It’s tough when you are missing a tooth. You might try to hide your smile, and certain foods can be off the menu. But if you try to ignore the problems, they just get worse. Your whole smile can start to suffer.

Call our Lincroft, NJ dental office today at 732-352-3903 and schedule an appointment for a dental implant. This offers a natural-looking replacement tooth to give you back your smile. Dr. Friedman has been helping people with dental implant procedures for many years, giving him the practical experience to match his training.

What Are Dental Implants?

Dental implants are a bit of restorative dentistry. That means they restore your smile to how it should be — with a full set of teeth. Think of a dental implant as a replacement tooth but modern and long-lasting.

Your dental implant will have three parts:

  • 1. An artificial root. Since your natural teeth have roots, it only makes sense that your replacement does as well. This is surgically implanted in your jawbone.
  • 2. A dental crown that serves as the natural but durable replacement tooth.
  • 3. An abutment that connects the dental crown to the root. This way, if that crown ever gets damaged or too stained, you can replace it without replacing the implanted root.

Dr. Friedman has done the dental implant procedure many times, making it routine for him. After a thorough exam to learn the best way to place the implant, you will get oral surgery to implant the artificial root. You’re given time for that spot to heal up. Once ready, you’ll come back in for the dental crown to be connected to the abutment and the root.

That Happy Accident

Dental implants have existed in one form or another for a long time — but they didn’t always work. Ancient Mayans used crystals and shells as replacement teeth, but neither would stay in the spot. Since they could not merge with the jawbone, they would fall out.

That’s the way things were for many years until a happy accident. In the 1950s, a scientist was studying how blood moves through bones. He implanted a few tiny titanium rods in a rabbit’s leg bone. After collecting his data, he went to remove them. To his surprise, the rods had fused with the bone and would not come out.

Titanium is the only metal that does this. Once dentists heard the news, they began making artificial roots out of titanium. That’s what makes modern dental implants so durable and long-lasting. They’re as close to a real tooth as you can get.

What You Get From A Dental Implant

Besides the obvious benefit of having a full set of teeth once more, here are the other benefits from getting a dental implant procedure with our Lincroft dentist.

IMPROVED SELF-ESTEEM
Imagine wearing a suit to a job interview that was stained and torn in a few places. How confident would you feel in that interview? That’s what happens when you have a gap-toothed smile. That dark spot in your smile can sap your self-esteem. Getting it replaced with a natural-looking dental implant can really help.

STRONG BITE
You need all your teeth to chew. When you are missing one, your bite has less power. That could mean some foods are harder to chew, while others can hurt your gums in that gap. But once you have the missing tooth replaced with a dental implant, you can bite and chew with power again.

HEALTHIER JAWBONE
Whenever you chew, pressure travels down your teeth’s roots and into the jawbone. This stimulates the bone tissue there and helps keep it healthy. Once you’ve lost a tooth, you’ve lost that stimulation. The jawbone then starts to grow weaker at that spot. Thankfully, a dental implant includes an artificial root that helps prevent jawbone deterioration.

20 YEARS OR LONGER
No dental restoration lasts forever. After all, you put your teeth (and any dental work) through a lot each day with all that chewing. That said, you certainly want a dental restoration that lasts as long as possible. That’s where dental implants can help. Your dental implant should last at least 20 years, if not longer.

Call TODAY at 732-352-3903 or use our convenient online form to schedule your next appointment for a dental implant. Dr. Friedman is your Lincroft dentist who combines advanced training with years of experience doing dental implant procedures. With his help, you can finally get the smile you deserve.