What Are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are titanium tooth-root replacements placed in your jaw. After the titanium post integrates with your jaw bone, the implant can hold a replacement like a crown or bridge, or even work with other implants to secure a complete denture.
Dental specialists place more than 5 million implants every year, and leading dentists around the world consider them the standard of care for missing teeth.
What Are the Phases of Getting an Implant?
Phase one: if a tooth is present it is extracted, then the surgeon places the implant post into your jaw, carefully controlling depth and width for optimal positioning. Guided surgery is often used, and you receive anesthesia to keep you completely comfortable.
Recovery: over an average of 3 to 6 months, the implant fuses with your bone through a process called osseointegration. The implant essentially becomes part of your mouth, just like your natural tooth roots were.
Phase two: once you are fully healed, the team places your new crown, bridge, or implant-retained denture. Your restoration fits your mouth perfectly and works as a cosmetic and functional replacement.
The total timeline runs from about three months to a year, and most of that time is spent healing, not in the dental chair.
How Long Do Dental Implants Last?
One of the great advantages of implants is longevity: with proper care, an implant can last the rest of your life. The team checks your implants for stability at every routine visit. The crown or bridge on top may need replacing after a decade or so, but the implant itself generally does not.