Procedures You May Need Before Dental Implant Surgery

Dental implants are one of the greatest options for tooth replacement that there are. They’re strong, durable, and can provide you with a realistic tooth to fill that hole in your smile. Given how incredible they are, it’s no surprise that dental implants get so much hype.

However, getting dental implants may require a little bit of preparation before the actual procedure. There are some preliminary procedures associated with dental implants that you might need. Here are a few examples.

Tooth Extraction

While dental implants are often used to replace missing teeth, just as often they’re used to swap out a tooth that is severely infected, or that has died. In that case, the dental implant will be preceded by an extraction.

Tooth extractions are, in a sense, fairly simple. Dentists will make use of a powerful local anesthetic and forceps to remove the tooth. In some cases, a more complicated surgical extraction may be necessary.

Bone Grafting

When you lose a tooth, it’s common for the area of the jaw that once held it to start to shrink due to disuse. This presents a problem when you’d like to put a dental implant in that area, as it’s possible that your jawbone may have dissolved too much to effectively support it.

That’s where bone grafts come in. A dentist will place bone from another part of the body or a synthetic bone-like material in the area that needs extra support. After around 8 months of healing time, your jawbone will be much fuller and stronger than it was before, increasing your implant’s chance of success.

Sinus Lift

Sinus lifts are similar to bone grafts but are slightly more complicated. They’re only used in situations where a dental implant is being used to replace a molar on the upper jaw, by the sinuses.

If you have lost some bone, or if your sinuses are naturally fairly large, it could be that you don’t have enough height in your jaw for the implant. It’s possible that the dental implant could penetrate into the sinuses, which can cause serious complications.

A sinus lift is a style of bone graft that gives you more height to your upper jaw, which can prevent this from happening.

About Our Practice

At Dental Center of Huntington, everyone from our incredible dentists to our front desk staff is united by one mission—ensuring that our patients are at the center of everything that we do. We truly want what’s best for our patients, and we hope to prove that to you with our commitment to excellence in everything that we do.

If you have any questions about dental implants, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (203) 925-1911.