Dental Implants

A dental implant is a small titanium screw that serves as the replacement for the root portion of a missing natural tooth. Dental implants can be placed in either the upper or lower jaws. Due to the biocompatible properties of titanium, a dental implant fuses with the bone and becomes a good anchor for the replacement tooth. Dental implants can be used in solutions for replacing single or multiple missing teeth.

To see examples of implants click here.

Tooth extraction is quite common due to poor dental health and gum disease. Leaving the missing tooth space empty may not sound too serious, but the consequences of not filling in the space from the missing tooth can include:

• The teeth adjacent to your missing tooth can change position to fill the gap.
• The loss of your missing tooth's root can cause your jawbone to shrink, making your face appear prematurely older; and,
• A missing tooth in the front of your mouth can affect your smile and your self-confidence.

Dr Luyk and Dr Cathro will work together with your dentist and dental technician to provide the best treatment solution. A teamwork approach is always best used in these circumstances.

In many situations, a dental implant is the most pleasingly esthetic solution for replacing the missing tooth. An all-ceramic dental crown or dental bridge, secured to a dental implant, provides a complete and beautiful solution for improving your smile. A dental implant takes the place of the missing tooth's root and helps prevent the above consequences.

If you have only one missing tooth, a dental crown on a dental implant is probably your best choice. Like the natural root, a dental implant provides the foundation for a dental crown, in this case a new all-ceramic dental crown. A Nobel Biocare all-ceramic dental crown on a dental implant looks and functions very much like the missing tooth did. Nobel Biocare has a forty-year history of success stories using dental implants and dental crowns, and leads the dental implant market.

A dental bridge on dental implants can prevent:

• The teeth adjacent to the missing teeth from changing position to fill the gap.
• Your jawbone from shrinking, making your face appear prematurely older because the missing teeth's roots are also missing; and,
• An unattractive smile, if the missing teeth show when you smile.

Information courtesy of www.nobelsmile.co.nz

Examples of treatment
Before implants. This patient had a dental implant put in to replace their missing tooth.
After.
Before implants replacing the patients left front tooth and crown on the lower 'blackened' tooth.
After.
Photos and restorative work courtesy of Dr Erin Collins, Newmarket Dental Group.