Dental Implants — Braintree, MA

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

If you have missing teeth and are interested in dental implants in Braintree, we recommend scheduling a consultation with our office. We will carefully examine your mouth, the number of teeth you’re missing, the condition of your oral health, and the strength of your jawbone before recommending dental implants as a solution. If you have any preexisting dental issues such as gum disease, we will treat them before the implant process can begin. Once we’ve created your personalized treatment plan for receiving your implants, we’ll schedule your surgery!

Dental Implant Surgery

Most dental practices have to outsource for dental implants because the surgical process requires extra training and education. However, at Pinnacle Dental, you’ll work with the same dentist throughout the entire treatment—from beginning to end. This is not only convenient, saving you trips across town, but it also results in more consistent care.

We’ll start your implant surgery by ensuring that you’re numb, comfortable, and sedated. Then, we’ll create tiny incisions in your gums to access your jawbone. After making small holes, we will place your dental implants and provide you with temporary restorations to maintain your appearance while they heal.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment Placement

Once your surgery is complete, we’ll allow about 3 to 4 months for your dental implant to heal—a process called osseointegration. Our dental implants are made out of titanium, which is a biocompatible material that will become part of your jaw once fully healed. While this process seems lengthy, it’s precisely what makes dental implants a strong and long-lasting tooth replacement. Then, we will place abutments on top of your implants, which are used to successfully mount your permanent restoration.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restorations

Once your implants are healed and the abutments are placed, we’ll mount our custom-made restorations on top of them. The type of restoration that we use will directly depend on the number of teeth that you’re missing, but every solution is personalized for your smile. If you’re only missing one tooth, we can seamlessly complete your smile with a beautiful dental crown. This restoration is crafted to match the color, shape, and size of the rest of your teeth.

Day-to-Day Benefits

With dental implants, you won’t have to wait long to enjoy the perks. Here are a few of the ways this tooth-replacement solution can improve your day-to-day life:

• Easier Maintenance – Dental implants are extremely easy to maintain. In fact, you can maintain them with the same best practices you use for your natural teeth, like flossing daily!
• Improved Confidence – Every implant is topped with a custom-made restoration, giving our patients a natural appearance that boosts their oral health as well as their self-esteem.
• Varied Diet – Because they are rooted inside strong jawbone, patients can eat whatever they like and not have to worry about their implanted teeth moving.

Health Benefits

In addition to improving your confidence and diet, dental implants come with several health benefits, including:

• Jawbone Preservation – Right now, dental implants are the only replacement that’s able to stop and even reverse the bone loss that occurs after tooth loss.
• Protection for Natural Teeth – Even one missing tooth can negatively impact the alignment of your bite. Fortunately, dental implants can keep your teeth in their ideal position.
• Better Overall Health – Since tooth loss has been linked to an increased risk of several diseases, rebuilding your smile with dental implants can benefit your oral and overall health.

Long-Term Benefits

When compared to dental bridges and dentures, dental implants offer several unique long-term benefits, such as:

• High Success Rate – One of the biggest perks of dental implants is the high success rate. Studies have found that it’s about 95% even after 20 years!
• Youthful Appearance – In addition to the size, shape, and shade of each restoration being custom-made, the implant itself stimulates the jawbone to prevent a sunken, aged look.
• Long-Lasting Results – When properly cared for, a dental implant can be expected to last for decade after decade, often for the rest of a patient’s life.

Missing 1 Tooth

A fixed bridge is the most traditional solution to replace a missing tooth. An impression of your mouth is taken to recreate it. It is held in place by reshaping the adjacent teeth to bond dental crowns over them. This is a convenient solution that lasts for about one decade before needing to be replaced; however, it only replicates the portion of the tooth that’s visible above the gum line.

A dental implant can also be used; a titanium implant post is surgically placed into your jawbone to act as a new root. An abutment is placed on the post to connect a custom-made crown. This allows you to enjoy the next best thing to your real tooth using a solution that can last for a lifetime with the right aftercare.

Missing Multiple Teeth

Traditionally, multiple missing teeth in a row are replaced using a fixed bridge. The bridge is held in place by reshaping your adjacent teeth to bond dental crowns over them. This is a convenient and affordable solution; however, you’ll need to permanently alter healthy teeth to support the bridge. As an alternative, a dental implant can hold the bridge in place.

For patients missing multiple teeth throughout an arch, a partial can be used. This consists of prosthetic teeth that are attached to a gum-colored base with a metal framework. Alternatively, single-unit implants and implant-retained bridges can also be used, which will allow your smile to look more natural and help you enjoy all of your favorite foods again.

Missing All Teeth

Patients missing all of their teeth along a single row can effectively replace them using just four to six implants that are attached to a full denture. Once in place, this denture can be trusted to never slip or slide, allowing a patient to eat whatever they like with complete comfort. This option also grants numerous oral health benefits, making it quite desirable.

Learn More About All-On-4

Types of Dental Implants

Whether you’re missing one, several, or all of your natural teeth, dental implants can help you rebuild your smile. Some of the main factors that will influence the cost of your treatment are how many and what type of dental implants you need. For example, replacing one tooth will only require a single implant post and a custom dental crown. This would cost less than replacing an entire arch of missing teeth, which needs anywhere from four to eight implants and a complete denture.

What are the Stages of Dental Implant Treatment?

Since the dental implant process is a multistep procedure, you don’t have to pay for your entire treatment all at once. Instead, you can budget and save for each appointment over the course of several months. Some of the stages that will incur individual fees include:

• Need for sedation
• Preliminary treatments, such as gum disease therapy or bone graft
• Implant placement surgery
• Abutment placement
• Design, creation, and placement of the final restoration

Are Dental Implants Worth the Investment?

With over five million dental implants placed every year according to the American Dental Association, dental implants are quickly becoming one of the most popular tooth replacement options available. So what makes this treatment worth the cost for so many people? Since dental implants replace missing teeth both above and below the gumline, they offer numerous unique and important benefits, such as:

• Lifelike comfort and appearance
• Vastly improved stability and biting force
• Easy maintenance with great oral hygiene
• Preservation of jawbone density and facial structure
• The potential to last a lifetime with the proper care

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

Every dental insurance policy is slightly different, so you’ll need to check the details of your specific policy to see if your plan covers the cost of dental implants. Feel free to bring your insurance paperwork with you to your consultation and we’ll be happy to review it with you. Typically, dental insurance companies will only cover parts or percentages of dental implant treatments at the most. To help make rebuilding your smile as easy as possible, we offer financing options through CareCredit. This will let you break up the cost of your treatment into smaller payments that fit into your monthly budget. We’ll go over your personalized estimate of costs during your consultation, as well as how to make achieving your new smile as affordable as possible.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

Have you heard of peri-implantitis? It’s a form of gum disease, and it’s one of the leading causes of dental implant failure. That’s why it’s so important that you commit to a solid oral hygiene regimen, even if you don’t have any of your natural teeth left. That starts with brushing for a full two minutes each morning and night and extends to flossing consistently to prevent plaque and tartar buildup.

Eat a Healthy Diet

A healthy diet is crucial when it comes to keeping your dental implants in pristine condition. After all, if you consistently consume foods and drinks that are loaded with added sugar, it will only be a matter of time before your teeth, your gums, and your dental implants suffer. Fortunately, there are lots of delicious foods that are packed with nutrients, like plain yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, and oatmeal.

Break Bad Habits

Over the years, you may have adopted an unhealthy habit or two, like biting your nails, chewing on ice cubes, or using your teeth to open packages. Although these seem harmless, they can negatively impact the condition of your dental implant (as well as your teeth and gums, of course), leading to dental implant failure. That’s why we recommend making an active effort to stop sooner rather than later.

Protect Your Dental Implants

Implementing a solid oral hygiene regimen and breaking bad habits will certainly protect your dental implants. However, those are just two of many things you should do to protect your smile. We also encourage our patients to wear a mouthguard if they participate in physical activities like football or weightlifting. Wearing a nightguard is important if you grind or clench your teeth too.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Finally, make sure that you’re coming to our Braintree dental office every six months so we can check for gum disease, examine the condition of your dental implants, and screen for oral cancer. At these appointments, we will also thoroughly clean your teeth, clearing away plaque, tartar, and other debris in the process.

Note: If you have had gum disease in the past or you are prone to cavities, then we might recommend coming in every three months instead.

Will I Need to See an Outside Specialist to Get My Dental Implants Placed?

No! At most other dentist’s offices, you might have to visit a separate specialist, like an oral surgeon, in order to have your implants placed and restored. However, at Pinnacle Dental, we perform the entire process here under one roof. From your initial consultation to the placement itself to the custom restoration installation, we can make sure your journey to a more natural-looking smile is an easy one.

If I Smoke, Can I Still Get Dental Implants?

Yes, but you’re at a greater risk for complications and implant failure than non-smokers. Using tobacco slows down the body’s natural process of healing. The success of your implants depends on your jawbone’s ability to heal and grow around the implant posts, so you don’t want smoking to mess with that. Additionally, smoking increases your risk of contracting peri-implantitis, a form of gum disease most common in those with recent dental implants. Smoking irritates the gums and soft tissues in the mouth, making them more likely to get infected. If you’re a smoker who is considering getting dental implants, this would be an excellent time and reason to quit. If you need some help kicking the habit, ask  our dentist.  He would be more than happy to provide you with the resources you need.

I’m Diabetic; Can I Still Get Implants?

Yes, but, like smokers, you are at a greater risk for complications. Both types of diabetes can negatively affect your body’s ability to heal and fight off infections. This is especially true when your blood sugar levels remain uncontrolled. Before getting dental implants, it’s a good idea to speak with your endocrinologist or primary care doctor about the risks involved. Furthermore, it never hurts to try and get your blood sugar levels under better control. Being diabetic doesn’t automatically mean you can’t get dental implants. It just makes the process slightly more difficult. However, it will be worth it to have your beautiful, stable new smile.

Will Getting Dental Implants Hurt?

Most patients report very little discomfort following their dental implant placement. In fact, they often report that it hurts significantly less than a tooth extraction. Our office is equipped with the technology to offer sedation, local anesthesia, and general anesthesia to make sure you are nice and comfortable before your procedure. Moreover, we can prescribe plenty of pain relievers and possibly antibiotics to aid you in the healing process.