Explaining The Dental Implant Process

If you are considering your options for replacing missing teeth, you’ve got a lot to consider. By this point, your dentist has probably mentioned that dental implants may be a good choice and may even have told a lot about them. Continuing to gather information — even if only to know what questions to ask — is a good idea. This is an introduction to the process of getting implants. While every person’s situation is different, these are things every dentist and person getting implants needs to consider.

First, not everyone is a good candidate for receiving dental implants in Saskatoon. Whether or not you are a good candidate will be decided following a careful review of your medical history and the condition of your mouth, gums and jaw by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, periodontist (gum specialist) and prosthodontist (denture and implant specialist).

Good candidates for dental implants surgery are patients who are in good enough overall health to withstand the surgical procedures themselves. You also need to have good oral health, meaning you have no periodontal (gum) disease and a jaw bone with sufficient mass and density to accommodate the implant.

Poor candidates (or candidates who will require even more careful planning and thorough preparation) for implant surgery include: people who will not refrain from or reduce smoking and alcohol consumption before and after surgery; women who are pregnant; patients with Type 1 or 2 diabetes; and people with immune system deficiencies.

The three steps in implant surgeries 

Before the scheduled date of your surgery, your dental clinic in Saskatoon will contact you to make sure you’re prepared for your operation. You may, for example, be given anti-bacterial mouthwash to use and some antibiotics to take prior to surgery. Your dentist will also recommend that you arrange for transportation to and from your surgery well in advance, especially if you will receive oral or IV sedation. At this preoperative planning stage, your dentist will explain the range of sedation of options available and help you to determine what level of sedation and anesthesia is appropriate in your case.

Step 1: Placing the implant

Your surgeon will numb your mouth using local anesthesia,then make an incision in your gums to expose the bone of your tooth. Using a drill and working through that incision, your dentist will remove some material to make room to accept the titanium post that replaces the root of your missing tooth. Once the implant has been placed in your jaw, the incision will be stitched. The second stage will take place a few months later after you’ve recovered from surgery and the implant has bonded to your jaw bone.

Step 2: Attaching the abutment

During the second stage of the implant procedure, your dentist will expose the implant by making a small incision in your gum (where it had healed over after the first stage). Once the implant post is exposed, your dentist will attach an abutment to that post. The abutment will fasten your replacement crown to the implant in the third stage. Once the abutment is in place, your dentist will take any impressions necessary to design and prepare your crown.

Step 3: Fitting the crown

The final step in the implant procedure is the attachment of your crown to the abutment that was placed in the second stage. Between the second and third stages, the crown will have been crafted by technicians at a dental laboratory based on the impressions taken by your dentist and as required to blend naturally with your remaining teeth. The process of crafting, fitting, and placing the crown may take multiple appointments. 

Receiving dental implants near you is a highly successful process almost always performed and completed without complications. The staff at a dental clinic near you will provide you with detailed instructions and information to ensure you recover fully from each stage of the procedure and return quickly to normal life and dental function.