Dental Implants – Shelton, CT

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

During the initial consultation, Dr. Graber will need to review your oral health and medical history to confirm that you’re a candidate for dental implants. We may need to plan preliminary procedures such as gum disease therapy, tooth extraction, or bone grafting depending on whether any conditions in your mouth need to be taken care of before implant surgery. Once we’re sure implants are right for you, we can walk you through the remainder of the treatment, including a step-by-step breakdown of the timeline and cost.

Dental Implant Surgery

Our practice places dental implants in-house, letting you enjoy the benefits of getting dental implants from a team that you’re already familiar with. Implant surgery is a relatively simple procedure; after numbing your mouth, we’ll make strategic incisions in the gums so that we can place implant posts in specifically chosen parts of your jawbone. We will then close your gums and place a protective cap over each implant post to keep them safe while your mouth is healing.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment

Osseointegration is the term for the process where the jawbone forms a permanent bond with your dental implants. Without osseointegration, your implants wouldn’t be able to provide full strength and stability to your replacement teeth, and they could even come loose. As such, you’ll need to wait three to six months for osseointegration to complete itself. Afterward, we’ll attach a small connector piece called an abutment to each dental implant post. The abutment is what will connect the final restoration to the rest of the implant.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)

A dental implant restoration could be a crown, bridge, or denture based on the number of teeth that need to be replaced. Your restoration will be designed based on an impression of your mouth that we’ll take after your mouth has finished healing from the previous step. Once the final restoration is ready, you’ll return to our office for one final appointment. We’ll make last-minute adjustments as needed and check to make sure that your bite is comfortable before we put the finishing touches on your new smile.

Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery

Sometimes you might have to pay for tooth extractions in order to make room for dental implants to be placed. You may also require periodontal therapy or bone grafts to restore the health of your mouth before the implant process actually begins. These preliminary treatments all have their own costs that you’ll need to take into account.

Of course, when talking about costs related to implants, you can’t forget about the dental implant surgery itself. One advantage of having the implant procedure done at the Dental Center of Huntington is that the surgery is performed under the same roof as the implant restoration. This makes paying the requisite fees much easier since you don’t have to worry about receiving bills from separate practices.

The Parts of Your Dental Implant

Dental implant posts and abutments are normally made of titanium due to its biocompatible properties. The crown, bridge, or denture supported by the posts will be composed of a lifelike ceramic material that closely matches the appearance of real teeth. Not only does each part of the implant have its own cost to think about, but the price can vary depending on the material used as well as the manufacturer. Dr. Graber has very carefully selected highly reliable manufacturers who in turn use the best materials for restoring and maintaining smiles.

Final Dental Implant Restoration

A dental crown supported by a single implant will naturally be less costly than a dental bridge anchored to two implants – which in turn will carry a lower cost than a denture that requires four to eight implants. The extent of your tooth loss and the type of restoration needed to correct it will have a dramatic influence on how much you end up paying for your treatment. We’ll make sure you understand your options and help you pick the most cost-effective solution.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

We’ll need to review your individual policy with you to determine whether your insurance covers implant treatment. You should also double check with your insurance carrier to make sure that you fully understand your coverage. In many cases, the implants themselves will not be covered, but you can still use insurance to help pay for related preliminary treatments and parts of the restoration.

Making Dental Implants Affordable

When dental insurance doesn’t cover your care, you can still use CareCredit financing to break up the cost of care into smaller installments that are easier to fit into your budget. We can help you apply for a CareCredit plan that’s customized just for you.

3D Cone Beam Imaging/3D CT Scanning

A traditional dental X-ray can be useful for identifying unseen dental problems, but it won’t necessarily give us all of the information we need to plan a successful dental implant surgery. Instead, we can use cone beam imaging to create a comprehensive digital model of your mouth. To create this model, a special CT (computed tomography) scanner will rotate around your head, taking up to 200 pictures of your teeth, jaws, and other oral structures. All of these images are combined to create a three-dimensional digital recreation of your mouth that can be examined from any angle.

Thanks to cone beam imaging, we can narrow down exactly where your dental implants should be placed and figure out the best angle for inserting them into the jaw. We can also identify any potential obstacles (such as nerve pathways near the implant site) so that we can account for them on the day of surgery and improve the chances of a successful procedure.

Antibacterial Coating

Dental implant failure is rare, but we still need to take whatever steps we can to avoid it. One of the most common reasons for implants to fail is a type of gum disease called peri-implantitis. This is when the tissues around the implant post become infected, gradually breaking down over time. If peri-implantitis isn’t treated quickly, it can cause the implant posts to come loose. We can lower the risk of such an infection occurring by applying a special antibacterial coating to your implants.

The primary purpose of the coating is to make it more difficult for harmful oral bacteria to build up on the surface of your implant posts. It can also help eliminate harmful bacteria that may be near the implant site. As a result, you’ll be much less likely to suffer an infection while your mouth is still recovering from implant surgery, allowing your jaw to form a bond with the dental implant posts without any issues.

The technology used to plan and perform dental implant surgery could make a major difference in the short and long-term success of your smile. During your initial consultation (or at any point during the implant process), feel free to ask about cone beam imaging, antibacterial coating, and other advancements that we utilize when placing dental implants.

Do Dental Implants Feel Natural?

After your dental implant has fully healed and integrated with your jawbone, you can expect your tooth replacement to feel almost indistinguishable from your natural teeth. This is thanks to the titanium post being incredibly effective at mimicking your previous tooth’s root. However, do not expect to feel anything from the implant itself as it contains no nerve endings to transmit sensations. Rather, what you’re feeling in this area, whether it’s heat, cold, or pressure, is coming from the gum tissue that has healed around the implant.

Do Dental Implants Decay?

Dental implants as well as the restoration that attaches to them are not made from organic materials. That means neither component can develop decay or cavities. However, your remaining natural teeth can just as easily become damaged by plaque and the gum tissue surrounding the implant can still become infected. For this reason, you will still need to practice daily oral hygiene to protect the longevity of your tooth replacement and overall oral health.

Will People Be Able to Tell That I Have Dental Implants?

Our office captures highly detailed impressions of your mouth using a modern digital impression system. This allows us to create restorations that are created to your exact needs and specifications. Once the restoration has been attached to the implant(s), no one should be able to differentiate them from your natural teeth. Because of the integration process the implant undergoes, you won’t need to worry about holding your jaw in a specific way just to ensure they remain still, something that cannot be said for dentures once they are several years old.

Can I Get Dental Implants If I Smoke?

While we do not recommend using tobacco after dental implants have been placed, those who smoked previously can still get dental implants as long as they quit. Smoking, chewing tobacco, and vaping all cause dry mouth, slow down the healing process, and make it more difficult for the implant to fuse with the jawbone. You also increase your risk of dry socket when smoking, which is when the blood clot that forms over the implant site becomes loose and falls off. If you want dental implants and currently smoke, you should quit at least two weeks before the procedure occurs and avoid smoking for at least two to three months afterward. Of course, now is a perfect time to quit entirely as those who smoke are generally at much higher risk of implant failure.

What to Do Directly After Dental Implant Surgery

By nature, implant surgery is a bit of a taxing process; however, with the right care and proper maintenance, you should be able to make a comfortable and quick recovery that brings you one step closer to having a complete and healthy smile again. During the initial recovery period, it’s important to make sure that the blood clot that forms over your surgical site remains completely untouched so your gums can heal around the implant. To help with this, be sure to avoid:

• Drinking with straws
• Spitting (use tissues instead or swallow your saliva)
• Smoking or using tobacco
• Touching the surgical site with your fingers or tongue

Common Side Effects When Recovering from Dental Implant Placement

It’s not uncommon to experience gradual and intermittent bleeding, swelling, and general discomfort after undergoing dental implant surgery. However, these symptoms should all disappear on their own. If you’re experiencing a symptom that is progressively getting worse or lasting longer than normal, don’t hesitate to give us a call! In the meantime, here are some steps you can implement to manage your side effects:

• If bleeding occurs, you can apply gentle pressure to the area with a clean piece of gauze.
• Use a cold compress on the side of your cheek to reduce swelling.
• Take your prescribed or over-the-counter medications to alleviate pain.

Your Diet After Dental Implant Surgery

It’s important to stick to only eating soft foods during the first few days following your surgery. However, within a few days, you should be able to slowly reintegrate more solid foods—just be sure to avoid chewing directly on the implant surgery site. Here are some foods that we typically recommend patients stock up on:

• Mashed potatoes
• Yogurt
• Pudding
• Ice Cream
• Soup (not too hot)
• Scrambled eggs
• Pasta

Post-Op Health & Oral Hygiene

It’s crucial to keep your mouth clean after your surgery to make sure that your implants successfully integrate with your jawbone. Here are a few oral hygiene tips to help you out:

• You can brush your teeth as you normally would the day after your surgery but be sure to be gentle and careful while brushing near the surgery site.
• Rinse your mouth with salt water two or three times every day, ideally after eating. If you have a prescription mouth rinse, you can use that instead. Be sure to avoid any mouthwash that contains alcohol.

What to Do After Your New Teeth Are Attached

Once your mouth has healed up and your implants have bonded with your jawbone, the last step is to attach the final prosthetic to the implant post(s). You may experience some minor sensitivity in your gum tissue, but with pain medication, it should be completely manageable. You should call us immediately if you notice any swelling or bleeding following this, as it likely indicates there’s a problem.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

If you have not already developed the habit of brushing and flossing your (real or artificial) teeth every day, you need to do so now. While your replacement teeth will not succumb to tooth decay, you can still contract a gum disease that could put your implants at risk of failure. Make sure you’re brushing twice daily and flossing at least once each day to keep oral bacteria under control.

Eat a Healthy Diet

To keep your smile strong, you need to nourish it with healthy foods. A diet of vegetables, fruits, and calcium-rich foods can provide necessary nutrients to your jawbone and help get rid of harmful oral bacteria. In addition, you should limit how much sugar and carbohydrates you have because these encourage bacterial growth in the mouth.

Break Bad Habits

Before you begin the process of getting your dental implants, it is the perfect time to stop any bad habits you may have. For example, smoking is a bad habit that increases your risk of gum disease significantly, which raises the risk of implant failure. Another habit you should consider breaking is chewing on ice or hard objects. By taking action now—before your replacement teeth are in place—you can help your implants last as long as possible.

Protect Your Dental Implants

Do you play sports? Do you grind or clench your teeth while you sleep? You can’t protect your teeth against every possible accident, but in these cases, you can! While you participate in sports, be sure to wear a mouthguard to stop any blows to the face from damaging your restored smile. Also, if you know that you have a problem with bruxism (a condition where you grind your teeth during sleep), make sure you talk to Dr. Graber about it. 

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Obviously, at-home oral care is essential to preserving your dental implants, but even if you have no natural teeth left, you still need to visit our Shelton office on a regular basis for checkups and cleanings. These appointments, which need to occur at least every six months, allow Dr. Graber to examine your smile and look for any early signs of trouble. Should he find any indication of a problem, he can quickly address it before it puts your implants at risk of failure. The cleanings are also important because everyone misses some plaque every now and then, and our team can remove it before it leads to an infection.