Dental Implant Years After Extraction?
If you are missing one tooth or just a few teeth, especially if the teeth you’re missing are in the back of your mouth, you may not intend to fill in these gaps. While the spaces created by the missing teeth may not be readily visible, the long-term effects of missing teeth are visible and can be destructive. When teeth are missing, the surrounding teeth shift, creating crowded areas that are difficult to clean properly and threatening the integrity of the existing teeth. The bite can also be affected, which can lead to headaches or painful conditions like TMJ. As the bone in the area deteriorates, the shape of the face changes and can appear sunken. Clearly, the long-term effects of leaving a missing tooth unaddressed aren’t worth it. But if you’ve been missing one or more teeth for a while and are starting to see some of these effects, it’s not too late to fix the problem. Dental implants can often be placed years after extraction, though dental implant treatment may require some preliminary procedures to prepare the jaw for successful surgery and ensure the durability of the final product. Dental implants are surgically implanted into the bones of the jaw, and the health and strength of the bone are key to the longevity of the implant. When missing teeth have led to bone loss, you may require a bone grafting procedure to prepare the jaw for an implant. When missing teeth have led to crowding, an orthodontic treatment may need to precede the implant placement. To understand the reasons for this, it’s helpful to explain dental implants themselves.
Dental implants are tiny cylinders that are placed into the jaw where the root of a natural tooth once was. As the bone that surrounds the implant heals, it fuses to the implant and creates a permanent anchor for a dental restoration. The dental restoration can be a dental crown or bridge, or an overdenture that is a full arch of teeth, and it is affixed to an abutment that is attached to the implant after the bone has fully healed. The implants hold the restoration securely in place, allowing you to eat, speak, and smile with confidence and comfort. The process of bone fusing to the implant is instrumental in the overall success of the dental implant, and there must be sufficient healthy bone present for this to occur.
Because bone shrinks following the loss of a tooth, it must be regenerated before an implant can be safely placed, and when the teeth shift in the absence of a tooth, they must be brought back into alignment before an implant can be placed. Bone grafting treatments can stimulate the regeneration of healthy bone in a variety of ways, and once the graft has healed and healthy bone mass is restored, dental implants can be successful. Bone grafts also improve the appearance of the gum line, improving the overall aesthetic results of a dental implant treatment. Orthodontic treatments can help make room for a dental implant, creating a clearer outline for dental implant placement and improving the overall appearance of the final restoration. Other clinical treatments may be necessary, and, if gum disease is present, it will be treated before an implant procedure begins, but in many cases, implants can be an effective dental restoration even several years after tooth loss.