Dental Implants – Brookfield, WI
The Next Best Thing to Your Natural Pearly Whites
More than 120 million Americans are missing at least one natural tooth. If you’re part of this demographic, you don’t need to settle for an unreliable denture or dental bridge. Instead, you can replace your missing teeth with the next best thing to your natural pearly whites – dental implants. This solution recreates the entire structure of your teeth, which makes it look, feel, and function like you’d never lost any teeth at all. Better yet, our dentistry team at Bright Smiles Dentistry can complete the entire treatment process in the same dental office. Call us today to start rebuilding your smile with dental implants in Brookfield, WI!
Why Choose Bright Smiles Dentistry for Dental Implants?
- Start-to-Finish Dental Implant Treatment Provided Under One Roof
- CT/Cone Beam Scanner for Precise, Safe Treatment Planning
- In-House Dental Financing Options Available
What Are Dental Implants?
While traditional tooth replacements merely sit on the gums or remaining teeth, dental implants are actually embedded in the jawbone just like the roots of natural teeth. The implant itself is a small titanium rod that is surgically placed in the jaw, where it fuses with the bone to create a stable, lasting foundation. From there, it can support any number of replacement teeth via a dental crown, bridge, or denture.
The 4-Step Dental Implant Process
If dental implants seem like the best way for you to regain a complete smile, our team is more than happy to tell you more about the process! There are 4 major steps to getting dental implants, each of which is critical to ensuring that you end up with a sturdy, natural-looking new grin. The specifics might be slightly different for each patient, but we can still give you a basic overview of what each step will look like.
Initial Dental Implant Consultation
There are several questions we need to address during your first dental implant visit. What are your goals for the treatment? What is your medical history like? Are you going to need to have any preliminary work done in order to have dental implants placed? If you qualify for implants, how many posts will you need?
We’ll gather the answers we need by asking you questions and examining your mouth and jaw. Then we can determine your best option for tooth replacement and what you’ll need to do next.
Dental Implant Surgery
Dental implants are the only kind of tooth replacement that fuse with your jawbone. As such, they can only be placed via surgery. But you don’t have to worry about being sent to some unknown specialist’s office; we can place implants right here.
We’ll carefully determine where each implant post needs to go, then create the necessary holes in your jawbone. Once each implant post has been placed, we’ll also attach special protective caps; this is important for keeping your implants safe during the next step.
Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment
Osseointegration allows dental implants to fuse with the jaw, but it doesn’t happen overnight. You’ll need to protect your dental implant posts for the next three to six months while they’re bonding with your jaw. Follow our team’s aftercare instructions to the letter; for example, we will tell you to avoid chewing directly on the dental implant posts.
You’ll return to our office for another surgery once osseointegration is complete. This second surgery isn’t as extensive; it simply involves attaching an abutment to each implant post. Abutments are what allow dental implants to support replacement teeth.
Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)
We work with a dental lab staffed with skilled ceramists who can create implant restorations that are virtually indistinguishable from real teeth. We will take impressions of your mouth with the implant posts and abutments, then send the impressions to the lab. After a few weeks, your final restoration will be ready.
The placement of the final restoration is completed at your last appointment. We might have to make some adjustments to ensure that your new teeth fit properly, but the good news is that you won’t have to set aside any time to recover after this step; you can simply start reaping the benefits of your new smile!
Benefits of Dental Implants
Today, dental implants are likely the most popular way to replace teeth. It’s to the point that dentists place 500,000 of them yearly! After all, these prosthetics have a unique placement method. Implants fuse with your jaw over time, leading to perks dentures and bridges can’t match. As a result, they can greatly improve your quality of life! Of course, we’re happy to give you more details. Just keep reading to learn the benefits of dental implants. Otherwise, call our office!
Day-to-Day Benefits
Naturally, implants’ day-to-day upsides are the most obvious ones. These typically include the following:
- Lifelike Smile – Implants are capped with dental crowns, blending seamlessly with their surroundings. Your friends and family probably won’t even know they’re artificial teeth!
- Boosted Confidence – By filling the gaps in your smile, implants may boost your confidence. From there, you’ll face less anxiety and feel more self-assured in social settings.
- Easier Eating – Due to fusing with your jaw, implants restore your bite force and preserve your jawbone. Thanks to these effects, they’ll let you eat your favorite tough foods again!
- Simple Maintenance – Given their features, implants don’t need special care. A patient can easily clean them like natural teeth. That being said, practice twice-daily brushing, once-daily flossing, and frequent mouth rinses.
Health Benefits
Aside from everyday advantages, implants also have other kinds. Notable among these are the health-related ones. Some common examples are:
- Support for Teeth – If you don’t fill your smile gaps, your other teeth may tilt and fall out. However, implants can easily fill these spaces. They’d thus keep your remaining chompers straight.
- Stronger Jawbone – When you lack teeth, your jaw slowly loses its bone tissue. This erosion may then result in facial collapse. Luckily, implants can give your jaw the proper stimulus. From there, they’ll preserve your full jawbone.
- A Cleaner Mouth – Left unattended, empty jaw sockets let harmful bacteria breed. Still, implants are quite able to fill these spaces. In doing so, they’ll reduce your risk of gum disease, tooth infections, etc.
- Better Nutrition – Because implants restore your bite force, they often expand your dietary choices. In doing so, they’ll inevitably improve your nutritional health.
Long-term Benefits
Lastly, some implant benefits relate to long-term effects. The best examples in this category include:
- High Success – When well-placed by a dentist, implants succeed in the long run. In fact, their ten-year success rate is usually over 95%!
- Long-Lasting Results – On average, the typical implant lasts 15-20 years. Meanwhile, a well-maintained one can have a lifespan of over 30 years. Such longevity means an implant could restore your smile for a lifetime.
- Big Savings – Given enough time, implants will save you money as an investment. Their long lifespans ensure you won’t need to pay for many follow-up visits. As such, their high initial price is countered by few repair or replacement fees.
Who Dental Implants Can Help
As the most versatile answer to tooth loss, dental implants can restore any number of missing teeth. Further, most healthy adults are eligible for this treatment, which is the main reason why it has such a high success rate. Whether you’ve lost one tooth, several teeth, or even an entire arch, there’s a good chance that dental implants may be right for you! Here are some of our possible treatment options:
Missing One Tooth
For a single missing tooth, we’ll vertically insert a dental implant post into the empty space and then attach a personalized dental crown onto it with an abutment. This solution is completely self-reliant, unlike a traditional dental bridge, so we won’t need to modify any of your existing teeth to place it.
Missing Multiple Teeth
To replace several missing teeth in a row, we can place an implant post at each end of the empty space and secure a dental bridge onto them. This way, we can fill the gaps without affecting your natural teeth. For multiple missing teeth that are not consecutive, we can position a small number of implants in specific areas to hold a partial denture in place.
Missing All of Your Teeth
We can even bring back an entire row of missing teeth with dental implants. In most cases, it only takes four to eight expertly positioned implant posts to anchor a full denture. With implant dentures, you shouldn’t have to worry about your teeth slipping around; they’ll stay firmly in place without needing adhesives.
Understanding the Cost of Dental Implants
Each patient’s treatment is customized to meet their specific needs, which is why dental implants in Brookfield don’t have a fixed price tag. Before we’re able to give you a reliable estimate, we’ll need to examine your mouth and review some of the factors that might affect your treatment costs, such as the number of implant posts you’ll need and the locations within your mouth. From there, we can begin to explore your available financing options.
Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery
It’s not uncommon for patients to require a certain preliminary treatment before they’re able to receive dental implants. This can certainly affect the overall cost of care, as it’s adding extra steps to the process! These treatments often include things like gum disease therapy, tooth extractions, and dental bone grafts. While they do contribute to the grand total that you’ll pay for your implants, they also ultimately ensure that your implants have a successful lifespan. As for the actual implant surgery, the amount you’ll pay is usually affected by variables such as the location of the surgical site, the number of implants being placed, the type of sedation used, etc.
The Parts of Your Dental Implant
The overall cost of implants is also dependent on the actual parts of your dental implants:
- Material – Sometimes implants are made out of zirconia, rather than titanium, which can affect the overall cost.
- Brand – There are several implant manufacturers out there to meet the variety of needs that exist among all patients. Feel free to ask about what brand you’re receiving as well as any brand-specific benefits.
- Type of Restoration – Crowns, bridges, and dentures all have different costs even though they’re all used with implants. Naturally, smaller restorations are less expensive than larger ones.
- Number of Implants – It often takes just one implant to replace a single tooth, two implants to replace a row of teeth, and four or more to replace an entire missing arch.
How Dental Implants Can Save You Money
Even though dental implants have a higher up-front cost than other tooth-restoration solutions, they can actually save you quite a bit of money down the road. For instance, you shouldn’t have to pay for a replacement every 5 to 10 years like you would for dentures or bridges. You also won’t have to worry about purchasing special cleaning solutions or tools for maintenance; you’ll simply need to care for your implants as you would care for your natural teeth. And since this means they’re relatively easy to clean, they’re also able to help you avoid gum disease, tooth decay, and other oral health issues that might require costly treatment!
Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?
It’s worth mentioning that most dental insurance plans do not outright pay for the actual implants, though there are some exceptions. It’s possible that parts of the final restoration, or sometimes certain preliminary treatments, could be covered. Our team is more than happy to sit down with you to review the specifics of your dental insurance plan to ensure that you’re taking full advantage of your benefits.
Making Dental Implants Affordable
Even if you don’t have dental insurance, you shouldn’t feel deterred; there are other options for making implants more affordable! We’re happy to offer financing through CareCredit that will allow you to restructure the cost of your treatment into monthly payments with little-to-no interest! We’re also thrilled to offer a free consultation so that we can begin working with you towards your dream smile with dental implants. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today to learn more about your financing options.
Dental Implants Post-Op Instructions
You’re not home free just because you’ve gotten your implants. After placement, you still need to undergo a recovery process. Luckily, this step isn’t anything to worry about; Bright Smiles Family Dentistry is here to help. Below is a list of typical dental implant post-op instructions in Brookfield. By relying on it, you’ll know what to expect from recovery and how to help your smile heal. If you experience abnormal pain or other strange side effects, please contact us for guidance.
What to Do Directly After Dental Implant Surgery
After placement, you should leave the still-forming blood clot alone. This step is crucial, as failing to follow it delays or prevents healing. That being said, make sure you:
- Avoid spitting saliva; just swallow it or use a tissue for dabbing.
- Don’t use drinking straws. Their suction force could dislodge your blood clot.
- Don’t smoke tobacco products, at least for the first day following surgery.
- Keep your fingers and tongue away from the surgical site(s).
Common Side Effects When Recovering from Dental Implant Placement
You’ll likely face some mild side effects in the days after implant placement. Among them, the most common ones are:
- Intermittent bleeding – This symptom can persist for multiple days. If necessary, consider reducing it with gauze and light pressure.
- Minor oral discomfort – You may feel a bit sore once the surgery’s anesthesia wears off. To manage your ache, simply take some store-bought pain relievers.
- Gum or Facial Swelling – Your gums may swell for the first 72 hours post-surgery. Should that happen, apply a cold compress.
While these effects are noticeable, they’re temporary and should subside over time; let us know if they don’t.
Your Diet After Dental Implant Surgery
The treatment area will be sensitive for the first few days after placement. Therefore, stick to a soft-food diet during that time. Meals with hard and abrasive textures would disrupt implant fusion.
Examples of soft foods to include are:
- (Non-hot) Soup
- Scrambled eggs
- Mashed potatoes
- Pasta
- Yogurt
- Ice cream
- Pudding
Once you feel up to it, you can resume a regular diet. Still, we recommend limiting crunchy and tough foods. It’s also best to avoid chewing directly on the implant site(s).
Post-Op Health & Oral Hygiene
Even if you’re in recovery, you still need to keep your mouth clean. Maintain good oral hygiene during this period — just make minor changes so healing isn’t disrupted.
For starters, you’re free to brush your teeth as usual. However, exercise caution when you reach the surgical site. (You don’t want to dislodge the blood clot!)
On the other hand, change your mouth rinse approach. A mouthwash that’s high in alcohol can cause extra problems. Instead, rinse your mouth twice daily with salt water. Doing so will reduce your post-surgery inflammation.
What to Do After Your New Teeth Are Attached
When your implants are attached, the hardest parts of treatment are over. You only need to wait until the crown, bridge, or denture can be added. This step may cause mild sensitivity, but pain relievers easily manage the effect. It won’t lead to any swelling, bleeding, or extensive recovery. Rather, you’ll be ready to smile the same day!
Dental Implant FAQs
We’ve done our best to make this page as helpful as possible. However, there is some important information that doesn’t fit neatly into the above questions or that patients often want to learn more about. For that reason, we’ve dedicated this next section to answering FAQs about dental implants!
What Should I Do If I Can’t Afford Dental Implants?
If you think that dental implants are too costly to fit into your budget, we recommend talking to one of the friendly and knowledgeable members of our team about the financial solutions we offer. For example, we extend periodic specials, including a free dental implant consultation. Plus, we welcome dental insurance, Medicaid, and flexible financing with CareCredit.
How Long Do Dental Implants Last?
Thousands of patients choose dental implants each year because of the countless benefits this state-of-the-art tooth-replacement solution comes with, including a 30+ year lifespan! Of course, the lifespan of your results rests heavily on how well you care for your smile. If you adopt unhealthy habits, like not brushing and flossing consistently, then your dental implant can “fail.”
What Can Cause Dental Implants to Fail?
The two most common reasons for dental implant failure are peri-implantitis (a form of gum disease) and failed osseointegration (when the jawbone and implant don’t fuse properly). Rest assured, our Brookfield dentists will do their part to prevent this from happening during the consultation by assessing the density of your jawbone and learning all about your dental history. Plus, they will provide you with detailed aftercare instructions so you know exactly what’s needed to keep your new smile in pristine condition.
Important note: If you’re experiencing pain stemming from the area around your dental implant, your gums are swollen, or your restoration feels loose, get in touch with us ASAP.
Will I Have to Take Off Work for Dental Implant Surgery?
Whether you’re getting one dental implant or several, you will need a few days to rest after the procedure. Of course, if your job is physically demanding, then we may recommend not going back to work for three or four days since we want to avoid blood diverting from the implant site.
Tip: If you don’t have any PTO left, consider booking your procedure on a Friday afternoon so you have all of Saturday and Sunday to recover!
Will People Be Able to Tell That I Have Dental Implants?
If you had noticeable gaps between your teeth when you smiled or were missing all of your teeth, then people will definitely be able to tell that you have dental implants – in a good way though! Remember, dental implants are completely customized to each patient, which means that you can select the ideal shape, size, and shade of each one to ensure the end result is a smile that looks and functions naturally.