Dental implants are surgically placed into the jawbone, underneath the gums. They’re small inserts and can also be called teeth implants. Most of them come in the form of blades, frames, or screws. Once the implant has integrated with your jaw, they can put in the replacement teeth.
How They Work
Most implants use materials like titanium and may have tiny pits or ridges on the surface so that the bone can grow firmly around your implant. This allows the implant and bone to fuse together, providing a more stable support system for the artificial teeth. Therefore, they cannot move around or be removed, allowing you to eat and speak more comfortably.
How Long?
Dental implant procedures are more complicated than other tooth restoration options, which means the downtime you experience may be different from other patients. For example, the density of your jawbone and physical condition will factor into how long it takes for the implant to take hold and the rest of the procedure to be completed.
The insertion time for the implant doesn’t take much time, but healing, recovery, and planning can take months. Places like National Periodontics may use a generalised timetable and explain to you that it could take longer or shorter periods of time.
For example, during the planning phase, the dentist will determine your overall oral health and condition, which can take a month. The implant is then inserted, which can take up to three days, depending on how many implants are necessary. Tiny holes are drilled into the jawbone to embed the implant.
Healing can take up to six months or longer, depending on how quickly you usually heal. In rare cases, the jaw and implant never fuse together, which is considered a fail.
The last step, where the artificial teeth are placed, can take up to three days.
