What are Dental Implants?

A dental implant is essentially an artificial tooth root. The implant serves as a solid foundation for tooth replacement. It can replace a single tooth or it can be a support for a bridge or a denture. We typically place the implant in the pace where a tooth used to be. This is a careful procedure, usually with little or no pain.

Am I a candidate for dental implants?

Anyone in reasonable health who wants to replace missing teeth is a candidate for dental implants. If you have a single missing tooth, bridges or removable partial and full dentures, you would likely benefit from dental implants. Denture wearers can especially benefit from implants. Dental implants can provide a solid attachment to keep dentures secure during function. New technology snap-type attachments can be used to provide the connection for your dentures. They can be used as well to support a full set of teeth that will work like your own. To be a dental implant candidate, you must have enough bone in the area of the missing teeth to provide an adequate anchorage for the implants. We can evaluate this for you. When there isn’t enough bone, bone regeneration or grafting techniques can be performed. Please see our section on dental implants and bone grafting for further information.

Why are dental implants so popular?

They are wonderful! Implants are such a great advancement over the conventional techniques. They offer tooth replacement that is actually much stronger than your own teeth. They will feel like your own tooth back. Dr. Wagner has been placing implants for over twenty years and he has many patients who have had their implants for many years. He indicates that, “Once they take, they rarely fail.”