Quality Dental Implant Restorations in West Houston
If you’ve lost teeth or your teeth are in poor condition, you may be considering dental implants to replace them. At the dental office of Dr. Alma F. Payumo, DMD, we provide quality implant restorations designed to look, feel, and function just like your natural teeth.
Dr. Payumo approaches your care as a combination of art, science, and medicine to ensure that you’re happy with the results. Every restoration is crafted to improve your health, restore function, and enhance your smile’s aesthetics all at once.
Find out if you are a candidate for dental implant treatment. Contact our office to schedule your visit today!
CALL US: (713) 464-1544 REQUEST APPOINTMENT
How Dental Implants Work
Dental implants are one of the newest and most comprehensive tooth replacement options. The implant itself is a titanium post surgically placed within the jaw. There, the titanium bonds with the bone to create a permanent new tooth root capable of supporting your new dental prosthetic for a lifetime.
What are the Benefits of Dental Implants?
There are several advantages to choosing dental implants. Not only do the implant posts keep new teeth stable, but they help to preserve your jawbone by providing vital chewing stimulation. This, in turn, keeps your facial structure intact, preserving a younger and more vibrant appearance.
Implant restorations can be brushed and flossed just like normal teeth with no messy creams or soaking. Best of all, your ability to speak, bite, and chew will be completely restored, so you can smile easily and with confidence.
Do I Need to Replace My Teeth?
A few missing teeth might not seem all that important, but the effects are greater than just changing how your smile looks. Even one lost tooth can cause several health problems as time goes on.
When a tooth is lost, the jawbone loses the chewing stimulation the tooth root provides. This eventually causes the bone to shrink in a process called resorption. Nearby teeth will be pushed into the gap by chewing pressure, impacting your bite. Eventually, the bone loss could cause you to lose other teeth, putting more wear on your remaining teeth until your smile is irreparably damaged.
Dental implants act as a new tooth root and provide stimulation, thus halting bone loss. To preserve as much of your smile as possible, it’s recommended that you consider dental implant tooth replacement shortly after losing one or more teeth.
Types of Implant-Supported Restorations
Implants are highly versatile and capable of replacing any number of teeth. With the right number, placement, and angle of the implants, you can restore anything from a single tooth up to an entire dental arch.
There are three main types of implant-supported restorations that Dr. Payumo provides.
Crowns - Porcelain crowns are placed atop a single implant post to replace a missing tooth. Each crown is customized to look natural and fit harmoniously within your smile and can restore a front tooth for biting or a powerful molar for chewing.
Bridges - When several teeth in a row are missing, a dental bridge may be the right choice. A bridge contains several prosthetic teeth attached in a row, with the teeth at either end supporting those in the middle. While traditional bridges need crowns placed over healthy teeth, implant-supported bridges use two implants to hold them in place without impacting nearby teeth.
Dentures - Most are familiar with the standard removable dentures, used for hundreds of years. When supported by implants, these dentures become stable and permanent. You may receive partial dentures if you have some healthy teeth remaining, or full dentures if all of your teeth need replacing. Most full dentures use 6-8 implants to hold them in place.
Can I Get Dental Implants?
Most adults who have lost teeth make good candidates for dental implant placement. When evaluating someone for implants, the most important factors to consider are jawbone health and overall oral health.
Dental implants need support from the jawbone to keep them in place. If the bone is brittle or there has been bone loss, a separate procedure such as bone grafting can help to strengthen it for implants. Gum health is also vital because gum disease can also cause bone loss. Dr. Payumo will work with you to get your gums to a healthy state before your dental implant treatment.
The Dental Implant Process
Dental implant treatment takes place in stages, usually over several months. Once completed, you’ll have a new, fully-functional smile you’ll be proud to wear.
Once you’ve been confirmed as a candidate, careful planning begins. A specialist will calculate the precise placement and angle for each implant depending on the type of restoration and how much daily force it needs to withstand. Careful planning helps to produce a more successful treatment. Any additional procedures such as bone grafting or gum disease treatment will also take place in this stage.
The implant placement may take one or more procedures, depending on your unique case. Any unhealthy teeth will be extracted, and the implant posts will be placed within the jaw at the optimal location and position.
Your body will need time to heal from the procedure and to let the bone fuse to the implants. You’ll be given a temporary restoration to use while your mouth heals. It’s important to follow all care instructions you’ve been given carefully to prevent issues with the implants.
Finally, you’ll visit Dr. Payumo to have your custom crown, bridge, or denture secured to the implant. Once placed, your prosthetics become a permanent part of your smile. If the prosthetic becomes damaged or worn, it’s easy to replace it with a new one, and you won’t need to have surgery again.
Restoring Your Smile in Houston, TX
At the practice of Dr. Alma F. Payumo, DMD, we understand how important a healthy smile is to your confidence and quality of life. Dr. Payumo and our whole team are dedicated to helping you enjoy your best smile. At our office in Houston, you’ll always find the experienced, personalized care you need.
Schedule your visit today to learn more about how we can help!
CALL US: (713) 464-1544 REQUEST APPOINTMENT