Dental Implants – Las Cruces, NM

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

Before the actual surgery, you’ll see our dentists for a consultation. This session lets us check your treatment goals, as well as your oral health background and similar factors. We’ll review such details to learn if dental implants suit you and adjust your final procedure(s).

Should we decide you don’t qualify for dental implants, you needn’t worry. You can become a good candidate later through extra procedures – gum disease treatment, tooth extractions, etc. Those services (which we could help arrange) would strengthen your mouth to handle implant posts.

Dental Implant Surgery

If you qualify, we’ll refer you to local specialists for dental implant surgery. That means your treatment will benefit from oral surgeons with great skill and expertise. In other words, you can better trust that you’ll get excellent results!

The dental implant surgery will involve several steps. Firstly, the surgeon(s) will numb your treatment site so it won’t hurt during the procedure; it’ll only feel a slight pressure at most. They’ll then make a small incision in your gums, creating space for your future implant insertion. The surgeon will later place the actual implant before suturing your gums shut. From there, they’ll conclude the surgery by putting a protective cap over the post.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment

Your dental implant(s) will fuse with your jaw after surgery. This process (i.e., osseointegration) takes roughly 4-6 months, and it secures the “new tooth” once finished. It’ll leave your new dental implant stable and a permanent part of your mouth.

After the fusion wraps up, you’ll attend a follow-up surgery at our office. That’s when we’ll place the abutment – a special metal connector – that secures your restoration. Following this part’s placement, a dental lab will craft the final restoration over a few weeks or so.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)

Our dentists will deliver your final restoration at the end of your implant treatment. More specifically, they’ll place a prosthetic that’s consistent with how many “new” teeth you need. This device could range from a dental crown or bridge to a complex implant denture.

Overall, it shouldn’t take long to fit your final restoration. Our dental team will only need to apply some dental cement for this step, followed by some last-minute changes to ensure good results. When those matters are done, you can leave our office with your newly-restored smile!

Day-to-Day Benefits

• Smile confidently – The replacement teeth that we place on top of your implants are customized to mimic your original pearly whites. Coupled with the fact that your teeth won’t slip out of place, you can smile with confidence in all types of social situations.
• Chew your favorite foods – With dentures, biting into crunchy or chewy foods like apples, nuts, bread, and steak, can feel next to impossible. On the other hand, dental implants recreate the entire structure of your teeth, so they’re capable of restoring almost all of the biting force you used to have.
• Speak clearly – If you’ve previously worn dentures, then you know how hard it can be to say certain words, especially if your prosthetic doesn’t fit correctly. With dental implants, your speech will be crystal-clear since your teeth are firmly embedded in your jaw.

Health Benefits

• Prevent further tooth loss – When the roots of the teeth are lost, the jawbone gradually deteriorates, which makes it less able to support your remaining teeth. Dental implants are the only tooth replacement that prevents this process by stimulating your jawbone in exactly the same way as your natural teeth.
• Improve your oral health – Oral hygiene is incredibly simple with dental implants. For the most part, you can brush and floss them like real teeth. There’s no complicated cleaning routine like there is with dentures, so you have a lower risk of gum disease and other oral health problems.
• Eat a nutritious diet – Denture wearers often have to forgo crunchy fruits, vegetables, and other foods that provide essential nutrients, causing their overall health to suffer. This isn’t an issue with dental implants; you can maintain a varied, balanced diet with ease.

Long-Term Benefits

• Replace your teeth with a successful solution – In more than 95% of cases, dental implants are able to easily last for more than 10 years. As long as you take good care of them, they could even last for over 30 years!
• Look young for decades to come – Jawbone loss doesn’t just harm your oral health; it may also cause your facial muscles to droop and wrinkle. If you want to maintain a youthful glow, dental implants are the only tooth loss treatment that can accomplish this.
• Save money and time – You shouldn’t need to worry about adjusting or replacing your implants every few years like you would with dentures and bridges. That’s why, in the long run, you’ll actually end up saving a great deal of time and money when you choose dental implants!

Missing One Tooth

For a single missing tooth, we attach a dental crown to an individual implant, which will be surgically placed into your jawbone by a specialist. Once the jawbone has grown around it, you’ll return to our dental office so that we can attach the dental crown on top.

Missing Multiple Teeth

When patients are missing two teeth in a row, we typically create two dental crowns fused together that are attached to a single dental implant. Those patients missing three to four consecutive teeth will likely need a fixed bridge which consists of three or four prosthetic teeth crafted as a single unit and supported on either end by a dental implant post.

Missing All Teeth

Full dentures traditionally are held in place through suction between the denture and the gums, but implant-supported dentures offer superior support and stability by anchoring the denture to an average of four to eight dental implant posts.

Types of Dental Implants

There are a variety of dental implants, the most popular being titanium ones. Depending on what materials are being used to replace your missing teeth, the cost will be different. In addition to this factor, the number of implants you need to have placed can also drastically impact the price. For example, replacing a single tooth will require the placement of one post, while replacing two or more requires multiple in order to support the restoration.

If you’re looking to have an entire arch of missing teeth replaced, an implant denture can require the placement of anywhere from four to eight posts. This will affect the surgery time, amount of anesthesia required, and several other factors that affect the price.

What are the Stages of Dental Implant Treatment?

The dental implant process can be broken down into a few separate stages. The good news is that you don’t have to pay for everything upfront. Rather, you’ll pay for each individual procedure as you need it over the course of several months. Here are the separate visits that you can expect to pay for:

• The Consultation: This initial visit will ensure that dental implants are the right choice for you. Besides the dental office fee, you’ll need images captured of your mouth including digital X-rays.
• Preparatory Procedures: Sometimes, patients need additional treatments before their implant surgery can be scheduled. Some of these include tooth extractions, bone or soft tissue grafting, or a sinus lift.
• Abutment and Restoration Placement: Once your gums have healed and your implants have naturally fused with your jaw, your abutments can be connected during a second minor surgery. These will secure your restorations. Depending on whether you need a bridge, denture, or crown will also impact the cost.

Are Dental Implants Worth the Investment?

Patients and professionals will agree that dental implants are well worth the investment. Over the long run, these are more cost-effective than having to replace multiple traditional restorations. Plus, they can last over three decades when they’re properly cared for. They also reduce your risk of experiencing costly oral health problems like bone decay, additional tooth loss, and gum disease.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

Most dental insurance policies do not cover implants because they’re considered a cosmetic procedure. However, this is slowly beginning to change, so it’s worth it to contact your insurance provider to double-check. We’ll be more than happy to help maximize your coverage and explore additional financing options with you as well. Plus, at Painted Skies Dental Center, we accept most major providers and will help develop a payment plan that fits your unique needs.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

Dental implants can fail for several reasons, but one of the most common ones is peri-implantitis. This is a form of gum disease that develops from poor oral hygiene habits, like not flossing consistently. That’s why it’s so important that you make dental care a priority! That means brushing twice a day, flossing daily, and rinsing with mouthwash consistently.

 

Eat a Healthy Diet

In short, what you eat can both positively and negatively affect your oral health. After all, extremely crunchy foods, like hard pretzels, can cause your restoration to chip. Conversely, vegetables, like broccoli, are packed with nutrients, which helps your body fight off infections. So, prioritize adding vitamin-rich foods to your diet when you can!

 

Break Bad Habits

Another thing that dramatically increases your risk of dental implant failure is bad habits. Smoking is a great example because – in addition to delaying the healing process – it can wreak havoc on your gums. Biting your nails, using your teeth to remove plastic packaging, and chewing on ice cubes can also lead to serious chips, cracks, and fractures, so it’s crucial that you break those habits as well.

 

Protect Your Dental Implants

Do you grind/clench your teeth at night? If so, you should schedule an appointment with our Las Cruces dental team so we can have a custom nightguard made. This will protect both your teeth and your dental implants from harm, reducing the chances of a dental emergency.

Important note: You should have a custom mouthguard made if you participate in sports as well (including non-contact ones, like cycling, surfing, and skateboarding).

 

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Last, but certainly not least, you need to schedule a dental checkup and cleaning twice a year. These biannual visits serve several important purposes – from removing built-up tartar and screening for oral cancer to catching tooth decay in the early stages and checking the condition of your dental implants. So, even if you don’t have any of your natural teeth left, make these routine visits a priority.