For all intents and purposes, a dental implant is honestly the best possible cosmetic tooth replacement.  The most common type of dental implant is known as a root form implant.  It is a titanium post that screws into the jawbone.  It acts as an artificial tooth root that is then able to support any number of cosmetic restorations that function and look like natural teeth. 

There are many benefits to dental implants.  First, it stimulates the jawbone when you chew.  Jawbones are stimulated by natural tooth roots when people bite down on food.  These vibrations keep the bone stimulated and growing.  When you lose a tooth, however, your jawbone will recede when this stimulus ceases.  However, an implant restores this stimulus and keeps the tooth healthy.

An implant is strong, comfortable, and stable.  After implantation of the base, your dental restoration is placed, mimicking the functionality and the appearance of healthy teeth.

With careful homecare and standard checkups and cleanings here in our office, an implant will work as an excellent long-term solution for missing teeth.

An implant can support a number of cosmetic tooth restorations.

A single crown

This dental restoration is almost always an all-porcelain crown.  The newer types of porcelain that are now used to make dental crowns for bridges and implants look like natural teeth and are extremely hard.  They allow you to eat a normal, healthy diet without complications or discomfort.

A multi-unit bridge

This is a type of bridge anchors to a dental implant instead of having to be bonded to natural teeth.  This allows us to avoid having to reshape existing healthy teeth (which can weaken them if).  Bridges are non-removable, so some people prefer full-arch dentures instead.

Full-arch dentures

These are removable tooth replacements for people who have lost natural teeth.  Full-arch dentures can now be made that give you many of the same characteristics of natural teeth.  New technologies in cosmetic dentistry have developed better materials with which to create much better dentures than the stereotypical false teeth of the past. 

Dental implants can also be used to support dentures that are anchored to the jawbone through the implant, but they can also be snapped out and removed during sleep.   The advantage to such a system is that it prevents bone loss due to the fact that implants imitate tooth roots and keep the jaw continuously stimulated.

Diagnosis and treatment

Placing a dental implant is a process that takes several appointments over a period of months.  Surgery is involved, so it is necessary for us to use sedation dentistry with a trained anesthesiologist to keep you from feeling any pain.

Before this happens, however, we check your medical history and make certain youre a candidate for implants.  This depends on your current state of health and finance.  If the health of your gums and jawbone has deteriorated, we may need to perform bone grafting or LANAP before we proceed with dental implants. 

During the surgical phase of dental implantation, a channel is created in the jawbone, and then the implant is inserted into the prepared space.  If necessary, we will place a temporary restoration to cover the implant over the next few months as the bone grows around it.  After this process, (known as ossification) is complete; we will then place your permanent cosmetic restoration over the implant. 

Houston Cosmetic Dentistry is a specialized field that requires extensive knowledge and experience to be done correctly. The Medical Center Dental Group in Houston, Texas brings all of that and more to the direct benefit of each and every patient we treat. Although we are located in the world famous Houston Medical Center at Scurlock Towers, we routinely see dental patients who travel from Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Beaumont and Midland Texas to see Dr. Dale Brant, Dr. Charles Campbell or Dr. Elizabeth OSullivan-Winslow for their cosmetic denistry services that includes: