Dental Implants – Hillsboro, OR
Regain a Beautiful, Lasting Smile with Dental Implants
If you’re ashamed of your smile because of missing teeth, you’re not alone. Most American adults exhibiting signs of advanced gum disease experience tooth loss. Other reasons for missing teeth include traumas, extractions, and severe decay. At the office of Drs. Brandon and Malinda Kearbey, we recommend dental implants. This revolutionary treatment is truly in a class of its own when it comes to replacing missing teeth. To schedule a consultation with your implant dentist in Hillsboro, contact us today.
The 4-Step Dental Implant Process
Unlike dentures or bridges, getting dental implants involves a unique, multi-step process. Patients thus have to wait several months or more for them. Still, rest assured that implants’ long-term benefits are worth this time and effort! The Dentists at Orenco Station perform placement in-office, thus ensuring your new teeth look and work great. However, if you’d like to know the implant process steps, our office is happy to explain. Just keep reading to learn more, or call our office for the details.
Initial Dental Implant Consultation
The first step to getting implants is an initial consultation visit. In other words, you’ll start by talking with Drs. Brandon and Malinda Kearbey about your medical history, smile goals, and such.
Crucially, this appointment lets us see if you’re a good implant candidate. Treatment, after all, won’t work if you’re not healthy enough for it. We may find prior dental issues that would risk implant failure. Should that happen, you’d need preliminary procedures – gum disease therapy, tooth extraction, bone grafting, etc. – before implant surgery could begin.
The consultation also helps you know what to expect from treatment. If we determine you qualify for implants, we’ll explain the procedure to you step-by-step.
Dental Implant Surgery
Our office will place your implants after the consulting and prep work. That means you won’t have to pay for an expensive, distant specialist. As an added benefit, this in-house approach means the treating dentist can access your dental records instantly.
With the actual implant surgery, you can expect:
- Dental Numbing – Before treatment, the dentist will numb your mouth so it can’t feel pain.
- Placement – With both care and precision, the dentist will place your implant in your jawbone’s socket.
- Closure – After placing the implant, we’ll close your gum incision and put a protective cap over the post.
Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment
When the dentist finishes surgery, your implants will slowly begin to fuse with your jawbone. They must do so, as the process ensures your new teeth remain steady and secure. That said, you’ll need to be careful – the fusion takes 3-6 months. During that period, you should avoid anything that could risk implant failure.
You’ll return to our office for a minor abutment when your implant is fully fused. The latter requires a small surgery, so take it easy after you get it. Once you’ve healed, the final restoration will be crafted from impressions of your mouth.
Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)
The last step of the implant process is receiving the final restoration. Based on your situation, this prosthetic might be a crown, a bridge, or a denture. Its kind and type will depend on the number of teeth you were missing.
After confirming the restoration’s placement, we’ll make some last-minute adjustments to it. In particular, we’ll ensure it fits comfortably so your bite doesn’t cause pain. You’ll then be ready to enjoy a newly-rebuilt smile!
Maintaining & Caring for Your Dental Implants
Once you’ve replaced your missing teeth with dental implants, you’ll be free to enjoy eating all your favorite foods, speaking clearly with others, and smiling with confidence. While your brand-new pearly whites will offer numerous benefits, you’ll want to make sure that they last as long as possible. Though they can’t develop cavities, it doesn’t mean they won’t be vulnerable to other complications, such as gum disease and accidental damage. To make the most of your renewed smile, here are several important ways to care for your dental implants.
Make Oral Hygiene a Priority
Any remaining natural teeth around your dental implants can still be susceptible to decay, which can increase the risk of bacteria and infection in your smile and gums. For this reason, you should practice good oral hygiene to prevent any issues from affecting your new teeth. This should include brushing twice a day, flossing after every meal, and rinsing with mouthwash often to maintain a healthy mouth.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Dental implants can restore your smile as well as 80% or more of your natural biting force. This means you’ll be free to enjoy an expanded diet and chew effectively. That said, make sure to include nutritious foods in your everyday meals, especially those that are rich in vitamin C and calcium. This can help ensure that your jawbone is strong and healthy, which will directly benefit your dental implants and smile in the long run.
Break Bad Habits
Although dental implants are incredibly durable and lifelike, they aren’t invulnerable. To prevent ruining your newly rebuilt smile, you’ll want to actively avoid and/or break certain oral habits, such as:
- Smoking or using tobacco products, as this can risk implant failure
- Using your teeth for opening packages or holding heavy items
- Chewing on hard objects like ice cubes, fingernails, or pens
Protect Your Dental Implants
Are you active in sports? Do you sometimes grind or clench your teeth while sleeping? If so, our team can provide you with custom-made mouthguards or nightguards for bruxism. These dental appliances can help protect your tooth enamel from wearing down as well as your dental implants from getting damaged over time.
Schedule Regular Dental Checkups
Even if you practice strict oral hygiene and eat a healthy diet, you can only do so much at home to protect your mouth and dental implants. You’ll want to visit your dentist every six months for checkups and cleanings, as they’ll be able to detect oral health problems that aren’t visible to you. They can also clean areas in your mouth that you can’t reach, allowing them to effectively remove plaque and tartar that your toothbrush can’t. Our team will be sure to check for any underlying problems and address them before they worsen.
Benefits of Dental Implants
With over half a million placed each year, dental implants are quickly becoming the gold standard for replacing missing teeth. Thanks to their unique surgical placement inside the jawbone, implants can offer several incredible benefits that you simply don’t have access to through traditional tooth-replacement options such as dentures or bridges. Keep reading to learn a little more about some of these benefits and how dental implants in Hillsboro can ultimately restore your smile and dramatically improve your quality of life!
Day-to-Day Benefits
Here are some of the ways in which dental implants can vastly improve your daily life:
- Eating is made easier – Dental implants replace the entire structure of missing teeth, meaning that they’re much more stable than other restoration options. Therefore, they’re able to withstand virtually any type of food, as they restore a significant amount of your natural chewing power.
- Boosted self-confidence confidence – Since implants are carefully customized for your unique smile, the restorations will resemble your natural teeth while also complimenting your facial structure. This will work wonders for your confidence; you won’t want to stop smiling throughout the day!
- Improved speech – It’s common for patients with dentures to experience difficulty speaking due to their prosthetic sliding around their mouth. But since dental implants are undeniably secure, you’ll be able to converse clearly and with confidence.
- No special maintenance – Dental implants don’t need to be taken out or soaked in a special solution like dentures; you simply need to care for them as you would your natural teeth by brushing and flossing daily, in addition to keeping up with routine preventive care.
Health Benefits
In addition to improve your day-to-day, implants can also provide you with many noteworthy health benefits including:
- Improved oral health – Research shows a connection between tooth loss and a heightened risk of several diseases. But since implants are the next best thing to your natural teeth, it’s reasonable to assume that they help to lower these risks.
- Protection for surrounding teeth – Dental implants can also serve as placeholders to ensure that your remaining natural teeth stay safe and in place. It’s worth noting that traditional restoration options can sometimes place excess strain on the surrounding teeth and gums due to how they’re stabilized, but since implants support themselves, this isn’t an issue.
- Jawbone Preservation – Implants provide the jawbone with an immense level of healthy support, which in turn helps to prevent the bone loss that commonly follows tooth loss.
Long-Term Benefits
Since dental implants are designed to be a permanent solution for missing teeth, they’re also accompanied by several long-term benefits such as:
- High success rate – Roughly 95% to 98% of dental implants are successful and effective; this even holds true after 10 years!
- Impressive lifespan – Implants are designed as a permanent solution, meaning that they’re built to last. Unlike dentures or bridges, implants can easily persevere for several decades if they’re properly maintained. This also means they’re cost-effective as time goes on since they won’t need to be replaced.
- Youthful appearance – Since they provide healthy stimulation to your jawbone, dental implants prevent your jaw from deteriorating and giving your face a sunken and gaunt appearance. This means that they’ll actually help you retain a more youthful appearance!
Who Dental Implants Can Help
How many teeth have you lost? No matter the answer, dental implants can provide the solution. During your consultation with one of our dentists, they’ll go over your implant and restoration options. Here’s what you should know.
Who Is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?
Most healthy adults are able to get dental implants! Here are the most important factors we take into consideration when determining if someone makes a good candidate for the procedure:
- Good overall health: Placing dental implants is a surgical procedure, so you’ll need to be well enough to undergo minor surgery.
- Great oral health: Issues like cavities and gum disease can potentially cause dental implants to fail, so they need to be addressed ahead of time.
- Adequate jawbone density: Your jawbone must be strong enough to support dental implants for your treatment to be successful. Otherwise, you could experience a dental implant failure.
If you don’t make a good candidate for the procedure right away, don’t fret! Many patients need to complete preliminary procedures and treatments before they qualify for dental implants. This includes tooth extractions, gum disease therapy, or bone grafting. We can help schedule you for these preparatory procedures to get you on track for your new smile. Once you make a good candidate, we will create your dental implant treatment plan!
Missing One Tooth
For a single gap in your grin, the traditional choice is to file down the teeth on either end to support a dental bridge, sacrificing healthy enamel and placing undue stress on two natural teeth. Instead, a single implant post can be placed in the gap and restored with a lifelike dental crown.
Missing Multiple Teeth
If you have several missing teeth in a row, just two implants can be inserted at the ends of the empty space. Then, a dental bridge can be anchored onto these posts, supporting up to three consecutive prosthetic teeth. This provides a healthier and more cost-effective alternative to traditional bridges.
Missing All Teeth
You can still receive dental implants even if you’re missing most or all of your original teeth. Instead of replacing each individual tooth with an implant, four to six implants are placed at certain angles to maximize your available jawbone density. These implants can provide enough support for a full denture, without the embarrassing slippage that often comes with traditional dentures.
Understanding the Cost of Dental Implants
Because no two dental implant journeys are exactly alike, neither are any two costs of implant treatment. They’re each personalized to meet a patient’s unique needs, which is why the prices can vary significantly on a case-by-case basis. At your consultation, our team will go over all the pricing information so you can have an idea of what you’ll be expected to pay for your new teeth. In the meantime, you can review the information below to get a better understanding of the general cost of dental implants in Hillsboro.
Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery
If you have existing oral health issues, you may need to undergo certain preliminary treatments like gum disease therapy, tooth extractions, and bone grafting before getting dental implants in Hillsboro. While these will add to the overall cost of your treatment, they’re essential for the long-term success of your results. Luckily, most of these services are partially covered by dental insurance.
It’s important to note that dental implant surgery has its own cost. It’s normally affected by the location of the surgical site and the type of sedation needed. When you come to our office, we’ll break down the pricing information so you know what to expect from the process.
The Parts of Your Dental Implant
The overall cost of dental implants in Hillsboro varies based on multiple factors. Some of those include:
- Number of dental implants you need. Replacing a single missing tooth with one dental implant will cost less than 4-6 for an implant denture. However, an implant denture is more cost-effective than replacing each tooth separately.
- Type of restoration you choose. Crowns, bridges, and dentures each cost different amounts. Naturally, the smaller the restorations are, the less expensive they tend to be.
- Size or material. Some dental implants are made of zirconia instead of titanium, which affects the overall price.
- Brand of dental implants. Different manufacturers make dental implants differently to cater to the needs of each patient. Feel free to ask about where your implants are coming from and any brand-specific benefits.
How Dental Implants Can Save You Money
Keep in mind that while dental implants may have a higher initial cost, they can actually save you money in the long term. They can easily last 30+ years with proper maintenance. Other options, like bridges and dentures, must be replaced every decade or so. Over the years, the cost of these retreatments can exceed the amount you initially paid for implants. Not to mention, implants offer the most oral health benefits and look and feel more lifelike than any other solution available.
Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?
Most dental insurance plans don’t typically offer coverage for dental implants, but there are a few exceptions. A percentage of the final restoration or certain preliminary treatments might be covered. Of course, you should contact your insurance provider to confirm the details of your coverage, especially before committing to anything. If needed, our team is more than happy to help with this process.
Making Dental Implants Affordable
We understand that not everyone has dental insurance. Fortunately, our practice offers third-party financing through CareCredit to help make your treatment as affordable as possible! It allows you to split up the total cost of your care into smaller monthly installments. Best of all, these payment options often come with little-to-no interest attached, helping you save even more money. To apply, you can visit our website or contact our team for assistance.
Dental Implant FAQs
Want to know more about dental implants in Hillsboro before scheduling a consultation? Our talented team has collected some of the most common questions we get from patients about implant treatment and answered them below. We hope you find these FAQs informative! If you have additional questions that are not addressed here, don’t hesitate to contact our office.
How Long Does Dental Implant Surgery Take?
The length of your oral surgery will depend on how many implants you’re receiving at once. Placing a single implant typically takes between one and two hours on average. This includes the time needed to administer anesthesia and dress you for a sterile surgical atmosphere.
Am I Too Young to Get Dental Implants?
As a general rule of thumb, if you have not graduated from high school yet, then you are likely too young to get dental implants. Most people’s jaws aren’t fully developed until young adulthood. In general, men’s jaws take longer to develop than women’s jaws do. Placing dental implants before a jaw is finished growing can interfere with bone development and potentially result in complications. That’s why most dental professionals will not place implants in patients younger than 18.
Will I Have to Take Off Work for Dental Implant Surgery?
While every situation is unique, most patients only need to take one, maybe two, days off to get dental implants. Dr. Brandon Kearbey or Dr. Malinda Kearbey are both experienced implant dentists in Hillsboro and can give you personalized advice after conducting a consultation. Do you work at a warehouse or have a job that is physically demanding? If so, you should probably take at least three or four days off. Strenuous physical activity could divert blood from the implant site and delay healing. You may want to schedule your procedure on a Thursday or Friday to give yourself extra time to bounce back.
Can I Get Dental Implants If I Smoke?
While it’s possible to get dental implants if you smoke, you should know that smokers have a higher rate of dental implant failure. Smoking, chewing, and vaping tobacco causes dry mouth, slows down healing, and can interfere with the implants’ ability to fuse with the jawbone. Tobacco use can also cause dry socket, a painful condition that occurs when the blood clot that forms over the implant site becomes dislodged. We typically recommend that smokers quit at least two weeks before their implant procedure and wait to resume the habit for at least two or three months afterward. Of course, getting dental implants is also a great opportunity to finally kick the habit for good!
Do Dental Implants Make You Look Younger?
Yes! The force of biting and chewing spreads through the roots of your teeth to stimulate your jawbone. When teeth go missing, the jawbone loses that stimulation and gradually begins to deteriorate. When your jawbone can no longer support your facial structures, you may eventually appear more wrinkled, with a sunken-in face and fine lines around your mouth. Fortunately, dental implants can restore your vibrant, youthful appearance. Dental implants in Hillsboro are the only type of replacement teeth that can stimulate the jawbone like natural teeth. They prevent the bone atrophy that makes you look older.