Dental Implants — Belmont, MA

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

First, we need to answer the following question: “Are you a candidate for dental implants?” To that end, we will capture X-rays of your jaw, check your mouth for gum disease, and review your oral health history to see if there’s anything we need to be concerned about. Sometimes we might find that bone grafting and/or other preliminary procedures are necessary before you can receive dental implants.

Once we have confirmed that dental implants are the best choice for your smile, we’ll create a treatment plan and explain what you can expect during the rest of the process.

Dental Implant Surgery

Unlike some other practices, we can place dental implants in-house. You won’t have to worry about driving to an office across town to receive your implant posts from a specialist that you’re unfamiliar with.

Dental implant placement is a relatively simple oral surgery. We’ll begin by numbing your mouth; sedation might also be used if necessary. The gums are opened so that the implant posts can be inserted into the jawbone. Once the gums are closed, a protective cap will be attached to each post.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment

Once the implants are placed, they join with the jawbone. This is called osseointegration, and it’s crucial for a successful implant process. In most cases, osseointegration will take between 3 to 6 months; the exact amount of time depends on how complex your implant procedure was as well as your individual healing capabilities.

After osseointegration is complete, abutments will be attached to your implant posts. This will require another surgery, so you’ll need to wait for your gums to heal before moving on to the final step of the implant process.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)

Your final restoration (which might be a crown, bridge, or denture depending on how many teeth need to be replaced) will be crafted based on impressions of your mouth. The process of making the restoration will be completed by a trusted dental laboratory. Once we’ve received the final result, we’ll reach out to you to schedule one last appointment.

After making the necessary adjustments to ensure a comfortable bite, we will anchor your new teeth to your implant posts via your abutments. At that point, you’ll be ready to take full advantage of your rebuilt smile to enjoy a wide variety of foods.

Day-to-Day Benefits

• No Food Restrictions: With dental implants, you can eat what you like, whenever you like, as if your natural, healthy teeth were still intact. This allows you to enjoy a nutrient-rich diet that benefits both your mouth and body.
• More Natural Appearance: Dental implants in Belmont look just like regular teeth because of the high-quality materials they’re made from. No one will ever be able to tell the difference between your real and artificial teeth.
• Minimal Maintenance: Instead of spending lots of time trying to clean your prosthetics, you can easily clean your implants with a soft-bristled toothbrush, non-abrasive toothpaste, floss, and mouthwash.
• Opportunity to Enjoy Life Again: Unlike 34% of denture-wearers who feel embarrassed by their teeth, you can enjoy life and the company it comes with when choosing dental implants. You’ll feel confident and comfortable eating, speaking, and smiling in front of others again.

Health Benefits

• Healthy Teeth Remain Untouched: You won’t need to worry about altering your healthy teeth, as dental implants are surgically placed in the bone. This allows you to keep more of your natural tooth structure.
• Optimal Jawbone Stimulation : When you lose teeth, your jawbone can deteriorate over time if they aren’t replaced with dental implants. Fortunately, these prosthetics are rooted in your jawbone, so they provide your jaw with the stimulation it needs to stay strong and healthy.
• Improved Overall Health: You’ll be able to enjoy greater overall health because of your decision to have an implant dentist in Belmont equip you with permanent prosthetics. Tooth loss is closely linked to many systemic conditions; however, with dental implants, you lower your risk for diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis.

Long-Term Benefits

• Successful Implant Placement: Dental implants have a success rate of 95% upon immediate placement by a skilled professional. After 10 years, it tends to remain between 90 and 95% as long as you commit to maintaining your new smile.
• Long Lifespan: With optimal care, you can expect your new teeth to last 30 years or longer.
• Money Savings: Instead of spending your hard-earned dollars on denture adhesives and special soakers to keep your dentures clean and in place, you’ll enjoy having more money in your wallet . Why? Because dental implants can actually help you save in the long run. No more messy adhesives or specialized cleaners. Also, you won’t need to replace your prosthetics every few years!

Who is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

You’ll be pleased to know that most adults who are missing one or more teeth are eligible to receive dental implants in Belmont. Ultimately, it is whether they can immediately move forward with surgery or not.

During your initial consultation, Dr. Salibian will use advanced dental technology to examine your oral and facial structures. This will show him whether you require preliminary treatment or not. Since this is one factor in determining your eligibility, you may need bone grafting, a sinus lift, periodontal therapy, or tooth extraction first. He will also evaluate your overall health to ensure you are healthy enough to receive minor oral surgery.

Lastly, your jawbone density is essential. If you lack the appropriate amount of jawbone, dental implant placement will be unsuccessful. The only way to fix it is with a bone graft.

Missing One Tooth

More than 100 million Americans are living with a single missing tooth. Because of the difficulties that can come with eating and speaking, it is best to have it replaced as soon as possible to restore natural function. If you’re missing a single tooth, you can replace it with an implant dental crown to complete your grin. We fabricate this custom-made crown to match the size, shape, and color of your natural dental structure. This gives you a seamless tooth replacement that keeps you healthy and maintains your appearance.

Missing Multiple Teeth

Are you missing multiple teeth consecutively? Dr. Salibian can use an implant dental bridge to literally “bridge” the gap in your smile with a custom-made prosthetic. Dental implants on either side of your gap will anchor your bridge in place, allowing for a full and functional set of teeth. If your teeth are not consecutively missing, however, we can create an implant partial that works similar to its traditional counterpart but only attaches to dental implants.

Missing All Teeth

If you’re missing all of your teeth, you can still receive the benefits of dental implants. We can use implant dentures to restore complete rows of teeth with the security, strength, and health advantages of dental implants. After the posts are strategically placed in your jawbone, we will attach your dentures to give you the confidence to eat, speak, and laugh.

Types and Location of Dental Implants

There are three main types of dental implants: those used to replace single teeth, multiple teeth, and an entire row of teeth. Each procedure requires a different number of titanium roots to be positioned within the jawbone, and this, by far, is the biggest determinant when it comes to cost. Implants are made of very high-quality materials to ensure their strength and longevity, and the more roots that are needed, the more complicated the placement procedure will be.

The location of the new implant roots matters as well. Placing implants towards the front of the mouth is more difficult compared to the back because the jawbone is naturally thinner, so patients wanting to replace their most prominent teeth will likely pay a bit more because the procedure will require more time and expertise to complete.

What are the Stages of Dental Implant Treatment?

The first step of any implant treatment is to attend a consultation with Dr. Salibian. At this appointment, he’ll examine your mouth, any remaining teeth, and go over your replacement options. If this includes implants, he’ll outline the finer details of your treatment plan plus all cost information.

Once you have decided to get implants, Dr. Salibian will go ahead and place the implants into your jawbone. After you have had time to heal, we will attach your new teeth. It’s important to note that each of these procedures incurs its own separate cost.

Are Dental Implants Worth the Investment?

It’s no secret that dental implants are more expensive compared to traditional removable bridges and dentures, but if you ask any implant patient, they will tell you that they are more than happy with their decision. In addition to offering superior function and aesthetics, implants are also much more durable than regular prosthetics. In the average lifetime of an implant (30+ years), a patient with a bridge or denture will have to replace it multiple times, compounding the lower initial cost while also dealing with an ever-shifting fit and bite. Overall, implants’ longevity actually helps patients save money by comparison because they require so little maintenance.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

Most dental insurance plans do NOT cover the placement or restoration of dental implants, but this is slowly changing as the treatment is becoming more popular. However, insurance can often be used to cover treatments associated with implants, like the consultation, X-rays, sedation, anesthetic, etc. Some will even pay for part of the crown, bridge, or denture that is placed on top of implants. We recommend looking over your policy and talking to your insurance provider to learn exactly what is and isn’t covered when it comes to implants, and our team is more than happy to help as well. Just give us a call with your policy information handy.

3D Cone Beam Imaging

Dental implants need to be placed in precisely the right spots. As such, the surgery must be carefully planned in advance, and that requires gathering as much information as possible. With our Planmeca®  3D Cone Beam Imaging device, we can create a three-dimensional model of your mouth and jaw that reveals the location of nerves, connective tissues, and other important structures.

Cone beam imaging can give us a more complete picture than a traditional X-ray. The more information we have, the easier it will be to avoid complications during your dental implant placement surgery. On top of that, cone beam imaging is also a useful tool in situations where dental implants have failed; the technology can often make it easier to determine the nature of the problem so that an appropriate solution can be devised.

There’s no reason to be nervous about cone beam imaging. Not only is there no discomfort to worry about, but there won’t be any radiation left in your body once the scan is complete.

Digital Impression System

Dental implants can potentially be used to support crowns, bridges, and dentures. However, these prostheses are not one size fits all; they need to be carefully designed for each patient’s unique mouth. That’s why impressions have to be taken before you can receive your replacement teeth.

Traditional dental impressions involve biting down on a special kind of putty. However, many patients find this approach to be uncomfortable, and it can be prone to error. Fortunately, our practice has an alternative in the form of our digital impression system.

Using a small wand-like device, we can capture multiple images of your teeth from a variety of angles. Then special software can be used to assemble these images into a virtual model of your mouth. Thanks to this model, we will be able to customize your prosthesis to meet the specific needs of your smile.

Not only do digital impressions eliminate the need for bad-tasting putty, but they also tend to be more accurate than traditional impressions. As such, there’s less of a chance that they’ll need to be redone. On top of that, digital impressions can be completed in much less time.

What to Do Directly After Dental Implant Surgery

After your surgery is complete, a blood clot will start to form as part of the healing process. It’s very important to make sure that the blood clot is not disturbed, so follow these rules as closely as possible:

• Avoid touching the surgical site with your fingers or your tongue.
• Instead of spitting, get rid of saliva by swallowing it or using a tissue.
• Do not use straws for at least the first few days of recovery.
• Give up smoking while your mouth is healing.

Common Side Effects When Recovering from Dental Implant Placement

There are a number of side effects that are perfectly normal to experience after dental implant placement. For example, you may notice some intermittent bleeding, which you can keep under control by applying pressure to the area with gauze. Some swelling might occur over the first 72 hours, but using a cold compress can help reduce it. And of course, you can expect to feel some general discomfort, which can be relieved with over-the-counter medication.

All of these side effects should subside with time. If they ever get worse, let us know right away.

Your Diet After Dental Implant Surgery

While your mouth is recovering, you should only eat soft, nonabrasive foods that require little to no chewing. Soup is often an excellent choice as long as it’s not too hot. Other staples of a post-surgery diet include mashed potatoes, yogurt, ice cream, pudding, scrambled eggs, and pasta.

When your mouth starts to feel better, you can start working your way back up to a normal diet with heartier foods. However, you still need to avoid chewing directly on the implant site, and it’s recommended that you stay away from tough or crunchy foods as much as possible.

Post-Op Health & Oral Hygiene

Poor oral hygiene can put your implants at risk for infection. Make sure your smile stays clean during your recovery by brushing like you normally would. (Be very careful when cleaning near the implant site.) As an added precaution, you can also rinse your mouth with salt water two or three times a day.

What to Do After Your New Teeth Are Attached

There’s no extensive recovery process associated with having the final restoration attached to your dental implant posts. If there’s any minor sensitivity, you can take pain medication to manage it. Let us know if you notice any swelling or bleeding; those symptoms shouldn’t appear at this point in the process.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

At-home oral care is essential to the longevity of your dental implants, especially since you won’t be visiting our office every day to have your teeth cleaned! Thankfully, protecting your dental implant and keeping plaque at bay is relatively straightforward. Simply brush twice a day for two minutes at a time with a fluoridated toothpaste and floss once a day. For extra protection, it’s worth investing in a bottle of oral rinse to loosen food debris and keep your gums healthy.

Eat a Healthy Diet

The foods you eat make an impact on your oral health just as much as your at-home oral hygiene, so having a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can make a big difference for the long-term health of your dental implant. In contrast, eating foods high in sugar and starch only put your mouth at risk of tooth decay and gum disease, so keep these foods to a minimum whenever possible. Staying hydrated also works to improve saliva production (which helps fight off oral bacteria) and loosen food debris in between your brushing and flossing.

Break Bad Habits

Your dental implant is not indestructible, which means it can still get damaged if used improperly. For example, biting on your fingernails or other hard or inedible objects (i.e. pens, pencils, ice cubes, and packaging materials) can cause it to crack or chip. Use the right tool for the job instead and find a way to manage stress that doesn’t involve your teeth (unless chewing sugar-free gum helps!) Our office is happy to discuss any bad habits you may have and how to best address them to protect your implant.

Protect Your Dental Implants

It’s important to stay active, but you should always use the right protective gear along the way. A custom mouthguard while playing contact sports is a perfect example, and our office is happy to make one designed to fit your smile exactly. Additionally, a nightguard can provide cushion if you have bruxism, an unconscious habit that involves grinding and clenching your teeth, typically when sleeping.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

While your dental implant restoration cannot develop decay itself, the gum tissue surrounding your tooth replacement can still become infected, leading to implant failure. Additionally, we’ll always want to make sure that your jawbone health is in good condition, which is another reason why routine checkups and cleanings every six months is necessary. Those who visit the dentist routinely can typically expect less dental disease compared to those who do not.