Dental Implants: The Gold Standard for Replacing Lost Teeth
While your natural teeth should provide a lifetime of function, it doesn’t always end up this way. You may lose your teeth to deep cavities, trauma, and gum disease. And since teeth work optimally when they are a set, losing one or more teeth disrupts your oral health. Missing teeth affect your chewing ability, and slowly the remaining teeth shift into the extra space, affecting your bite.
At Mint Dental in Meridian, Idaho, we offer natural-looking dental implants to restore your healthy, confident smile. If you want to determine if dental implants are right for you, please book a no-obligation consultation with Dr. Kevin Pulsipher.
The dental implant procedure
We use cutting-edge technology to collect the necessary data about your smile to plan your treatment. Digital X-rays, 3D scans, and photographs help Dr. Pulsipher and the team to provide the best results possible.
We strive to make our dental implant treatment comfortable, safe, and effective. Here is what you can expect after getting the go-ahead for a dental implant:
- Pre-surgery procedures: After your initial consultation, we will recommend periodontal care and cavity treatment if we discover gum disease and cavities, respectively, in your mouth. Patients with insufficient jawbones must undergo bone grafting to add volume and density to their bones. If you have severely damaged or decayed teeth, they must be removed before filling the gaps with dental implants
- Dental surgery: After numbing your gums, your doctor will surgically insert a titanium post at a precise location in your jawbone
- Healing: During healing, the jawbone fuses with the implant to form a stable anchorage for a crown or any other dental restoration
- Abutment placement: We install an abutment that connects the implant to a crown. This procedure requires about two weeks of healing
- Crown placement: The final step is to restore your tooth with a natural-looking crown. Sometimes, we may place a denture or bridge to restore several missing teeth
A dental implant mimics your natural teeth, from looks to performance. Once Dr. Pulsipher installs a dental implant, no one can tell it’s a replacement!
Replace missing teeth with dental implants
Want to get rid of your “gappy smile” with dental implants? If you are in Meridian, ID, please call (208) 900-4669 to schedule an appointment with the Mint Dental team.
Dental Implants
Dental implants are titanium roots, that are replaced with in the jawbone to resemble a tooth or group of teeth. A screw is inserted through the gums and into the jawbone. A porcelain crown is then attached to the screw to become the new tooth or teeth. They can be used to support dental prosthesis including crowns, dentures, and bridges. Today’s treatments are so natural looking, no one will know you had surgery. There’s approximately a 95% success rate for all implants. With modern advances in dentistry, some implants can be restored immediately with life like all porcelain crowns. For more details ask your dentist.
FAQs
Dr. Kevin Pulsipher describes dental implants as artificial tooth roots, typically made of titanium, that provide a permanent foundation or base for replacement teeth that are fixed to the jawbone. Quality dental implants are an effective and long-lasting solution for patients suffering from missing teeth, failing teeth, or even chronic dental problems.
Yes, quality dental implants from Mint Dental are a safe and well-established treatment. Dental implants, like natural teeth, will last as long as you care for them.
Traditional dental implants are suitable for most adult patients in good general health. They can only be placed after the jawbone fully develops, so they are generally not used for younger patients and children.
The recovery time following the placement and restoration of dental implants differs between patients and depends upon the number and location of the implants. Generally, you can expect to begin feeling better after about a week and return to usual activities once cleared by Dr. Kevin Pulsipher.
Yes, once dental implants have healed in the jawbone, they can look, feel, and function just like natural teeth. You can eat, drink, and even speak as you would with your natural teeth.
If you experience any concerns with your implants, contact Mint Dental at (208) 900-4669 to request an evaluation with Dr. Kevin Pulsipher and his team.
