Dental Implants – Mesquite, TX

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

The first step in reconstructing your smile is attending a consultation with Dr. Rana to find out if dental implants are right for you. He’ll conduct a thorough visual exam and capture high-definition X-rays of your mouth. Based on his findings, he’ll develop a custom treatment plan that includes details like the number of implant posts you require, the type of restoration you need, and a cost estimate for the treatment. He’ll also let you know whether you should undergo any preliminary procedures – such as bone grafting or gum disease therapy – beforehand to ensure your mouth is ready to accommodate implants.

Dental Implant Surgery

As a trained implant dentist in Mesquite, Dr. Rana can perform the dental implant surgery himself, saving you the trouble of working with an unfamiliar specialist. For the procedure, Dr. Rana will numb your mouth (and administer sedation if need be) before placing the titanium posts directly into your jawbone. Our team will provide you with guidelines to follow over the next few days as you heal.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment

Once your implants have been placed, they begin the natural process of osseointegration, in which they merge with the surrounding jawbone and tissue. This process is what makes dental implants vastly superior to traditional tooth replacements, which may slip around and do not prevent jawbone deterioration after tooth loss. Osseointegration usually takes about three to six months to complete. At that point, you’ll undergo a smaller surgery to receive small metal connectors called abutments on top of your implants.

Delivery of Dental Restoration(s)

After your dental implants in Mesquite have essentially become a part of your body, we can place your restoration. This dental crown, bridge, or denture has been custom-made by a dental lab based on impressions we’ve taken of your mouth. Once the restoration has been attached to your abutment, your smile should look and feel exactly like it did before you lost any teeth!

Day-to-Day Benefits

• Appearance: Dental implants allow the restoration to mimic the way that your natural teeth emerge from your gums for a more realistic-looking replacement. Plus, our restorations are personalized to match your specifications.
• Diet: Your unstable dentures or gaps in your smile may cause you to avoid certain foods due to difficulty chewing. However, dental implants allow you to eat a wide variety of items because they are strong and stable. This makes eating more enjoyable, but it also gives your body a more nutritious diet.
• Confidence: Have you been hiding your smile due to missing teeth or ill-fitting dentures? Dental implants look, feel, and function just like natural teeth, giving you the confidence to eat, speak, and smile in any setting. Showing off your grin will not only make those around you feel better, but it will automatically boost your own self-esteem.

Health Benefits

• Dental health: Dental implants in Mesquite preserve the health of your remaining teeth. Fused firmly to the jawbone, they don’t require the removal of healthy existing dental structure to replace your missing teeth.
• Bone health: When you lose teeth, the amount of stimulation that your jawbone was getting decreases, which can lead to bone deterioration and additional tooth loss. Your implants provide the necessary stimulation to keep your jawbone healthy and strong.
• Overall health: Dental implants lower your risk of gum disease and other oral health problems, which also decreases your chance of associated overall medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and more.

Long-Term Benefits

• Durability: With proper care, dental implants can last a lifetime – compared to dental bridges and dentures that need replacement after about 5 to 10 years. Just be sure to brush, floss, and maintain regular visits to our office.
• Success rate: Even after 10 years, dental implants have a success rate of 95%. The most common reasons for failure are bad habits like using tobacco or chewing on nonfood items. Additionally, gum disease and infection can lead to unstable implants if left untreated. Our implant dentist in Mesquite will monitor your smile to ensure your implants stay healthy.
• Cost: While dental implants come with a higher cost initially compared to other options, they can actually save you money in the long run. You can avoid extra replacements and the dental visits that come with them by choosing a treatment that lasts for decades. Plus, implants decrease risks of overall health issues, lowering your medical costs.

Who is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

More people are capable of receiving dental implants than ever, but there are a few prerequisites necessary to complete treatment. For example, good candidates for dental implants need to have good oral health. If any tooth decay or gum disease is present, preparatory treatments will be needed before implants can be placed.

Dental implants also require a healthy amount of bone volume so they can properly integrate. This is an essential factor in the long-term health of your implant, which is why bone grafting may be recommended by our office if necessary.

Missing One Tooth

A custom-made, all-porcelain dental crown can be attached directly to an implant root using a small connector called an abutment. This new tooth will have the same two-part structure as those that surround it, so it will look, function, and even feel like a natural tooth. Only you and Dr. Rana will know that it isn’t real, so you can smile with confidence, practice oral care with ease, and eat all your favorite foods without concern.

Missing Multiple Teeth

If a patient has consecutive missing teeth, two implant crowns can be used to support a bridge that is much stronger, more durable, and better looking than a traditional bridge. The crowns are placed on either side of the space in a patient’s smile, and these are used to support additional prosthetic teeth to close it. Unlike traditional dental bridges, implant bridges are capable of holding a dedicated restoration entirely on their own. That means there is no need to modify your existing tooth enamel just to replace missing teeth.

Missing All Teeth

If you’re tired of relying on denture adhesive to keep your tooth replacement stable, an implant denture can dramatically improve your quality of life. Multiple implants can be used to secure a denture directly to the jawbone, creating a strong and secure fit that a traditional removable denture simply can’t match. We can create a completely new prosthetic for you or upgrade your current denture to fit over implants so that you never have to worry about it slipping out of place. Additionally, implant dentures can be customized so they are either fixed or removable, depending on your personal preference.

Learn More About Implant DenturesLearn More About All-On-4

Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery

As part of the implant process, you might have to pay for separate preliminary treatments such as bone grafting. Doing so is generally well worth the extra investment, as such procedures could mean the difference between success and failure for your dental implants. As a side benefit, these procedures are generally at least partially covered by dental insurance.

Implant surgery incurs its own costs, of course, including the possible use of sedation if needed. Our practice offers all-inclusive dental care, which means you’ll only receive a bill from our office – no need to worry about paying a separate specialist.

The Parts of Your Dental Implant

There are various aspects of the dental implant procedure that you’ll need to keep in mind. How many implant posts are going to be needed to replace all of your teeth? Are you getting a single crown, a bridge, or dentures? What will the implant and restoration be made out of? What brand will be used? Dr. Rana can answer all of these questions and explain why certain decisions need to be made and how they benefit you in the long run.

How Dental Implants Can Save You Money

You may not realize at first that choosing dental implants can actually end up being the most cost-effective decision for your smile. That’s because while dental implants initially cost more than bridges and dentures, their true value lies in their longevity. They don’t need to be replaced as often, and they require no special solutions for maintenance; this means you won’t have to pay as much to take care of your teeth over the long term.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

Most insurance plans do not offer coverage for the actual dental implants, but your benefits could still potentially be applied to the final restoration and specific preliminary treatments. In other words, even if implants aren’t technically covered under your plan, you could still use it to help you pay for other parts of the implant process. Our team will work with you to develop a strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Making Dental Implants Affordable

We accept many different dental insurance plans, and we are partnered with CareCredit so that our patients can benefit from low-to-no-interest dental financing. Our team can help you explore your payment options in more detail during your initial consultation.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

Your prosthetic teeth may not get cavities, but plaque can still build up on them. For this reason, you need to continue a daily oral hygiene routine of brushing and flossing. These little habits may only take a few minutes every day, but they are essential for preventing gum disease or other infections that could lead to implant failure.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Having a balanced, nutritious diet doesn’t only help you enjoy better overall health; it can also help you hold onto your dental implants. Harmful bacteria thrive on sugary, starchy, sticky foods, which means that if you limit your consumption of these types of foods, you can more easily keep these bacteria under control. In addition, you can eat fruits and vegetables that actually help your smile, such as apples, carrots, broccoli, leafy greens, strawberries, and more. By making smarter choices in your diet, you can create a hospitable environment for your dental implants in your mouth.

Break Bad Habits

Some patients find that they need to make some changes to their lifestyle in order to keep their new smile strong. For instance, smoking drastically increases the likelihood of implant failure because it encourages bacterial growth in the mouth. Also, if you like to chew on hard objects, such as ice, pencils, or your nails, you need to consider ending this habit, which places excessive force on your implants. Certain habits can be difficult to stop; however, your dental implants are well worth the effort.

Protect Your Dental Implants

If you are active in sports, particularly contact sports or other activities where your face could be impacted, you need to wear a mouthguard. After all, the last thing you want to have happen after all the time, effort, and resources spent to get implants is for them to be knocked out. A custom mouthguard ensures that your implants can stay securely in your mouth even if you get hit in the face.

Similarly, if you grind or clench your teeth while you sleep, you need to wear a nightguard, which separates the upper and lower teeth. This appliance also eases the jaw muscles and takes the pressure off your implants, prolonging their lifespan.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Although at-home oral care is certainly important, regular visits to our Mesquite office are essential for maintaining your dental implants. Not only can we remove hardened plaque from your teeth, but we can also look for any signs of trouble or complication, catch it early on, and treat it before it causes serious damage to your smile.

Does Getting Dental Implants Hurt?

The procedure is much less painful than you would expect! Many people compare it to having a tooth extracted where you feel pressure but not pain. Rest assured that Dr. Rana will start by making sure you’re completely numb and also offers sedation dentistry to help everyone feel comfortable during the procedure.

How Long Will the Dental Implant Recovery Process Take?

We generally tell our patients to take 2-3 days off work to recover after their implant surgery. You can expect mild to moderate swelling and tenderness in the area, and most people report that their discomfort is easily managed with over-the-counter pain medication. Although you can usually go back to work after 2-3 days, it will take 5-7 days for most of the healing to occur.

What Is a Bone Graft and Why Would Someone Need One Before Getting Dental Implants?

Once your natural teeth have been removed, the jawbone that once surrounded the roots begins to deteriorate and reabsorb. If enough time has passed, the jaws are left too thin or too weak to support implants. This is when we recommend a bone graft, a procedure in which we add extra bone to the area to strengthen it and prepare it for implant placement. After a bone graft, it typically takes several months before the implant procedure can be done.

At your consultation, Dr. Rana will do a thorough exam that includes detailed images to check the density of your jawbone and determine if you need a bone graft.

Can I Be Confident That My Dental Implants Will Be Successful?

Non-smokers have a success rate of around 97%, not to mention that implants have been successfully used for decades. They’ve also been shown to be very safe and are made from bio-compatible, surgical-grade titanium (the same material that’s used in hip and knee replacements).

Are Dental Implants Right for Me?

In many cases, implants are a fantastic restoration option, but what’s right for one person isn’t always right for another. Our goal is to make sure the procedure will serve your needs and be a success, which is why we first recommend a consultation to evaluate your situation and create the best treatment plan. If you’d like to know if implants can work for you, give us a call any time to schedule an appointment!

What to Do Directly After Dental Implant Surgery

After your dental implant surgery, you will need to have someone escort you home, as it will take time for the anesthesia to wear off. Also, you’ll want to get plenty of rest and allow the blood clots that form in your surgical sites to remain untouched, as this will ensure your gums heal properly. This can be achieved by:

• Avoiding the use of a straw to sip beverages
• Avoiding vigorous rinsing or swishing
• Forgoing tobacco products and smoking
• Keeping your fingers out of your mouth
• Wiping any saliva away instead of spitting

Common Side Effects

It’s natural to experience some side effects after oral surgery. Having dental implants in Mesquite placed into your jawbone will cause some discomfort, but the pain should dissipate over time. However, if you feel any major discomfort or abnormal side effects, do not hesitate to contact our office.

Some of the most common things you might experience after your surgery include:

• Gradual bleeding that can be remedied with clean gauze
• Slight swelling that can last up to a week but will go down with the help of a cold compress for 10 minutes at a time
• Minimal discomfort that can be curbed with an over-the-counter pain reliever

Diet

Soft foods are what you will want to eat once your implant dentist in Mesquite clears you to go home to recover. This will make for an easier recovery, as additional pressure will not be placed on your surgical sites. The best foods to choose from include:

• Pasta
• Scrambled eggs
• Yogurt
• Ice cream
• Pudding
• Warm soups
• Mashed potatoes

Once you notice that your mouth feels more “normal,” you can begin to incorporate more solids into your diet. In the meantime, you’ll want to try to avoid chewing on the side of your mouth with the implant posts (if possible).

Health & Oral Hygiene

Maintaining a healthy smile is imperative after receiving your dental implants, as osseointegration must be successful. Developing an infection can lead to implant failure, so to avoid this, make sure you are:

• Brushing your teeth the day after your surgery but being mindful around your surgical sites.
• Rinsing your mouth with warm salt water 2-3 times each day to minimize pain, thoroughly cleanse the mouth, and reduce the chances of an infection.
• Avoiding the use of any mouthwash products that contain alcohol.

What to Do After Your New Teeth Are Attached

Receiving your new teeth can be an exciting time, so you can expect to immediately begin enjoying your new smile. While you might have some slight sensitivity, you should experience no bleeding or swelling. If pain persists, take an over-the-counter pain reliever. If you cannot get the discomfort to let up, contact our office right away.