Dental Implants — Phoenix, AZ

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

During your consultation, our dentist will go over your oral health and medical history to determine if you can be a good candidate for dental implants. If you aren’t ready for implants yet, you may be able to be able to receive them later after undergoing preliminary procedures such as gum disease treatment, bone grafts, or tooth extractions. Once you are ready, we can develop an appropriate treatment plan and walk you through the associated timeline and what you can expect to pay.

Dental Implant Surgery

Unlike many dental offices, our office is equipped to perform the entire dental implant placement surgery in-house, which means that you won’t have to worry about working with an outside specialist who uses a different pricing scale. The procedure begins with our dentist administering a local anesthetic to ensure that you stay comfortable before they make a small incision in your gums, place the implant in the jawbone, close the surgical area, and place a protective cap upon the post.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment

Osseointegration is the natural process by which the titanium post of your dental implant fuses with the jaw’s bone tissue, creating a sturdy hold that allows it to work just like a real tooth and last for a lifetime with excellent care. It takes several months to complete the osseointegration process, after which you will receive a small surgery to place abutment pieces on top of your implants. While you are healing from this procedure, a skilled technician will craft your final restorations based on impressions taken of your mouth.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)

When your final restoration is complete, you’ll come back to our office to have it placed. This restoration can take the form of a dental crown, bridge, or denture depending on how many teeth are missing, and we’ll make sure that it sits comfortably within your bite before we send you on your way to enjoy your new smile.

Day-to-Day Benefits

Dental implants can significantly improve your day-to-day life in ways such as:

• Enhanced chewing ability allows patients to take more pleasure in eating by enjoying any foods they like.
• Only requiring the same oral hygiene measures as real teeth such as brushing, flossing, using antibacterial mouthwash, and seeing us regularly for exams and cleanings.
• Completing a patient’s smile so they can grin confidently at work and in social situations, which can make them seem friendlier, more confident, more trustworthy, and more approachable to others.
• Allowing a patient to speak without fear of their restoration slipping out of place or falling out of their mouth in the middle of saying something, which can result in much embarrassment.

Health Benefits

Dental implants also offer a few significant perks for a patient’s oral and overall health such as:

• Improving diet by allowing a patient to enjoy the wide variety of foods the human body needs to stay healthy and strong.
• Preventing the neighboring teeth from shifting out of place, which can make them harder to clean, easier to injure, and more prone to infection.
• Not causing injuries such as gum sores or dental damage due to a poorly fitting appliance sliding about the mouth.
• Requiring a simple and easy oral hygiene regimen to prevent destructive oral infections.

Long-Term Benefits

Dental implants can provide remarkable benefits in the long term as well. These include:

• Providing the exercise the jawbone needs to stay strong so it doesn’t atrophy and leave the mouth with a withered and sunken appearance.
• Boasting a 95% success rate even after ten years, making implants a sound investment that is likely to pay significant returns.
• Not needing periodic replacements like dentures or dental bridges do, which can save a patient thousands of dollars over the decades.
• Giving the patient the confidence they need to make a solid first impression, which can make it much easier to meet people, close sales, or land a job or a juicy promotion. This can result in exciting new social engagements or lucrative professional opportunities.
• Lasting for a lifetime if they receive excellent care.

Who Is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

Getting dental implants involves a surgical procedure, so before we can approve you to move forward, we’ll need to examine your dental condition and update your medical history. Typically, we look for three primary characteristics when considering patients for dental implants:

• Good overall health. Your body must be able to undergo the procedure safely and recover effectively afterward.
• Excellent oral health. If we find problems like cavities or gum disease, we must address those first. Otherwise, they could interfere with your results or cause implant failure.
• Sufficient jawbone density. After tooth loss, your jawbone begins to thin. If it’s grown too weak, you may need a bone graft to bulk it up to receive dental implants.

If you’re not a good candidate immediately, don’t lose hope! In many cases, additional services like fillings, root canals, or gum disease therapy may be required. Once your mouth is healthy, we can proceed with one of the following options for your restoration.

Missing One Tooth

If you’re only missing one tooth, we can surgically insert a single implant post directly into your jaw. As you recover, this rod fuses with your bone in a process known as osseointegration. When that’s complete, we’ll provide a lifelike dental crown to cap it and refill the empty space left behind.

The result is a resilient replacement tooth that functions as a sturdy standalone structure that doesn’t rely on your surrounding teeth or gums to remain in place. With it in place, you can enjoy eating, speaking, and smiling much more confidently.

Missing Multiple Teeth

We can offer a different solution for patients with larger gaps in their grins from several missing teeth in a row. In these instances, two implant posts can be placed on either side of the space to anchor a specially designed dental bridge that contains the correct number of pontics (artificial teeth). Unlike traditional dental bridges, there’s no need to remove enamel from healthy teeth to support your prosthetics.

Missing All Teeth

Those who have lost all their natural teeth or are frustrated by ill-fitting dentures might do best with implant dentures. This involves strategically inserting 4 to 6 rods in your jawbone to support a full set of dentures. Instead of relying on a firm suction against your gums, your restoration is ‘permanently’ held in place by your implants, so it’s less likely to fall out. This allows us to rebuild one or both arches of teeth as well as protect and preserve your jawbone and facial structure.

If your jawbone has already begun to thin, you could benefit from All-On-4 dental implants. This involves placing 4 rods in your jaw to secure full dentures in place.

<Learn More About Implant Dentures>

<Learn More About All-On-4 Dental Implants>

Types of Dental Implants

The first question we need to answer is perhaps the most basic one: “How many teeth are missing?” Implants can fill in gaps of any size in your mouth, but the approach that needs to be taken to make that happen varies. For example, a patient that had a single tooth extracted will only need a single implant as well as a crown. Multiple teeth could be replaced by individual implant posts, but if they were all in a row, you might only need two implants and a bridge. For extensive cases, you might receive dentures supported by four implants. As you can probably imagine, the price will be very different in each of these situations.

Are Dental Implants Worth the Investment?

Dental implants can last for many years – decades even – provided they receive the right care, which for the most part simply means brushing, flossing, and visiting our dental office every six months for regular cleanings. Because of this, you’ll rarely, if ever, need to replace your dental implant posts. In contrast, traditional dentures and bridges may need to be replaced every 10 to 15 years. In other words, even if implants are more costly than other options at first, over the long run they can very well end up being the more cost-effective option. In the meantime, you’ll enjoy all the benefits of a new smile supported by strong, stable “roots.”

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

This can be a tricky question because every insurance carrier is different; some do indeed cover implants while other classify them as a cosmetic treatment (and thus won’t offer any kind of coverage). Even if your policy adopts the latter approach, they might still be willing to help pay for related procedures. Review your personal policy carefully. We’ll be more than happy to help you file a claim for any benefits that you are entitled to; we also work with 3rd party credit companies for patients without insurance. Finally, don’t forget to ask about our $1995 dental implant special, which includes the implant along with an abutment and a crown.

What to Do Directly After Dental Implant Surgery

After you’ve undergone dental implant surgery, the most important thing for you to do is to ensure the blood clot forming around the surgical site doesn’t get disturbed. Some of the ways to help promote the best recovery include the following rules:

• Get plenty of rest; keep your head elevated to avoid blood from rushing to your mouth
• Avoid touching the area with your fingers or tongue
• Don’t use a straw when drinking beverages
• Refrain from smoking after the procedure
• Don’t spit; swallow your saliva or use a tissue

Common Side Effects When Recovering from Dental Implant Placement

Several typical side effects that you might expect after your dental implant procedure include:

• Discomfort: It’s quite normal to experience some mild soreness or sensitivity following your appointment, but you can easily manage this with prescribed or over-the-counter pain relievers.
• Inflammation: Swelling can usually happen for the first 72 hours after your treatment, but you can help alleviate your symptoms by using a cold compress.
• Bleeding: Intermittent bleeding can occur around the surgical site, so be sure to apply light pressure with gauze or a clean washcloth to minimize it.

Your Diet After Dental Implant Surgery

Since you don’t want to disturb the healing process, make sure to stick to softer foods like:

• Scrambled eggs
• Yogurt
• Pudding
• Mashed potatoes
• Applesauce
• Pasta
• Oatmeal
• Ice cream

Post-Op Health & Oral Hygiene

24 hours after your surgery, you should be able to clean your teeth like normal. Be sure to scrub carefully around your implant site to avoid interrupting the healing period. To clean the area, simply rinse your mouth with salt water after meals by carefully tilting your head from side to side before letting it pour from your mouth to the sink. Also, only use a mouthwash that doesn’t consist of alcohol, as this can irritate the implant site.

What to Do After Your New Teeth Are Attached

Once you’ve healed completely, you’ll return to us to receive your brand-new restoration. It’s normal to feel some sensitivity after having your new dental crown, bridge, or denture attached to your implant(s), but you can take pain relievers at home until they feel normal. While you shouldn’t experience anymore swelling, bleeding, or further discomfort, be sure to notify our team of any abnormal signs so that we can help resolve the issue.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

Even if your new smile is comprised entirely of dental implants, you can’t put your oral hygiene regimen on the back burner. In fact, if you want to prevent peri-implantitis and other common causes of dental implant failure, it’s crucial that you brush, floss, and rinse with mouthwash consistently. If you ever have any questions related to your dental care regimen – from which toothpaste to use to how to floss correctly – don’t hesitate to ask!

Eat a Healthy Diet

Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet won’t just benefit your overall health; it will benefit your oral health. So, do your best to stick to healthy, well-balanced meals that are packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Simultaneously, avoid hard pretzels, taffy, and other snacks that can damage your teeth, your gums, or your restoration.

Break Bad Habits

Both leading up to the dental implant procedure and afterward, patients are asked not to smoke. But that’s not the only habit we recommend breaking to prolong your results! After all, even seemingly harmless ones, like biting your nails and chewing on ice cubes, can lead to serious harm.

Tip: If you’ve had trouble quitting smoking in the past, let us know! Remember, we’re not here to pass judgment. Instead, we want to share helpful resources and recommendations so the process of rebuilding your smile goes as smoothly as possible.

Protect Your Dental Implants

Just like your natural teeth, your dental implants are strong, but not indestructible. That’s why it’s so important to wear a mouthguard, especially if you participate in contact sports. You should also have a nightguard made if you grind or clench your teeth while you sleep.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Last, but certainly not least, make sure to schedule a dental checkup and cleaning every six months. Not only does this ensure we can remove plaque and tartar before they build up, but it also ensures that we can periodically examine the condition of your teeth, your gums, and your dental implants. Then, if we notice anything concerning, we can bring it to your attention and discuss the next best steps right away.

What could cause implant failure?

Dental implants boast a 95% success rate, but implant failure can still occur. Some common reasons that your implants may fail are infections like gum disease, medical conditions that impact your immune system and impede your ability to heal properly, or poor oral hygiene.

While your dental implants are durable and strong, it’s important to keep in mind that they’re not indestructible. The best way to combat implant failure is to follow your dentist in Phoenix’s instructions after your surgery and let them know of any conditions that you may have during your consultation.

If I smoke, can I get dental implants?

Even if you smoke, you can still get dental implants. Just keep in mind that recent research has uncovered a connection between this oral habit and an increased risk of implant failure. Be sure to let your dentist know if you do use tobacco during your consultation. You can ask them how it will impact your restorations and about any concerns you may have.

Will my dental insurance cover dental implants?

Everyone’s insurance benefits vary, but typically, most plans don’t cover dental implants because they consider them a cosmetic procedure. If you’re looking into getting implants, it’s a good idea to check with your health insurance, because they may be able to help with some of the surgical costs. Before you schedule your consultation, it’s best to contact your providers and see if they cover any of the costs.

How long does the dental implant process take?

Unlike other tooth replacement options, restoring your missing teeth with dental implants is a multistep process that’s completed over the course of several months. Once the small titanium post has been surgically placed into your jawbone, it will undergo osseointegration. This is where the post fuses with the surrounding bone tissue to form a rock-solid foundation for your new tooth. Typically, this stage takes anywhere from four to six months until your mouth has healed enough to move on to placing your final restoration. While getting dental implants takes more time and effort than dentures or a dental bridge, their unmatched comfort, functionality, and longevity are well worth the wait!