When it comes to helping you look after your teeth, we have a range of treatments we can use to help you out. A procedure you may be interested in is dental implants.

What are dental implants?

If you have never heard of this type of procedure, then here’s a brief summary to get you up to speed before you visit your dentist in Banbury.

This treatment would normally be recommended to help with cracked and damaged teeth, or to replace a crooked tooth that can’t be realigned with other treatments. The process involves the insertion of a prosthetic tooth beneath your gum line and directly into your jawbone. The tooth is attached via a sterile Titanium screw and the prosthetic itself is normally made out of porcelain or ceramics, to allow us to correctly shade it and blend it in with the surrounding teeth.

What does the treatment involve?

The treatment process itself is pretty straightforward and shouldn’t take too long for our team to perform. The first step will normally involve a consultation meeting, then an inspection and cleaning of the area will occur, followed by a casting and shade matching to create a realistic implant.

The next stage is the insertion of the implant through minor surgery involving local anaesthetic. There also tends to be two main types of techniques for fitting, there’s the Endosteal and Subperiosteal. The first is fitted below the gum line and into your bone as we described, whilst the second is placed below your gums but above the bone. This tends to be used if there’s not enough healthy bone to fit the implant into.

When you come into the practice, our team at Amsel and Wilkins will provide you with a swift and professional service that will get you on the road to that shining smile.

What are the benefits of dental implants?

There are a couple of positives to this treatment worth considering, for example the main benefit is that it provides a natural looking, straight and sturdy addition to your smile.

Another positive to this treatment that your dentist in Banbury might mention is that it is easy to maintain; you just have to brush it like you would any other tooth. However, try to not press too hard as you can dislodge the implant during the healing stage, the same goes for flossing, try to avoid pulling too deep.

Are there risks to be aware of?

The main thing to be aware of is infection; the healing stage of the implant process is vital and if your gums become infected and inflamed in a condition known as peri implant mucositis, then you run the risk of disintegrating the surrounding bone or worse.

Generally, we recommend a strict and regular oral health routine to keep out any bacteria from your gums as they heal.

So, as we’ve shown, there are plenty of good reasons to consider having dental implants. They’re easy to maintain, the procedure is quick and most important of all, it gives you that natural looking smile that you deserve.