What is a Dental Implant?

Many people ask me, what is a dental implant?

The simple answer is that it is a titanium screw that replaces the missing root. Once the implant is placed into the bone and has had a chance to heal, your dentist places a crown or cap on the implant, just like you would for a regular tooth. This completes the implant process.

I tell my patients that it can be as straight forward as screwing a screw into the wall or a piece of wood. This makes the assumption that there is enough bone to support the implant in the bone. Now this last point is the most important part of the puzzle, and is the most often part of this that is ignored or overlooked.

The number one reason implants fail is due to the lack of proper bone support. Think about implants and bone, like you would a fence post. To place a solid post, you dig a hole and then set the post. Normally you would use cement around the post for a stable fence, and then let the cement become solid before you put on the actual fence. Now if you place the fence on the posts before the cement is solid, your fence will stay up for a short time, but will ultimately fall down.

Dental implants are the same. The bone must be solid, healthy, and thick enough before the implant can be placed or the implant will fail. Most implants, when done correctly with good bone support, can last the life of a patient. If problems occur during the analysis or placement, then the implant will have a poorer prognosis.

The moral of this part of the story, is to have an experienced implant surgeon to analyze and place the implant. At the Oklahoma Center for Implants and Periodontics, Dr. Robin Henderson, is a specialist in dental implants and gum disease. Every implant patient gets a 3-D image, or CT scan, done before implants are placed in order for the bone to be analyzed and determined if enough bone is present for implants to be placed.

If you need a CT scan done or a free implant consultation done in Oklahoma, please feel free to contact Dr. Robin Henderson at the Oklahoma Center for Implants and Periodontics at robin@okperioimplant.com or (405) 947-0486.