On This Page:
Can Dental Implants Fix An Overbite?
What Can Cause Them To Fail?
What is Dental Implant?
Dental Implant for Upper Front Tooth
Does Insurance Cover Dental Implants?
Do They Cause Pain?
Healing Time for Dental Implants
Caring for Dental Implants
Who invented them?

Dental prostheses provide a stable foundation for you to have permanent new teeth. These artificial tooth roots are more popular than the removable dentures, crowns, and bridges because they are like your natural teeth. They are the best solutions to replace missing tooth/teeth, decayed/corroded teeth, or any chronic dental issues.

They look, feel and work like your natural teeth because they are made to fit into your mouth, making them a popular procedure to replace lost teeth. Learn why permanent prostheses are the right option for you here. Check the most frequently asked questions about fixed dentures.

A: Yes, but it depends on the overbite. First, overbite is the disproportionate overlapping of the upper front teeth to the lower front teeth. A moderate overbite is common, but, if excessive can lead to displacement of the jaw joint or temporomandibular displacement that can result in constant pain and even tooth loss. Our highly proficient dentists at Creative Smiles Dental Office can repair a certain level of overbite while making a treatment plan to restore lost teeth. Dr. Shah will make a minimal adjustment to your bite that will slightly somewhat correct your jawbone orientation. Before performing the procedure, you will receive a correct evaluation indicating if it can repair the overbite and enhance your smile. Orthognathic surgery may be recommended if the overbite is excessive.

A: Dental prostheses are 95% successful in most patients. Like any other surgical procedures, implants involve surgery and so there are some risk factors. The procedure may fail due to the following reasons:

• Unsuccessful Osseointegration – A successful osseointegration process is required for the procedure to succeed. This process allows the implanted artificial root to integrate with the jawbone. During this process, the bone cells are allowed to develop into the surface of the artificial root to create a sturdy natural bond. Osseointegration may fail due to:
  • Incorrect positioning
  • Insufficient bone density or mass
  • Damage to surrounding tissues
  • Fractured implant
  • Overloading / sudden impact
  • Reaction to anesthesia

• Rejection of foreign elements – Your body may react to the foreign element and may reject it. This happy in very unusual cases, though, because the of the new materials used.
• Peri-Implantitis – Peri-implantitis is an infection of the area that surrounds the dental implant. Creative Smiles care for you and follows proper pre- and post-operative hygiene to assure that no bacteria are present during the operation. The presence of bacteria during and after the operation can lead to peri-implantitis. Infection can also occur if there the dental cement used in placing the crowns on abutments seeps into the gums.
• Allergic Reaction – This can occur in patients who have an allergy to alloy, which is extremely rare. Titanium implants are bio-compatible.
• Uncontrolled Type II Diabetes – This is one of the chronic diseases that can cause the dental implant to fail.
• Nerve and Tissue Damage – Nerve and tissue damage can occur during the operation although this is very seldom.
•  Other factors that can cause the dental implant procedure to fail are smoking, bruxism, the use of bisphosphonates, etc.

A:  Dental prostheses are made of pure titanium. Small amounts of alloys were added to make it stronger that includes nickel. Only a small number of people react to alloys or have an allergy to these metals. However, issues about the presence of these metals, such as thermal conductivity, piezoelectricity, oxidation inside the mouth, including the metal color showing on the upper area of the gum were raised. This led to the use of zirconia, a zirconium metal oxide, as a possible option but it is fragile and may break easily. It must be removed once it breaks and can leave a huge deficiency in the bone. Repair is impossible. Zirconium prostheses should be error-free, as they are one piece. This is why titanium was the best choice.

A: Dental implant can certainly replace lost upper front tooth. Missing front teeth are a big loss, not only for how it affects your look but also their strength. Having a permanent implant is the best solution to replace them. This requires precision and efficiency and can only be performed by a proficient dentist that you can find in Creative Smiles Dental Office.

To do this procedure, Dr. Shah will remove the remaining broken tooth taking extra caution not to damage the neighboring flesh and the surrounding bone. A damaged socket can result for the procedure to be aborted, as it will not be able to accept the new root and offer stable support. This is where the osseointegration process comes in, where it allows the surrounding bone to grow into the artificial root’s surface so it can provide strength. However, osseointegration cannot be completed if there is a hole between the metal frame surface and the bone resulting in the termination of the procedure.

The sockets in the front teeth are tapered so to make sure there is no hole around the front teeth, the new root of the same size will be deeply fastened. Only a professional and competent dentist can perform the permanent dental implant with accuracy, leaving you with renewed confidence and restored looks. Once the osseointegration process was completed, the dentist will start the loading. Your part starts after the restoration process, where you need to observe and practice good oral hygiene.

A:  Absolutely! Dental insurance covers dental implants, although there may be some differences. Health insurances have various coverages, with some requiring a qualifying period while others give immediate coverage. There are a few that offers partial coverage only. You can always discuss this with your insurance provider. At Creative Smiles, we help you review the details of your insurance so you’ll know the procedure and extent it covers.

A: Any procedure that involves incision can be painful (even a cut is painful). The level of pain, though, depends on the extent. Good thing, there is anesthesia that numbs the pain. Like any tooth extraction, permanent implants can cause pain, too, even if you have the best dental surgeon. However, knowing you are handled by a professional dentist from Creative Smiles Dental Office should calm you down.

The procedure starts with the dentist checking if an extraction is needed. Unlike in the conventional method (where the gums are allowed to heal first), the titanium frames are inserted right after the extraction. Your dentist will drill into your jaw bone and fasten the artificial root. Gum stitching follows to cover the area with the abutment left open, where the implant will take place. As mentioned, there is anesthesia to benumb you but once it’s gone, you may feel pain around the wounds that can last for a few days. The pain will slowly go off as the wound heals. Your dentist will prescribe painkillers to soothe the pain.

A: The conventional method involves several stages of healing. The healing time also depends on a number of factors, such as the number of teeth involved, your health and more. The dental implant procedure has  a healing time after every stage, which is as follows:

• If grafting is required – The healing time after this procedure is four to six months. Grafting of the jaw bone is performed if it is weak and insufficient to support the implant.
• If grafting is not required but needs to perform extractions –  This process will have to wait until the gums have completely healed.With the modern method, the dentist can perform the implant after extracting the teeth. This reduces the healing or waiting period. To do this, the dentist will screw a healing cap onto the artificial root then will stitch above the gum tissue. The healing time can last for approximately one week, depending on the patient’s health.

• When the bone has completely merged with the titanium posts that can take four to six months, the dentist will perform a second surgery. With the exposed healing cap, your dentist will stitch the surrounding gum. The gum is allowed to heal until it adopts the shape of the cap.
• When the osseointegration is completed, removal of the healing cap follows then an abutment will be placed, for which the artificial denture is positioned.You get your new set of teeth once the above processes are completed and can show that great smile of yours!

A: No special care is necessary for a new permanent or partial implant. Your dentist will, of course, remind you to practice good oral hygiene, the same way you do with natural teeth.

• Brushing of teeth. Use a low-abrasive toothpaste to brush your teeth. Do this twice a day. Some toothpaste contains abrasive and this can damage the teeth, as well as the root of artificial tooth. Allot two minutes when brushing your teeth. Here is the proper way to brush teeth:
  • Begin from the outer right area of the upper jaw moving towards the left area.
  • Brush the insides of the teeth from the left moving to the right, ensuring you brush the molars’ surfaces.
  • Brush the outer side of your lower teeth starting from the right of your lower jaw moving towards the left. Make sure to reach the ends of the left.
  • From the left end, brush the inside areas of the teeth moving towards the right end.
• Floss everyday to make sure the areas between your teeth are cleaned. Choose a floss that you prefer or ask your dentist for any recommendation. A water pick/water flosser or a tap-floss are good tools to do this.
• Floss daily to ensure interdental cleaning. For this purpose, you can use a tap-floss or a water flosser (Waterpik®). The choice of the floss will depend on your personal preference or your dentist’s recommendation.
• Visit your dentist twice a year. See your dentist if you notice something extraordinary.
• Do not smoke or at least avoid smoking, as this stains teeth.

A: The osseointegration process is responsible for the success of dental implants, a process discovered   in 1940 by Beaton, Bothe, and Davenport. These three personalities observed that titanium can merge with animal tissues. They soon looked into the possibility of making prostheses for humans using titanium. Gottlieb Leventhal made some experiments with titanium in 1951 and obtained the same results. In 1952 Per-Ingvar Brånemark conceived the term “osseointegration” to describe his experiments. In 1965, Prof. Brånemark performed the first dental implant to Gösta Larsson.

See more about dental implants.