Dental Implants — Millersville, MD

Initial Consultation

Before your placement surgery, you need an initial consultation to ensure dental implants are right for you. Besides a visual examination, we need to take digital X-rays and a CT scan to see your oral structures in their entirety. With a complete picture, we can determine if you need additional treatments before placing your implant posts, such as tooth extractions, bone grafting, or a sinus lift. Although these treatments may lengthen your journey to a complete smile, they are vital to laying the groundwork for the success of your dental implants.

Dental Implant Surgery

After you’ve healed from any additional treatments, you’re scheduled for your dental implant surgery. We use the previous CT scan and images to predetermine the ideal location for your implant posts. We then use computer-guided technology to strategically place them into your jawbone through oral surgery.

In some dental offices, dentists will ask patients to visit a separate oral surgeon to have the implant placed into the jaw. This requires traveling to another dental office and working with a dental professional that, while trained to perform surgery, is not as well-known to the patient. We can place implants at Transcendent Smiles! This means you won’t have to travel to other dental offices and you can complete your entire implant procedure with the people you’ve already built relationships with.

Sedation or anesthesia is used to ensure your comfort as your gum tissue is opened to expose your jawbone. Small holes are created in your bone to insert the posts in their precise locations. Your gum tissue is sutured closed, and you can head home to begin the healing process.

Osseointegration & Abutment Placement

Dental implants mimic your tooth roots, stimulating your jaw to encourage new bone growth. Over the next several months, your jawbone fuses to the posts through a process called osseointegration. After your jawbone integrates with the posts, they have the potential to remain in place for life with the right aftercare, like maintaining your oral hygiene and visiting your dentist in Millersville at least twice a year.

Delivery of Final Restoration

Once we receive the final dental crown, bridge, or denture, you’ll return to our team, so we can attach your restoration to the dental implant posts. We’ll perfectly color-match the restoration to your smile, and you’ll be able to rely on it whether you are speaking, eating, or just showing off your smile for the camera. You’ll even be able to maintain it just like your natural teeth using consistent brushing, flossing, and regular dental visits.

Day-to-Day Benefits

• Simple Maintenance. Just like with your natural teeth, all you need to do to maintain your dental implants is brush twice each day for two minutes, floss daily, rinse with antimicrobial mouthwash daily, and visit your implant dentist in Millersville once every six months for your routine checkup and cleaning. This will help keep them healthy and functional, so you can enjoy them for decades to come.
• Boosted Confidence. Due to the natural look and feel of your new smile, you’re sure to feel a confidence boost whenever you talk to friends and family members. Also, whenever you eat, you won’t have to worry about embarrassing slipping dentures.
• Dental implants can address a wide array of tooth loss situations. Whether you’re missing one tooth or an entire arch, chances are, you’ll only need one treatment when you invest in dental implants and continue maintaining your oral health.

Health Benefits

• Stability & Enhanced Biting Power. Since your dental implants will be fused with your jawbone, they’ll provide an incredibly strong and stable foundation for your prosthetic. That way, you won’t have to worry about your replacement teeth moving in your mouth, making basic tasks like chewing your food and speaking harder than ever.
• Jaw & Oral Health Preservation. Due to dental implants’ ability to fuse with the jawbone through the process of osseointegration, you won’t have to worry about jawbone deterioration. This is because they will provide necessary stimulation and blood flow to the area. In addition to this, a complete smile can often be easier to clean, helping you reduce your risk of oral health issues down the road.
• Healthier Lifestyle & Diet. Thanks to your enhanced chewing abilities, you’ll be able to continue eating all of your favorite foods with dental implants, like crusty breads and steak. That way, you can maintain a well-balanced diet.

Long-Term Benefits

• High Treatment Success Rate. Dental implants boast an impressive 95 percent success rate, even after 10 years of placement! With the proper maintenance, they can last for over 35 years!
• Youthful Appearance. Because dental implants can keep your jawbone from deteriorating, you won’t have to worry about developing hollow or saggy-looking cheeks that make you appear older than you actually are. Instead, you’ll be able to maintain the full facial structure that you currently have.
• Long-Lasting Treatment. With routine maintenance and flossing and brushing, dental implants have been shown to last over 35 years. That’s nearly four times longer than traditional prosthetics, like dentures. This will help save you time and money in the long-run.

Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery

Some patients may need certain preliminary treatments (i.e., tooth extractions, bone grafting, gum disease therapy) to ensure successful dental implant placement. Although these procedures will add to the overall cost of your treatment, they’re necessary to maximize the results. The good news is that most of these services are partially covered by dental insurance. In addition, because we’re able to complete the entire process in-house, you won’t have to worry about being billed by a separate provider.

The Parts of Your Dental Implant

Many factors can impact the overall cost of treatment, including:

• Number of Implants – Depending on how many teeth you’re missing, you may need anywhere from one to six dental implants to be placed on each arch.
• Type of Restoration – Crowns, dental bridges, and dentures all come at different costs. As you can imagine, the smaller restorations are naturally less expensive.
• Material – Some implants are made of zirconia instead of titanium, which can impact the overall price.
• Brand – Different implant manufacturers will make your implants are varying prices. You should be sure to ask about brand-specific benefits

How Dental Implants Can Save You Money

Even though dental implants have a higher upfront cost than traditional solutions (like dentures and bridges), they are most cost-effective in the long run. For example, you don’t have to worry about paying for replacements or adjustments every 5-10 years. You also don’t have to purchase special products merely to take care of your newly rebuilt smile.

Because dental implants don’t wear down your teeth or irritate your gums, they’re much easier to keep clean, helping you prevent issues like gum disease, tooth decay, and jawbone deterioration. Also, studies show that good oral health can help lower your risk of systemic issues and the costs of addressing them.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

Most dental insurance plans don’t cover the cost of dental implants, but there are a few exceptions! Some will apply benefits to portions of the treatment, like any necessary preliminary procedures and the cost of the restoration. If you have any questions about the details of your coverage, give us a call. We’ll help you figure out what your out-of-pocket expenses will be!

Making Dental Implants Affordable

In order to help more patients get access to innovative tooth replacement options, our team works with patients to help them budget for the cost of dental care. Even though the price of dental implants is not usually covered by insurance plans, the costs of other aspects of dental care are likely to receive insurance coverage. We work with third-party financiers to offer low-to-no-interest payment plans that can help you stay within your budget. Additionally, you can sign up for our dental membership plan so you can enjoy sizeable discounts on the services we offer.

What to Do Directly After Dental Implant Surgery

After the completion of your dental implant surgery, you’ll need to make sure that you do the following:

• Get plenty of rest once you arrive at home
• Do not attempt to eat anything until the anesthesia wears off
• Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol for at least 24 hours; however, it is strongly encouraged that you give up these habits when pursuing dental implants
• Be careful when cleaning your teeth with a soft-bristled toothbrush, as you don’t want to irritate your gum tissues

Common Side Effects

After your initial placement surgery, it’s normal to experience some pain and tenderness. You can manage your discomfort using over-the-counter pain relievers. Apply cold compresses to the outside of your face for 10-minute intervals to help reduce any swelling or bruising. If you notice that the swelling, bruising, and bleeding do not subside after several days, go ahead and call our office for help.

Diet

Sticking to softer foods and even a liquid diet is best in the initial days after your oral surgery. This allows the gums and bone to thoroughly heal before additional pressure is applied. When you’re ready, you can transition to soft foods, many of which are listed below:

• Pasta
• Scrambled eggs
• Yogurt
• Ice cream
• Pudding
• Warm soup
• Mashed potatoes

If you’re eager to return to eating harder, denser foods, you’ll need to wait until your mouth feels more fully healed.

Health & Oral Hygiene

Cleaning your teeth and gums after surgery requires patience and a careful hand. You may fall back into the habit of brushing with little concern about hurting the inside of your mouth, but dental implant placement makes it a more careful process that you must abide by. This means cleaning your teeth like normal after a full 24 hours, but you’ll need to make sure that you are mindful of the wounds so that you do not cause any additional irritation or complications.

You should also expect to floss and rinse your mouth but stay away from regular mouthwash. Instead, use a warm saltwater mix to cleanse your oral anatomy from bad bacteria.

What to Do After Your New Teeth Are Attached

The day you receive your custom restoration is one that is likely to have you very excited. This experience is one you’ll never forget. Once your new teeth are in place, do not be alarmed if you have some slight sensitivity. This is only temporary and will go away in a short amount of time. Otherwise, you are free to begin using your new teeth with confidence.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

One of the most crucial ways to maintain your smile is to brush, floss, and rinse with mouthwash every day. While your dental implants themselves won’t get cavities, the surrounding teeth can still be vulnerable to disease. Keeping up with your oral hygiene will help you avoid issues with your grin as well as complications that can arise with your dental implants. The last thing you’d want is to experience complications with the connective tissues holding your titanium posts in place, which can potentially lead to failure.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Dental implants help patients restore 80% or more of their natural chewing ability. This means your dietary choices will expand, as you’ll be able to enjoy foods that used to be more difficult to bite into, including vegetables, fruits, and lean meats. Remember, however, to minimize your consumption of sugary treats and meals that are too starchy. These can end up increasing your risk of decay and gum disease if left unchecked. Try eating plenty of foods consisting of vitamin C and calcium, which should promote stronger bone tissue for an even healthier foundation for your rebuilt smile.

Break Bad Habits

Certain oral habits might appear harmless at first glance, but they can be potentially detrimental to the success of your dental implants in the long run. To preserve your new teeth, you’ll want to avoid things like chewing on hard objects (like ice), using your teeth as tools, and using tobacco products. Biting into hard objects can end up chipping or cracking your new restorations while smoking can leave your mouth susceptible to oral health problems like infection and failed osseointegration. That’s why it’s best to quit these habits altogether if you want to maintain your dental implants for the long term.

Protect Your Dental Implants

If you enjoy playing contact sports, you might consider investing in custom-designed mouthguards to add a protective layer to your smile. Not only will this help cushion against impacts, but it can help you avoid potentially disastrous and costly injury to your dental implants. Similarly, if you tend to grind your teeth at night, you should speak with your dentist about nightguards for bruxism. These appliances can help reduce wear and tear to your smile, allowing you to maintain your restorations for longer.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Visiting your dentist for biannual checkups and cleanings will also be as crucial as daily oral hygiene. Not only will they thoroughly clean and polish your smile at the end of your appointment, but they’ll monitor the progress of your smile and dental implants as well as address any underlying issues they might detect in your mouth. Doing so will help keep problems at bay, such as decay and gum disease so that your implants are safe from possible failure.