If you are missing only one tooth, it is easy to brush if off and ignore it, especially if the gap left behind is out of sight when you smile. However, even a single missing tooth can impact your daily functions. Eating can become difficult, and affect your ability to properly chew your food. Improperly chewed food then leads to poor digestion and malnutrition. Food can get lodged in the space. The gap may be more difficult to keep clean, increasing your risk for developing tooth decay and gum disease. Even one missing tooth can lead to bone loss in the jaw, which can then cause your adjacent teeth to shift out of place, or fall out. At Rekos & Border Oral Surgery, we can replace your single missing tooth with a single tooth implant.Fixed Bridge
Typically, replacing a single tooth involved the use of a dental bridge, a small appliance with a fake tooth set between two crowns. To place the crown, your adjacent teeth need preparation. Preparing teeth for crowns means removing enamel from perfectly healthy teeth. Once the teeth are prepared, molds of your mouth are taken and used to fabricate a customized bridge. When ready, the bridge is checked for fit and then cemented securely in place.
Single Tooth Dental Implants
A dental implant is different. Your adjacent teeth are left completely intact. Instead, a hole is drilled into your jawbone, and a titanium rod is placed. As you heal from the procedure, your jawbone fuses to the implant, turning it essentially into a root onto which a ceramic crown is permanently affixed.
Single tooth implants are designed to replace a single missing tooth in any given area of your mouth. It takes the place of a traditional fixed bridge. There are several benefits that come along with the use of a dental implant including:
| • | Strong and stable. |
| • | Looks completely natural. |
| • | Preserves your adjacent teeth. There is no need to trim away perfectly healthy tooth enamel. |
| • | Prevents a bone loss in your jaw, helping to keep it strong. This is because the rod imitates the functions of your natural tooth root, including stimulating the jawbone. |
How the Implant is Placed
Dental implants require a surgical procedure. After a local anesthetic is administered, incisions are made in the gum tissue, exposing the bone. A hole is then drilled into your jaw, following the treatment plan created based on your digital imaging. The titanium rod is then placed. Your gums are stitched closed around the implant, leaving a small section exposed. A temporary crown is placed while you heal.
Healing can take several weeks, during which time your bone is fusing to the rod, helping it to become a stable support. Once you have healed, an abutment is placed on the rod and impressions taken. The impressions are used to fabricate your permanent crown, which is set in place when it is finished.
If you have lost even just one tooth, replacement as soon as possible is necessary. Contact Rekos & Border Oral Surgery today at (614) 764-9455 for more information and to schedule your consultation.
