Dental Implants in Clarksburg

Dental implants can become infected, but it is a very rare complication. Known as “peri-implantitis,” a dental implant infection usually only occurs if the implant is not kept clean or cared for after surgery.

To avoid peri-implantitis and maintain a healthy implant, follow your dentist’s instructions while recovering, and be sure to brush and floss regularly after your implant has healed.

Yes. When your jaw is no longer stimulated by the natural pressure of chewing and biting, bone loss will occur. Losing a tooth stops this process, causing the jaw bone to weaken.

When the dental implant post is bonded directly into the jaw bone, it acts as an artificial tooth root and transmits the force of chewing and biting through the root and into your jaw bone, keeping it healthy and strong.

There are a few types of dental implants that can be done in one day. The restoration your dentist provides is a temporary appliance to keep your tooth healthy and functional until you have fully healed from your dental implant placement surgery. With your restoration, you can speak and eat normally throughout the healing process.

Your dentist will schedule a series of follow up appointments to track your healing process and take impressions of your teeth. These impressions will help the lab create your custom-made restoration, which will be a more permanent, durable, and natural-looking prosthetic than your temporaries.

Extractions - If the dental implant is replacing a damaged or decayed tooth, we will first need to perform a tooth extraction. Most teeth will require a basic extraction unless you have a tooth that has broken off at the gum line and requires surgical extraction. 

For a basic extraction, we will administer local anesthesia and then use a dental elevator to rock the tooth back and forth to sever the ligaments holding it in place in the socket. Once the tooth is very loose, forceps are then used to remove the tooth. 

A surgical extraction involves the same extraction process but we will first need to make an incision into the gums to access the tooth. We may also need to cut some additional bone and soft tissue to get better access. The tooth is usually sectioned (cut into smaller fragments) in surgical extractions.

Dental implants can sometimes be placed immediately after extraction if you have adequate jaw bone structure and depending on the position of the tooth. In other cases, you may need to wait for the extraction site to completely heal which can take about 10 weeks.

Bone Grafting - During your consultation, we will take x-rays to determine if you have sufficient jaw bone density to support dental implants. If not, you will likely need a bone grafting procedure to restore the jaw bone. 

A bone graft involves transferring bone from one area of the body or synthetic materials and placing it in the jaw to restore and regenerate bone. An incision is made into your gums and the graft is placed with a temporary adhesive.

Over time, this adhesive will dissolve and the graft will fuse with the jaw bone. We will close the incision with a suture. Once you have healed from the procedure, which can take about 3 months, the bone graft will have completely bonded with the previously existing bone.

Dental Crowns - Traditional dental implants utilize a dental crown to replace a single tooth. A titanium post is implanted into the jaw bone and once osseointegration has been completed, we attach an abutment. 

Finally, we send impressions of your tooth to a dental lab that creates a dental crown matching the size, shape, and color of your natural teeth. By the time this process is complete, you have a full tooth restoration, from the crown down to the root.

Dental Bridges - All-on-four combines dental implants with a fixed dental bridge to replace an entire arch of teeth. The bridge is supported by just four dental implants - two in the rear and two in the front of the jaw. 

The rear dental implants are placed at a 45-degree angle, which provides enough stability to support an entire arch of teeth with so few implants. The bridge is cemented into place so you do not need to remove it.

Dentures - Implant-supported dentures, much like the all-on-four procedure, restore an entire arch or both arches of teeth. However, instead of placing a fixed bridge, a series of implants support a removable denture, also known as an overdenture. 

Removable dentures make it simple to thoroughly clean the artificial teeth and they snap back onto your dental implants. The implants hold them securely in place so they don’t shift or move when you speak or eat, unlike traditional dentures.