Patient Portal Dental Implants – Dallas, TX
The Next Best Answer to Natural Teeth
Dental implants are an excellent choice to replace any number of missing teeth. Instead of just restoring the part of the tooth you can see (the crown), a small post is placed into the jawbone to bring back the root as well. In the end, you get something that looks, feels, and functions just like a natural tooth, and patients can look forward to it lasting for decades to come. If you’re ready to have a complete and confident smile again, contact us today to schedule an implant consultation.
Why Choose Highland Smiles Dental for Dental Implants?
- Implant Placement & Restoration Done In-House
- Each Restoration is Custom-Designed
- Flexible Financing Makes Treatment More Affordable
What are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are small titanium posts that are shaped like screws. They’re designed to be placed beneath the gumline and into the jawbone to restore the missing root structure of teeth. Due to their biocompatible nature, they’re able to fuse with the jawbone through a process called osseointegration. This allows them to offer a strong foundation for any type of restoration to be attached to, including a free-standing crown, bridge, or denture.
The 4-Step Dental Implant Process
By now, many people have heard that dental implants are a wonderful solution for tooth loss because they provide so many benefits that options like bridges and traditional dentures can’t. But it’s common to have questions about how implants work and what you can expect from the process. From the initial consultation to the final restoration, we’ve put together a short “how-to” to explain how the implant procedure works.
Initial Dental Implant Consultation
The first step is a consultation with Dr. Sandadi. First, he’ll spend time discussing your needs and goals and answering any questions you have. Then he’ll gather information to make sure you’re a good candidate for the procedure, starting with a close evaluation of your general health. This ensures you’ll heal properly, which is important for the long-term success of your implants.
Next, with the help of 3D cone-beam imaging, he’ll take a highly detailed, 3-dimensional image of your teeth and jaws to make sure you have adequate bone density to support an implant. Lastly, he’ll discuss any treatment you may need beforehand, such as a bone graft procedure, extractions, or gum disease treatment, and give you an estimate of cost and how long your treatment will take.
Dental Implant Surgery
As a dentist in Highland Park with extensive advanced training, Dr. Sandadi can perform every step of the implant procedure from start to finish so you won’t have to go to another office for the initial surgery.
This surgery usually takes 1-2 hours per implant and is much easier than people anticipate. First, we’ll completely numb the area and make sure you feel comfortable. Then we’ll place a surgical-grade titanium post in your jaw that takes the place of the missing root and put a “healing cap” over the area to protect it over the next several months.
Osseointegration & Abutment Attachment
Many of the benefits of dental implants in Highland Park are due to a process called osseointegration. This occurs when your implant bonds or fuses with the surrounding jawbone, and typically takes 3-6 months.
Once the implant has fully integrated with the jawbone, you’ll return so we can attach an adaptor called an abutment that connects your implant to its dental restoration (e.g. either a dental crown or an implant bridge or denture).
Placing Your Final Restorations
During the final stage of your implant procedure, you’ll get your new prosthetic tooth or teeth. Your restoration will be matched in size, shape, and color to the rest of your smile so that no one will know you have an implant. And since it will feel so much like one of your own teeth, you may have a hard time telling as well.
If you have any other questions about how dental implants work, or if you’d like to schedule a consultation, don’t hesitate to contact us!
Benefits of Dental Implants
- Security: As we touched on above, instead of just sitting on the gums or leaning on neighboring teeth, dental implants are anchored directly into the jawbone. This gives them a stability and security only matched by real teeth, enabling patients to eat anything they want with ease.
- Appearance: Implants are topped with custom-made porcelain restorations, giving them a lifelike appearance that makes them indistinguishable from natural teeth.
- Bone Retention: When a tooth goes missing, the jawbone in the area usually starts to shrink as time goes by, leading many people to develop a “sunken” facial appearance. Because of the new tooth roots, dental implants are the only treatment that can stop and even reverse this process, leading to a much stronger and more attractive smile overall.
- Durability: With just standard oral hygiene, a dental implant can last for the rest of a patient’s life.
Who Can Dental Implants Help?
No matter how many teeth you are missing, dental implants are still an option. After a brief exam, Dr. Sandadi can recommend which of the following restorations is best for you:
Who is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?
Typically, we look for a few important traits in patients who are good candidates for the procedure. However, just because a patient may not be considered a good candidate right away, it doesn’t mean that we can’t help them get there with preliminary treatments like bone grafting, sinus lifts, gum disease treatment, etc. That being said, we typically are able to place dental implants in patients who have no lingering or untreated dental health issues, a dense enough jawbone, and no untreated medical conditions that compromise their immune system.
Missing One Tooth
Replacing the entire tooth structure, from the root to the crown, the single tooth dental implant is a titanium rod that is inserted into the jawbone to provide the missing stability of the original tooth root. By mimicking the root’s function, it triggers the jawbone to continue growing, which makes for a longer-lasting and stronger replacement.
Missing Multiple Teeth
As an alternative to traditional treatments, many patients are choosing to stabilize their bridge or denture with dental implants. You’ll enjoy the next best thing to your real teeth using a multi-step treatment process.
Titanium implant posts are surgically placed into your jawbone to serve as new roots. Your jaw fuses to the posts over the next several weeks. After your bone has healed, special connectors are placed onto the posts to secure your restoration. Now, you’ll have a solution that can last for a lifetime with the right aftercare.
Missing All Teeth
Using just four to six implants, Dr. Sandadi can restore an entire row of teeth with a full denture. The prosthetic is attached directly to the jawbone, so patients don’t ever have to worry about their teeth shifting or moving unexpectedly in their mouth.
Start-to-Finish Convenience
To help patients reclaim their full smiles as quickly and efficiently as possible, Dr. Sandadi has undergone extensive training so he can perform the entire implant procedure himself, including the surgical placement of the new roots. Most other dental offices have to refer their implant patients to an outside specialist, adding time and expense to the entire process. Instead, at Highland Smiles Dental, you’ll be able to get everything you need in one convenient location provided by the dentist and team that you trust.
Understanding the Cost of Dental Implants
Every dental implant procedure is different depending on each patient’s specific situation, and because of this, the cost of the treatment can vary quite a bit as well. The following factors will have a direct effect on the final price of your dental implants:
- The number of implants used
- Where the implants are located in the mouth
- The type of restoration used
- The need for any tooth extractions or bone grafts beforehand
- The need for additional X-rays, scans, or sedation
Because of the high-quality materials used and their superior function and aesthetics, implants do tend to cost more upfront than other traditional tooth replacements, but they are still the best investment if you’re restoring your missing teeth. Why? Because of their longevity. Regular bridges and dentures usually have to be replaced every 7-10 years, while a dental implant can easily last for 30 or more. Over time, a patient won’t spend as much on implants because they require less maintenance and retreatment.
The Stages of Dental Implant Treatment
Since rebuilding your smile with dental implants is a multistep process, you don’t have to pay for your entire treatment all at once. Over the span of several months, you’ll go through different stages of the dental implant process that each incur their own costs, which could include:
- Preliminary treatments, such as extractions, bone grafts, or gum disease treatment.
- The implant placement surgery, as well as any additional fees for sedation.
- Abutment placement, which is the small connector piece between the implant post and final restoration.
- Design, creation, and placement of final restoration, which will be your custom-made dental crown, bridge, or denture.
Types of Dental Implants
Dental implants are a versatile treatment that can be used to replace one, several, or an entire arch of missing teeth. The cost of your treatment will highly depend on how many and what type of dental implants you need to rebuild your smile. For instance, replacing one tooth with a single implant post and dental crown will cost less than using several implant posts accompanied by a custom-made denture to replace an entire arch of missing teeth. During your initial consultation, your Highland Park implant dentist will discuss all your options with you as well as their associated costs.
Are Dental Implants Worth the Investment?
We absolutely believe that dental implants are worth the investment! This unique tooth replacement option is unlike any other method available, and as such, offers numerous important advantages. While traditional methods like dentures and dental bridges lose their fit, become uncomfortable, and need to be replaced after several years, dental implants have the potential to last a lifetime. Not only is this more convenient, but it could easily end up saving you money in the long run. In addition to their long-term value, it’s impossible to put a price on how dental implants can protect your overall health and boost your quality of life.
Does Dental Insurance Cover the Cost of Dental Implants?
You’ll need to check the details of your specific dental insurance policy to see if your plan covers any portion of your dental implant treatment. Feel free to bring your insurance paperwork with you to your consultation and we’ll be happy to review it with you. However, most insurance companies will only cover parts or percentages of your treatment at most.
Other Ways to Make Dental Implants More Affordable
We also offer low to no interest financing through CareCredit, which would break up the cost of your dental implants into easy payments that fit into your budget. During your consultation, we’ll go over your personalized estimate of costs, as well as how to make your new smile as affordable as possible!
Dental Implant FAQs
What is the success rate for dental implants?
For a strong majority of cases, dental implants are highly successful—about 97 percent. In fact, twenty years after the placement procedure, about 90 percent of dental implants are still working and performing well for implant patients. Why are they so successful? Before he begins placing dental implants, Dr. Sandadi uses advanced digital X-rays and our 3D Cone-Beam Imaging technology to get a thorough view of your facial structures, tissues, blood vessels, and more. This information allows him to accurately plan out the procedure and pave the way toward effective treatment. You can rest assured that your smile is in capable hands.
What can cause dental implant failure?
Although dental implants are successful most of the time, they do sometimes fail. Often, there is a pre-existing infection or condition, such as osteoporosis, that prevents the tissue and bone from being able to support the implant properly. Dr. Sandadi will do all he can before and during the procedure to make sure that you enjoy a successful experience and a strong, healthy smile as a result.
In the long term, dental implants can eventually fail due to gum disease or other infections or a lack of proper maintenance.
How can I make my dental implants last longer?
You play a significant role in determining the longevity of your dental implants. The good news is that how you should care for your implants resembles how you care for natural teeth. Simply put, you need to brush and floss daily and visit us at Highland Smiles Dental twice every year for a checkup appointment. If you maintain these healthy habits, you should be able to stretch your dental implants’ lifespan to 30 years or even longer.
What is the process for getting dental implants?
After your consultation with Dr. Sandadi, the procedure for getting dental implants goes like this:
- If any preliminary work needs to be done, such as a bone graft, he will perform that first.
- Then, he will surgically place the titanium posts deep into the gums so that they stimulate the jawbone.
- Over the course of several months, the bone will fuse to the post and the tissue will heal and support the implant.
- You will return to our office so that Dr. Sandadi can attach the abutment piece. We will then take impressions of your mouth and send that information to a dental lab, where your custom restoration will be crafted.
- Finally, we will bond your dental prosthetic to the implant, giving you a completely restored smile top to bottom—all at one, convenient office!