Dental implants are one of the most important advances in dentistry in the past 40 years.

Dental implants are designed to replace both a patient’s missing tooth and his or her missing root… Which sets this treatment apart from more traditional restorative services. While fixed bridges, partial dentures, or full dentures will help you achieve tooth replacement, only dental implants will replace the roots underneath.

Replacing your roots is just as important as replacing your missing teeth. Your roots have two very important jobs. First, they anchor your teeth to your jaw, creating a stable foundation. Second, they promote bone growth so that your jawbone stays healthy throughout the years. Missing teeth, over time, will weaken the jawbone because there’s nothing there to stimulate new bone growth. Replacing missing teeth with dental implants will help strengthen your jaw while giving your new smile a stronger foundation.

Dr. Huggins uses the team approach for providing implant dentistry for her patients. She refers the surgical phase out to trusted specialists in the area, while she does the restorative phase in her office. The surgical phase involves placing posts made up of titanium and other materials that are compatible with the human body into the upper or lower jaw. Next comes the healing phase where osseointegration occurs…where bone actually grows around the implant to hold it in place. The restorative phase comes last. Dental implants may be used to anchor single crowns, fixed bridges, removable partial dentures and full dentures that “snap on”… or even full dentures that the patient can’t take out- a wonderful option for patients who don’t want to worry about conventional dentures slipping while eating or in social situations.

Some patients may not be good candidates for dental implants, such as patients with chronic illnesses like diabetes or leukemia. Tobacco usage may also affect the success of dental implant dentistry.