Dental Implants – Winchendon, MA
Creating Complete Smiles from the Roots Up
Undergoing dental implant surgery shouldn’t require you to drive across town to get the care you need. Dr. Hakwati is pleased to provide start-to-finish dental implant placement and restoration in-house here at Unique Dental of Winchendon. By keeping you in one convenient location to replace your missing teeth, you can rest assured that you’ll receive the same great care from those you know and trust. We’ll remain with you throughout the entire process, ensuring that you feel at ease before, during, and after dental implant placement. To learn if you are a good candidate for dental implants in Winchendon, call our office to schedule a consultation.
Why Choose Unique Dental of Winchendon for Dental Implants?
- Start-to-Finish Dental Implant Placement
- Weekend & Evening Hours Available
- Dentist with Advanced Training & Experience
What Are Dental Implants?
While other tooth replacement solutions are only capable of restoring the visible crown above the gumline, dental implants are titanium posts that restore teeth from the roots up. Placed within the jawbone, they fuse over several months to create a supportive base for customized restorations.
As a versatile restorative option for tooth loss, dental implants can easily replace a single missing tooth or an entire arch if necessary, and they’re known to last decades, and in some cases, a lifetime.
The 4-Step Dental Implant Process
As one of dentistry’s most complicated treatments, dental implants are also one of the most comprehensive. Because they replace tooth roots as well as the tooth structure above the gums, the process requires surgical procedures and other important steps, which we will explain in greater detail during your appointment. From beginning to end, we’ll be your guide to a whole, beautiful, strong smile.
Initial Dental Implant Consultation
To know how you can best proceed with dental implants, we will meet with you for a scheduled consultation and examination. This appointment will allow us to determine if you require preliminary procedures before undergoing oral surgery. Some of these preliminary procedures include gum disease treatment, a bone graft, and the like, which will increase the chances of success. In addition, we can answer your questions about the process and estimate the total cost for you.
Dental Implant Surgery
As a dental office that places implants, we don’t force you to go to an unfamiliar practice at any point in the implant process. Dr. Hakwati has the expertise to handle even this complex step in-house. We’ll ensure you are comfortable before the surgery using local anesthesia. We’ll make a few small incisions in the gum tissue to place each implant within the jawbone before closing the tissue and placing healing caps over the areas.
Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment
Once everything is complete, you will return home to rest. Although the gum tissue should heal quickly (within a week), the really important process to your prosthetic teeth’s success is just beginning. Osseointegration, which is when new jawbone tissue grows around the implant posts, must occur within 4-6 months before you can return so that we can have your metal abutment(s) placed over the tops of the implants. This connector piece requires a small procedure to insert them into the gums over the posts.
Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)
After the abutments have been put in, we will take impressions of your arches. This information will be sent to a trusted lab for fabrication. Whether it is a crown, bridge, or denture that you need, our lab technicians whom we partner with will ensure it fits perfectly and looks beautiful. Finally, you’ll come in to have the restoration bonded in place, completing your smile.
Benefits of Dental Implants
If you compare dental implants to other tooth replacement solutions (like dental bridges or dentures), you will find various advantages that make them the preferred choice among dentists and patients. Millions of Americans have already identified and are enjoying these benefits, including restored bite force and greater confidence. To learn more about the day-to-day, health, and long-term benefits, read on!
Day-to-Day Benefits
The long-term benefits of dental implants are often the most talked about. However, you won’t have to wait long to enjoy the perks of this state-of-the-art tooth-replacement solution. With this in mind, here are three day-to-day benefits:
- Easy Maintenance: Dentures often require special oral hygiene products. Dental implants, on the other hand, can be maintained with the same best practices you use to care for your natural teeth, like brushing twice a day.
- Improved Confidence: Patients are often worried that their prosthetic teeth will be noticeable and bulky. However, dental implants are custom-made for each patient and inserted directly into the jawbone for unparalleled stability.
- Varied Diet: Since dental implants improve the strength of your bite, they allow you to enjoy a much more varied diet. That means you won’t get bored, and your chances of malnutrition decrease significantly.
Health Benefits
Of course, dental implants aren’t just convenient in everyday life; they also benefit your oral and overall health! Here are a few examples:
- Prevents Bone Loss: As we touched on above, dental implants are inserted directly into your jawbone. This helps prevent bone loss, preserving your bite as well as your youthful appearance in the process.
- Protects Your Natural Teeth: With other tooth-replacement solutions, altering your natural teeth is essential. Not with dental implants! Since they are self-supporting, your healthy teeth will remain untouched in the treatment process.
- Better Overall Health: Sadly, tooth loss has been linked to several health issues. By restoring your smile with dental implants, we can improve the look of your smile, the strength of your bite, and your overall health.
Long-Term Benefits
The long-term benefits of dental implants usually get the most attention. In case you aren’t familiar with them, here are a few examples:
- High Success Rate: Simply put, dental implants have over a 95% success rate when placed by a skilled and experienced dental professional.
- Youthful Appearance: In addition to filling out the gaps in your smile, dental implants help preserve your jawbone. Together, this helps preserve your youthful appearance as you age.
- Long-Lasting Results: Dental implants have the potential to last for three decades or more. That means that – depending on when you get them – they could last a lifetime!
Who Dental Implants Can Help
Those suffering from tooth loss can enjoy life with dental implants. Although dental implant surgery may be immediately available for some, others may require bone grafting, gum disease treatment, or tooth extraction first. No matter the path you are recommended, you can expect to enjoy a complete, permanent smile in the future. And the best part is that dental implants can restore any number of missing teeth.
Missing One Tooth
If only one tooth is missing, you can count on us to replace it with a single dental implant. The titanium post will be positioned within the jawbone before a metal abutment, which is an appliance that connects the restoration with the implant, and a customized dental crown is placed on top.
Missing Multiple Teeth
Instead of relying on a fixed bridge that requires abutment teeth to serve as anchors, we can place two dental implant posts into the exterior sockets. Once fused with the bone tissues, we will place metal abutments and an implant bridge to fill in the gaps and restore your smile.
Missing All of Your Teeth
Using between two and six dental implants, we can apply a customized implant denture on top to effectively restore an entire arch of teeth. As a result, your smile will look and act normal, allowing you to eat your favorite foods, smile with confidence, and speak without fear of slurring your words.
Understanding the Cost of Dental Implants
As you prepare to begin your journey with dental implants, you may begin to wonder about the cost. An important reminder is that your treatment expenses cannot be formulated until you schedule a consultation with Dr. Hakwati. After careful consideration of your oral and overall health as well as your jawbone density, we will be able to identify how much we can expect your care to cost so that you can better prepare for the financial obligations that come with a fully restored smile.