Essentially, a dental implant is a screw that is fitted to your jawbone. A dental implant replaces the root of your tooth. It may seem a bit scary having a screw in your jawbone, but the dental implant is highly compatible with your body. After a period of a few months, the dental implant should integrate into your jaw giving you a foundation for prosthetic teeth. A dental implant gives you the closest replacement for a natural tooth you’ll find. Situated in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, Hyde Park Dental Care offers our patients everything from restorative, cosmetic, preventative and general dental care including dental implants. We strive to offer a level of clinical excellence to our patients that goes above and beyond their expectations. Loss of teeth as a result of poor dental care or an unfortunate accident oftentimes needs a dental implant to remedy it. So, what are the benefits of dental implants? There is no better replacement for a lost tooth than a dental implant, as it gives you the same full functionality and aesthetic of a natural tooth. The benefits of dental implants are wide-ranging but they first and foremost match the function, feel and appearance of natural teeth. There will be no need for concern as the dental implant fits seamlessly with your teeth and looks completely natural. Once the implant is in place, it provides stability for the teeth on either side of it keeping them in place. The implant also decreases the amount of stress and pressure placed on surrounding teeth. The dental implant not only integrates with your jawline but it also protects it. The implant helps the jaw to retain bone tissue and prevent bone loss. Gum shrinkage can be a big problem but the dental implant helps to decrease the chance for more of it. After the dental implant has been put in, the patient does not need to fret over dietary concerns once they have fully healed. The dental implant restores full function to the mouth and thus you can eat in and drink in peace. Dental implants can also be put under full dentures giving great stability and retention of the denture itself. A loose denture can hinder one from performing simple tasks such as eating and speaking but with a dental implant, these actions are done with ease. What to expect from your dental implants After you’ve booked an appointment at Hyde Park Dental, a process is undertaken by Dr Joffe to ascertain whether or not you are suited to a dental implant. After this has been done, Dr Joffe will discuss the financial costs of the procedure with you after which you will decide how you would like to proceed. Should you do so, Dr Joffe will refer you to a periodontist or oral surgeon for the surgical placement of the dental implant. Dr Joffe has a large network of leading local implant specialists and will refer you to one that best suits your individual needs as a patient. The procedure itself takes around 3-6 months to recover from, after which you will return to Hyde Park Dental for the fitting of your crown or prosthetic restoration. There are many dental implant solutions to various forms of tooth loss that can be undertaken in each individual case. For example, a single tooth implant is used for the loss of only one tooth which is then restored with an implant crown. An implant bridge is used for a patient when there is multiple tooth loss and requires at least 2 dental implants to anchor the bridge. Implant-supported dentures support those who have had partial or even total tooth loss, allowing the patient to remove the denture for cleaning and comfort. When there has been total tooth loss in a patient, a fixed denture is recommended. This would need a hybrid bridge where the denture is fixed onto 4 or 5 implants that have been placed into the patient’s jaw. To find out more about our dental implant treatments, or to make an appointment, please click here. Don’t forget to share this via Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn.