What Are Dental Implants? | Replacing Missing Teeth Pittsburgh

A PERMANENT SOLUTION
TO MISSING TEETH

Dental implants, placed at our Periodontics office in Pittsburgh, are an effective and lasting alternative to missing teeth, dentures and bridgework. The best way to describe dental implants is to compare them to real teeth.

Your real teeth consist of a root and a crown. The part of the tooth that you see and eat with is called the crown. Beneath the crown is the root, which anchors the tooth to the jawbone and extends through the gum tissue. When you lose a tooth, you lose both the root and the crown. When the time comes to replace a tooth, we first have to replace the root. Essentially, the treatment process for a dental implant is starting with a new root that is made from titanium. The titanium root is fitted into a socket that we create in your jaw, and replaces the lost root of your natural tooth.

Teeth For Life

Our approach to dental implant placement is based on complex dental science that’s the result of more than 25 years of experience. And while there is no accurate way to predict how each individual will respond, our experience has taught us that the long-term success rate for dental implants is very high. Most of our own patients that had dental implants placed 15 to 20 years ago, still have them in function and they are as healthy today as the day they were placed. We have seen some older style dental implants that were placed 30 years ago and they are still in place. That has consistently been the case for 95% of the dental implants that we have placed.

View our statistical results of our own patient success rates with dental implant treatment.

The Perfect Solution

Not only are dental implants better than conventional dental treatments, such as dentures or bridges, in some cases, they are even better than your own natural teeth, because they never decay and never require root canals. Plus, dental implants:

Look as natural and healthy as real teeth
Last a lifetime and have a high success rate
Are cleaned and maintained just like real teeth, no more glues or special cleaning products
Give you greater stability and functionality, so you can speak, and look, better
Give you increased bite force and improved chewing performance
Will maintain, and even strengthen facial bone structure (with fluoride-treated titanium implants)
Can improve your overall oral health
Leave healthy teeth unaffected, with no need to cut or file down adjacent teeth (as with bridges)
Are positioned for proper appearance and establishment of a proper bite
Offer improved psychological health
Are less expensive, in time and money, over the long-term, than other conventional dental treatments

A SOLUTION DESIGNED ONLY FOR YOU

The permanent teeth we implant come in various shapes and sizes and have different types of surfaces. The dental implant (or implants) we select for you will depend upon a variety of factors related to your specific treatment needs. Dr. Roll and Dr. Williams will only choose a permanent tooth implant that suits your individual needs.

If you are considering dental implants, your mouth will be examined thoroughly in your initial consultation and your dental and medical history will be reviewed to ensure that dental implants are appropriate for you. Dental x-rays and, frequently, panoramic (or complete) x-rays of your jaws will be taken to evaluate your jawbone and to determine if it will accommodate dental implants. Occasionally, more detailed information is required and can be provided by more specialized digital or CAT scan x-rays. They will help determine if additional tests or procedures are needed to place your implants properly.

For a more detailed description of our unique approach to personalized patient care and treatment, please see The Pinnacle CARE Continuum.