“While dental implants have a high rate of success (95%), not everyone is a good candidate for dental implants. ”
Dental implants are usually the absolute best way to deal with missing teeth. In implant dentistry, artificial tooth roots are surgically placed into the jawbone. Once the implants have settled and integrated into the jawbone and soft tissues, they become strong enough to support a dental bridge, a denture, or individual dental crowns.
Westchester County Dental Implant Candidates
Dental implants are one of the best options to deal with missing teeth. Implant dentistry uses the surgical placement of artificial tooth roots into the jawbone. Once the dental implants have been integrated with the jawbone and soft tissues, they will then be strong enough to support a dental bridge, a denture, or individual dental crowns. While dental implants have a high success rate of 95%, not everyone is a good candidate for dental implants. Let’s take this time to look at who the ideal candidates for dental implants are.
Ideal Candidates for Implant Dentistry
The best candidates for dental implants are in generally good health and are missing a tooth or multiple teeth. These candidates should also have sufficient bone density in the jaw and enough gum tissue, both of which are important for supporting the dental implants.
Patients with health conditions which might prevent them from undergoing any type of surgery are NOT good candidates for dental implants. Additionally, young patients whose jawbone’s haven’t fully developed will NOT be eligible for dental implants until they are older and have finished growing.
Bone Grafting and Soft Tissue Augmentation
If a patient doesn’t have the sufficient bone density in the jaw from bone loss or sufficient gum tissue because of gum recession, there’s two potential treatments which can still allow them to get dental implants. These treatments are known as bone grafting and soft tissue augmentations.
Bone grafting surgeries will involve the use of bone from another part of the body (often times the hip) which is surgically grafted into the jaw in order to build up bone density. In some cases, synthetic bone is used rather than donor bone.
Soft tissue augmentation, very similar to bone grafting in some way, is taken from the palette (the roof of the mouth) and placed in the area in which the gums may have receded. This will then build up the gumline in that particular area.
Candidacy for both or either of these treatments will be discussed with Dr. Greenberg as a number of factors must be considered. Keep in mind that undergoing any of these treatments will add an additional step to the implant dentistry process.
Alternative Treatments
If a patient isn’t a good candidate for dental implants and isn’t eligible for bone grafting and gum augmentation, it is likely that they will simply receive removable dental restorations. With that said, always keep in mind that Dr. Greenberg will work diligently to find the best possible solution for you regardless of your candidacy for dental implants.
For additional information about implant dentistry and how it can be beneficial for you or someone you know, please contact us today for more information.