Dental Implant Procedure - The Steps Involved
Dental implant procedure is a long process and can take upto 10 weeks during the course of which you will make several dental visits for the various steps in the dental implant process. The whole process is expensive because dental implants expensive. But, you can treat it as an investment in protecting your teeth for life.
Dental Implant procedure itself doesn't take time, it is the time you wait for the healing to take place and time taken to get the exact match in dental crowns that makes it feel that the dental implant procedure is a long drawn out process.
The steps involved in the dental implant procedure include:
1. Pulling out the old tooth.
2. Assesment of the jaw bone. If healthy then nothing else, you may need bone graft to increase the strength of the jaw.
3. Once, the bone graft heals which may take several weeks then a titanium implant is placed in the bone.
4. Again, the above step takes several weeks to heal. It varies from person to person but the whole process may take from 3 weeks to 6 weeks to heal completely. Caution: Don't rush this process. Let the implant heal completely. During the healing process don't bite into anything hard or chew on side where the implant is placed. If the implant comes loose then the whole thing can cause your treatment process to be delayed by another 6 weeks.
5. Once the implant - the titanium stud - integrates with the bone then a crown is placed on implant. This may take a few visits to get the size, shape and color right. The crown placed over your implant has to match your other teeth.
For the crown - measurements are taken and dental implant tooth is molded to your exact requirements so that the new teeth will feel exactly like your old natural tooth. It will take time to get this right. Once you are fitted with dental crowns and the color and feel all match your other teeth then you are done.
Explore Further: What Are The Average Dental Implant Prices?