a step further and get dental implants in Heath, TX, to replace the missing teeth.

Why Get Implants

Getting a tooth implant is the best thing for your oral health after an extraction. Our dentist near you performs extractions to remove damaged teeth to enhance your oral health.

But the problem is that your jawbone gets strengthened when you chew. So, when your tooth or teeth are extracted, the jawbone starts deteriorating due to lack of activity. That’s where tooth implants come in.

Implants are root-sized screw-like posts drilled into the jawbone to replace the missing root. Once the tooth implant is in place, it will fuse with the jawbone stopping it from deteriorating. Therefore, tooth implants promote bone health as compared to extraction.

How Many Teeth Can Be Replaced With Dental Implants?

You might be wondering how many teeth dental implants can replace. Take a closer look:

One Tooth Implant

Our dentist in Rockwall, TX, will recommend a single implant if you have one missing tooth. So, the implant will be surgically inserted into the jawbone, and then a single crown will cap the implant.

Sometimes one implant can be used to replace two adjacent teeth. After the implant has fused with the jawbone, our dentist near you will cap it using a two-unit restoration.

Two Dental Implants

If your wish is to replace three or more teeth in a row, you will need at least two dental implants to replace them. Our dentist will place each implant at the end of the gap. Then, our dentist will cap the implants using crowns and pontics.

Four or More Dental Implants

If your desire is to replace all of your teeth throughout an arch, our dentist will replace your teeth using four dental implants. A special procedure known as All-on-4 is what makes it possible for you to get all your teeth in an arch replaced.

Therefore, our dentist near you can use dental implants to replace any number of missing teeth.

How Much Time to Recover From Dental Implants?

There isn’t a definitive answer since each case differs from the next, and no patients are alike. So, you cannot expect your recovery time to be the same as the next person. However, several factors might affect the recovery time, such as:

• Oral Health

Even though tooth implants are made from titanium and the crown from porcelain, you might assume that there will be no need to clean them regularly. That’s wrong thinking. You will still need to care for them as you would your natural teeth.

Titanium and porcelain are resistant to decay and infection, but the surrounding teeth and gums are not. So, practicing excellent oral hygiene is not a choice. If you choose not to, tooth decay or even gum disease might develop, affecting the tooth implant. Gum disease affects the gums and bones and is the main reason for implant failure.

• Lifestyle Choices

Your lifestyle choices can also affect your recovery time. Your habits will have a greater impact during the early stages of your treatment. Habits such as smoking affect the blood vessels, blood flow, and oxygen levels, thus slowing down your recovery.

Alcohol thins the blood; thus, clotting will not take place immediately. Therefore, you will be susceptible to infection.

• Medical Condition

The presence of health conditions such as an autoimmune disease or diabetes might affect healing and take longer to recover.

• Extra Procedures

If you need bone grafts or tissue grafts, the recovery time will be much longer than getting an implant without any additional procedures.

• Number and Location of Implants

The location and the number of implants you require will also determine your recovery time.

In any case, full recovery will take about four to six months. After six months, the bone and the implant will be fused.

If you need dental implants in Heath, TX, contact us at Arc 32 Family Dentistry to schedule an appointment.