New Year, New You with Dental Implants (BLOG)
At Gentle Family Dentists, we love helping patients get back a tooth after they had to have a dental
extraction ( a tooth pulled). Most of our patients have a lot of questions about dental implants and the
dental implant procedure. Some patients refer to a dental implant as a tooth implant or oral implant.
We hope you will think of us as your implant dentist. Dr. Roberto Moreno, Dr. Carolyn Duong, or Dr.
Carol Moreno would love to discuss with you if a dental implant or dental implants are right for you.
Gentle Family Dentists has the only 3D Cone Beam x-ray in Muscatine and North Liberty to properly
diagnose the bone required for a dental implant. Please call Gentle Family Dentists at (563) 288-2612 for
an implant consultation today.
You might be surprised to know that modern dental implants have been around since the 1970’s. But
early civilizations recognized the benefit of tooth replacement and experimented with different ways of
replacing a tooth. Evidence goes back hundreds if not thousands of years but it wasn’t until modern
technology that we had a dependable, affordable way to replace missing teeth.
It was an orthopedic surgeon in 1952 who accidently used a small titanium cylinder in a bone of a
patient and realized when he couldn’t remove it that titanium has a special process of fusing to bone,
called osseointegration (“osseo” – bone; “integration” – fusion or joining with). This discovery is the
biological basis of modern implants’ success.
A dental implant is an artificial tooth.
A titanium “post” is placed surgically into the jawbone and as you heal the post (implant) will
osseointegrate (or fuse) with your natural jawbone.
Together they create a strong foundation for replacement teeth.
The fusing process takes four to six months, on average
You can continue with your normal daily activities while the healing and fusing process takes place.
When the jaw bone and titanium post have fused together, the second step in the process begins. That’s
where we create and attach your new tooth (or teeth) to the titanium post.
Each person’s process is slightly different and we’ll go over your individual plan when we meet for your
first implant consultation.
Benefits of Dental
Implants
Dental implants used to be the privilege
of only the rich and famous. But modern
technology has created the opportunity
for anyone to afford a great smile.
While you’ll need to take care of your implants
just like you do with your natural teeth…
– Titanium does not decay
– You’ll never need a root canal
– The implant will preserve bone where it was placed.
-Basically – Implants can act almost like a tooth and last for
many years.
That means we can create a smile of your dreams that will last a long time.
