Are You a Dental Implant Candidate?
Tooth loss is a major issue. When you lose your teeth, simple tasks like eating and speaking become more difficult. Your smile and your confidence deteriorate. Your jawbone begins to weaken, changing shape. Replacing your missing teeth is essential for restoring your mouth, and your quality of life. There are several different options available for replacing missing teeth. The most popular option by far is dental implants. These small titanium rods, which are surgically implanted into the jawbone, offer numerous benefits over more traditional treatments like bridges and dentures. However, they are not always the best solution for everyone. At BiteLock, we perform a thorough oral exam to determine if you are a good candidate.
What is a Dental Implant?
A reliable replacement option for your missing teeth is a dental implant. These are small titanium posts that are surgically placed into your upper or lower jaws to fill in a gap presented by an extracted or missing tooth. These are permanent solutions that can be a secure base for a wide variety of false tooth systems. Since the implant acts as the root of the false tooth, we can attach single teeth, bridges with several teeth, or dentures to replace all of your teeth.
Are You an Ideal Candidate?
Our ideal candidate has to have good bone density along with healthy teeth and gums. You also should show a solid commitment to good oral hygiene so that you will not cause yourself more harm in the long run. If you do not suffer from any uncontrolled or autoimmune diseases and haven't had certain medications usually associated with cancer treatment, you may also be in the clear. Non-smokers are preferred as well as that can cause significant damage. Our denture system has to be well taken care of, and our ideal candidate should be able to commit to treating them as well as they would their natural teeth.
Dental implants are a treatment meant to replace missing teeth. Tooth loss is one of the most obvious factors that can determine candidacy for implants. They are a versatile treatment. No matter if you are missing one tooth or all teeth in a single arch, implants may be an option. If you are not yet missing teeth, but need to have a tooth extracted, implants may also be discussed.
Your Health is Good
To place implants, you need to undergo a surgical procedure. After surgery, recovery can last up to several months. To avoid complications during surgery and recovery, you need to be in good overall health. If you are currently managing chronic conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease, these conditions need to be under control. Any oral health issues, such as tooth decay and gum disease, will also need to be treated before surgery. When you are in good health, your recovery is more likely to go smoothly and without complications.
Smoking affects the health of your whole body. It can also affect how your body heals. The chemicals in cigarettes and other tobacco products slow the blood flow and limit oxygen in the blood. Smoking can also dislodge clots. Both of these factors can greatly increase your risk for infection and even implant rejection.
Your Jaw is Fully Developed
You are never too old for dental implants. Adults of all ages can benefit from this treatment. However, you can be too young. The jawbone develops all throughout childhood and into the teen years. It stops growing in the late teen years into the early 20s. If an implant is placed in an underdeveloped jaw, serious issues could arise. If your child has suffered the loss of a permanent tooth, other options will be discussed. Once the jaw has finished growing, then an implant can be explored.
You Have Not Suffered Significant Bone Loss
To successfully support your replacement teeth, the implants rely on osseointegration or the fusion of the bone to the titanium rods. However, when you lose your teeth, the bone begins to weaken. The longer you go without seeking treatment, the more bone mass is lost. If too much bone mass is lost, the implants will not fuse properly and are more likely to fail. Bone loss does not automatically disqualify you. If you are missing significant bone mass, we can explore options such as the All on 4 treatment concept and bone grafts before implant surgery or Mini Implants.
What Would Disqualify Me?
While age does not play a major role in dental implant candidacy, there are other factors that do. One major reason for the disqualification of patients is simply their jawbone. For implants to take hold, there needs to be a sufficient amount of bone for them to combine with, and over time with missing teeth, you will experience bone loss. For the implants to fuse properly with your jaw, a bone graft may be needed to supplement decreasing or thin bones.
Some of the reaspms may be out of your control, such as blood or bone disorders, radiation and chemotherapy, and uncontrolled diabetes is some of those. For example, if you are a cancer patient and are currently undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment, you may be declined or postponed until after your treatment is finished and you have an “ok” from your doctor. You also may be declined if you have shown significantly unmotivated oral hygiene routine, and it may cause more damage than help if you do not take proper care of them.
Other reasons that you cannot get implants could be pregnancy. While this is more of a postponement rather than a disqualification, it is still significant as oral surgery can be harmful within the first three months of pregnancy. Although the risk decreases after the first trimester, it is better to wait until after delivery for a procedure such as this. If you have a disease that inhibits your healing abilities, or that is uncontrolled, you will likely be declined for implants.
There are also factors that could lead to a disqualification that could be managed. These include factors such as oral hygiene and smoking. We may not give you an implant as a smoker, or if we know, you aren’t able to properly care for it, as it can cause you a lot of harm and pain in the long run if you got one.
However, if this is a realistic process for you, you may still be in luck. The best way to find out if you are a candidate is to call Dr. Pedro Franco here at BiteLock today. We can work alongside you to find out how we can get your smile the way you want it today to restore your health and confidence in a jiffy. Please set up a consultation today!
Am I Too Old for Dental Implants?
One question that we get about our dental implants or our BiteLock denture system is whether or not age can disqualify an individual from being a valid candidate. There are many factors that we have to look at to decide whether or not you are qualified to get dental implants, and to a degree, age is one of them. Here at BiteLock, we can help you find the best possible tooth restorative procedure to bring back your health and confidence. Dr. Pedro Franco can walk you through all of the steps in restoring your smile.
The fact of the matter is, no one is too old for dental implants. We do have to look at your age, but only because it can play a factor in your bone density. This can change whether or not you are a candidate because the severe bone loss can make an implant unstable without a grafting surgery done first. Age itself, though, plays no part. In fact, there is no age that would disqualify a patient. Even at 90 or more years old, you will still recover as predictably as a 20-year-old. In fact, for many older adults, it could be beneficial to get implants. Many older people are living with traditional dentures, which can lead to pain and bone loss. We can replace those dentures with an implant based system, which is much healthier for your mouth but also allows you better nutrition for better overall health as well.
Contact Us
Here at BiteLock, we can help you find the perfect solution to your oral needs, including dental implants, and our amazing BiteLock implant denture system. However, unfortunately, not everyone can get the required implants for our system. There are some strict prerequisites to make sure that you are prepared and healthy enough. Rejected implants can be painful and make things incredibly stressful. To eliminate any potential for problems, we make sure you are ready before we offer implants as a solution to your oral health needs.
Our Teeth-in-a-Day system is extraordinary, and BiteLock is proud of the technological leaps and bounds that we have taken to get here. However, if you cannot get implants for whatever reason, you may be better off with standard implants or another solution. Call us today at (972) 594-7414 to set up a consultation with our expert staff to see if you too can join the others who have found a bright new smile with BiteLock.
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