Dental Implants – Lakewood, CO

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

The first step in rebuilding your smile is attending a consultation. Dr. Henry will examine your teeth, gums, and jawbone to make sure you’re a good candidate for dental implants. We will ask about your medical history to make sure you’re generally healthy, take X-rays to check your jawbone density, and inspect your gums for any signs of infection. This appointment will help us and your specialist plan your treatment as well as answer any questions you have about it.

Dental Implant Surgery

When it’s time to have the implants surgically placed in your jaw, you’re referred to a local specialist to ensure the highest quality of care. We partner with only the best in the area, so you can rest assured that your implants are properly and expertly positioned for treatment success. They will provide post-op instructions as well as answer your questions about the surgery.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment

Over the next four to six months following implant placement, your jawbone will grow around the implant posts until they are essentially a part of your body. This process is called osseointegration, and it’s the secret to implant success. After the implant is secure, a connection piece called an abutment is inserted and sticks out above the gums, preparatory for the restoration.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)

Once you’re ready and fully healed after the abutment, Dr. Henry will secure your crown, bridge, or denture onto your implants. At that point, you’re free to use them to eat, talk, and smile to your heart’s content! These custom restorations are fabricated to look like real teeth and to feel as close to natural teeth as possible. After your treatment is complete, just remember that you’ll need to continue coming in for checkups regularly to make sure your implants stay in excellent condition!

Day-to-Day Benefits

As you’d expect, the most noticeable implant upsides are the day-to-day ones. These typically include the following:

• A Gorgeous Grin – Because they’re capped with dental crowns, implants look beautiful and blend seamlessly with surrounding teeth. They’ll thus restore your smile without seeming unnatural or drawing unwanted attention.
• Boosted Confidence – Patients often feel more confident once implants fill their smile gaps. From there, they can experience an improved body image and reduced anxiety. These things will make socializing with friends and family much more enjoyable and less stressful.

• Easier Eating – Implants fuse with your jawbone, restoring much of your bite force. The result is an improved ability to eat your favorite tough foods.
• Low Maintenance – Unlike dentures or bridges, implants don’t require special maintenance. You can clean them just as you would natural teeth – using twice-daily brushing and once-daily flossing.

Health Benefits

Aside from their day-to-day benefits, implants also have other kinds. Notable among them are the health benefits. In particular, these latter perks are:

• A Cleaner Mouth  – Unfilled smile gaps serve as breeding spots for harmful oral bacteria. The result is an increased risk of oral health issues like gum disease. However, implants fill these spaces and make teeth cleaning easier. They’d then make severe dental problems less likely.
• A More Nutritious Diet – Unchecked tooth loss causes your jawbone to erode, eventually leading to facial collapse. On the other hand, implants can stimulate your jawbone to prevent said erosion.
• Nearby Tooth Support – Aside from other effects, smile gaps can cause still-remaining teeth to tilt and fall out. Implants, though, fill these gaps and stabilize your other pearly whites.
• No Sensitivity – Implants don’t rub against other teeth or gum tissue, so they don’t irritate your various mouth tissues.

Long-term Benefits

Perhaps its implants’ long-term benefits set them apart more than the other kinds. These are:

• High Success Rate – When properly maintained, implants rarely fail after placement. It’s to the point that their ten-year success rate is over 95%!
• Long-Lived Results  – The average dental implant has a 15–20-year lifespan. When given proper care, though, one can last 30 years or even longer. That means an implant could potentially work for the rest of your life.
• Cost-Effective Care – In light of their success and longevity, implants can save you money in the long run. After all, they usually don’t require much in the way of replacement or repair fees. The same isn’t true of dentures and bridges, which only last 5-7 years on average and need regular follow-up care.

Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery

Your mouth may need extra oral care before an implant surgery. These services can range from bone grafts and gum disease therapy to tooth extractions. Should you require such procedures, the cost of your care will rise. However, most dental plans do (partially) cover them.

Of course, your implant surgery incurs its own price. Issues like anesthesia and where the implants are placed will affect the final cost. Plus, remember that an outside specialist does the surgery. They’ll discuss the cost of their efforts with you separately.

The Parts of Your Dental Implant

Your implants’ features will also impact their price. Such elements include:

• Implant Number – As a dentist places more implants, the price of care rises. An implant for one missing tooth will cost less than 4-6 for an implant denture.
• Implant Size/Material – Dental implants can have different sizes and materials. For example, longer ones are more expensive. Similarly, zirconia implants cost more than titanium kinds.
• Implant Brand – One brand of implant may cost more than another. After all, different manufacturers may cater to varying needs.
• Restoration Type – Dental crowns, bridges, and dentures have distinct prices. The smaller the restoration placed on your implant(s), the less costly it’ll be.

How Dental Implants Can Save You Money

At first, you may think dentures or dental bridges are more cost-effective. Fair enough – they do have lower upfront costs than dental implants. That said, the metal posts in question save you more money in the long run.

Dental implants’ features make them a great investment. Their long lifespans entail few (if any) repair visits. At the same time, the posts don’t need extra items (adhesives, pastes, etc.) to work. Placed implants also improve your oral health and don’t irritate your mouth. As a result, you’re less likely to need treatments for cavities, gum disease, etc.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

Often, dental insurance won’t cover dental implants. It views the posts as unnecessary add-ons for your mouth. To that extent, patients must pay out of pocket for them.

Of course, there are some exceptions. There’s a chance that your plan offers partial coverage. Given this fact, review your policy’s benefits before treatment. Our dental team will help if you’d like.

Making Dental Implants Affordable

Insurance isn’t the only way to make dental implants affordable. In many cases, you can also rely on a dental practice’s payment options. The right one would make implants budget-friendly.

For instance, just look at our own Dedicated Dentistry. We work with CareCredit – a reputable third-party financier. Through them, you could pay for dental implants in monthly installments. This approach would ensure you can afford treatment.

Ultimately, our practice wants to give you implants that fit your needs and budget. Please attend a consultation with us to learn how to finance them.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

Dental implants can’t get cavities like your natural teeth because they aren’t made from tooth enamel. However, your surrounding natural teeth are still at risk, and it’s still possible for you to develop gum disease. This can be detrimental to the success of your replacement teeth, so it’s important that you maintain an excellent oral hygiene routine. Remember to brush twice, floss, and rinse with mouthwash every day.

Eat a Healthy Diet

One of the exciting benefits of dental implants is that you can enjoy a complete, nutritious diet. You don’t need to keep up with any eating resists. You can enjoy all the foods necessary to get the vitamins and minerals your body needs to thrive. However, it’s still a good idea to avoid having too many food items that are especially sugary or hard. Instead, enjoy plenty of foods that are high in calcium and vitamin C. These nutrients are needed to keep your jawbone and gums in good health.

Break Bad Habits

Bad habits can cause various issues for teeth and dental implants if you aren’t careful. It is best to refrain from smoking and using other tobacco products. These can slow down healing and make it more difficult for your immune system to fight off infections. You should also avoid using your teeth to open bottles, rip through packaging, and complete other tasks. Instead, find the appropriate tool so you don’t cause damage to your smile.

Protect Your Dental Implants

Dental implants are very strong, but they aren’t completely indestructible. You should always wear a mouthguard when engaging in contact sports. If you grind your teeth at night, it is wise to invest in a nightguard to protect your replacement and natural teeth from additional wear and tear.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

You should continue to see your dentist for regular cleanings and checkups twice a year. This way, we can monitor your dental implants, natural teeth, gum tissue, and more. By detecting issues early on, we can address them quickly and may even be able to prevent serious complications in the future.

How Long Do Dental Implants Last? 

One of the main things that dental implants have going for them is their durability. Around 95% of implants are successful at 20 years, and most of them will last over 30. In fact, if you care for them well, you can even expect your dental implants to last for a lifetime!

To make that happen, you should care for your dental implants well, brushing and flossing regularly. You should also see us at least twice a year so that we can make sure that your implant is in good condition.

Are Dental Implants Safe?

When placed by a professional who knows what they’re doing, you can bet that the process of getting dental implants will be completely safe. We are well aware of the risks involved with dental implant surgery, so we will take any necessary precautions to ensure that everything goes smoothly.

If you have oral health problems or reduced jawbone density, we may recommend preliminary procedures to ensure you’re in the best condition possible, reducing the risks of complications.

What Can Cause Dental Implants to Fail?

Dental implants have a remarkably high success rate, but they can fail under certain specific conditions. The first happens just after you get your implant, while the dental implant is fusing to the jaw. If the dental implant is disturbed during this process, or if the patient has an insufficient healing factor. If you have cancer, diabetes, or another condition that could impair this process, be sure to let us know beforehand.

is infection, which usually occurs due to neglect. Gum disease can progress such that bacteria moves under the gums, attacking bone tissue and causing the dental implant to come loose. To prevent this from happening, it’s crucially important to your dental implant’s long-term success that you commit to daily hygiene.

Do Dental Implants Feel Natural?

The nature of dental implants is that they’re connected to the jaw, similar to your natural teeth. They’re also made of high-quality dental materials that means that they match the rest of your smile very well. That means that your dental implant will feel incredibly natural, and once you’re used to them, you’ll hardly even notice that they’re there.