Dental Implants – Arvada, CO

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

During this first appointment, Dr. Paylor will spend some time getting to know you, understanding the goals you have in mind for your future smile, and reviewing your medical history. Then, he’ll examine your oral cavity in great detail. Based on his findings, he’ll let you know if you’re eligible for dental implants and whether you should undergo certain procedures before scheduling your placement surgery. For example, if you have been without teeth for some time, your jawbone has likely deteriorated due to lack of support from the tooth roots. In this case, you’d need a bone grafting procedure before your jaw could adequately support implants.

Dental Implant Surgery

Dr. Paylor is a trained implant dentist in Arvada, so he can surgically place your implants right here in our familiar office. You can also rest easy knowing he’ll make the procedure as smooth and comfortable as possible.

First, our team will administer local anesthetic and sedation to make sure your mouth is numb and you’re feeling relaxed. Dr. Paylor will make a small incision in your gum tissue, through which he can insert the implant posts at precise locations and angles in your jawbone. Then, he’ll put protective caps over your implants to protect them throughout the healing process. Lastly, he’ll suture your gums closed and send you home to recover.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment

Soon after your implants have been placed, they begin a natural process called osseointegration. Over the next three to six months, the implant posts encourage your jawbone to grow around them until the implants are essentially part of your own anatomy. This process is what allows dental implants in Arvada to deliver reliable tooth replacement that lasts.

After Dr. Paylor has determined that osseointegration is complete, he’ll attach a metal fixture on top of your implant. Known as an abutment, this device is what lets our team secure your brand-new pearly whites into place.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)

Once you’re healed from the abutment procedure, which should take a couple of weeks at most, you’ll return to our office to receive your custom-made restoration. This crown, bridge, or denture has been fabricated in a dental lab and customized to match your natural smile. Dr. Paylor will attach your restoration to your abutments and make sure your bite feels correct. Then, you’ll be ready to enjoy your newly complete smile!

Day-to-Day Benefits

• No matter what foods you enjoy most, dental implants can break them down just as effectively as natural teeth. Tearing through and breaking down chewy, crunchy and tough foods is a breeze thanks to the extensive integration process that occurs between the implant and bone tissue.
• You can say goodbye to covering your teeth every time you laugh or smile. Dental implants look indistinguishable from natural teeth thanks to the ceramic materials utilized to create your restoration. Even after decades of use, you can show your smile off with confidence!
• Speaking with friends and family is often risky with a denture, especially when it’s very old and no longer fits properly. Dental implants are far more secure, which means you can speak at length without any concern of your tooth replacement loosening or falling out.

Health Benefits

• Oral hygiene can be difficult when living with traditional tooth replacements, but not with dental implants. All you need to do is perform routine brushing and flossing every day and stay committed to routine checkups at our dental office!
• Getting the nutrition you need is essential, especially at an older age. When teeth are missing, keeping your diet balanced becomes increasingly difficult. Since you can eat the foods you want with dental implants, that means you can incorporate more fruits, vegetables, and proteins into your diet without the inconvenient extra step of cutting them into smaller pieces for a denture.
• Many people don’t realize this, but a single missing tooth can actually increase your risk for future tooth loss dramatically. By replacing teeth with dental implants, you stimulate your jaw’s bone tissue and ensure nearby teeth have the foundation they need to last.

Long-Term Benefits

• A successfully placed dental implant will encourage the jaw to maintain its bone density, thus allowing it to retain its shape and stay strong even after tooth loss. This becomes even more noticeable when you’ve been missing teeth for a long time or have several teeth to replace.
• The implant procedure is extremely reliable and has a success rate of about 98 percent; in fact, implants are known to last 30 years or longer. During that time, you’ll enjoy a smile that looks and feels like your teeth never went missing in the first place.
• When you want to maintain an appearance that actually matches your age, dental implants are the best tooth replacement solution. This is because they work to prevent sagging and hollowing out of the cheeks, a common side effect of long-term tooth loss.

Who is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

Dental implants can be used to replace any number of teeth. During your dental implant consultation with Dr. Paylor, he will evaluate your oral and facial structures using advanced dental technology and a visual examination. Once we determine how many posts will be needed, our team will decide if you require more extensive, preliminary treatment to better equip you for future dental implants.

Your jaw and gums need to be healthy before the procedure moves forward, so we may need to schedule a bone graft, gum disease therapy, or another type of treatment to ensure a successful outcome and long-lasting result. The implant procedure itself will vary depending on your unique needs.

Missing One Tooth

For more than 120 million Americans, having one missing tooth can be a challenge. Speaking, eating, and smiling may no longer be normal, easy tasks but instead, create problems for your daily life. Fortunately, with the help of dental implants in Arvada, you can recapture a full, complete, and functional smile. Instead of removing enamel from still-healthy teeth to place a dental bridge, we can insert a single dental implant into the gap. We will wait for the post to fully join with the bone before we attach a metal abutment and customized porcelain crown.

Missing Multiple Teeth

If you happen to be missing several teeth in a row, it’s possible to replace them with an implant bridge. Using implants instead of your natural teeth for support allows us to preserve more of your natural smile. Normally, only two implants are needed to hold a bridge in place, and the actual restoration will look and feel just like regular teeth. Not only will it blend in with the rest of your smile but also make it much easier for you to clean. And if your missing teeth are not consecutive, we can create an implant partial that works just like the traditional kind only it attaches to dental implants.

Missing All Teeth

Dental implants can even be used in situations where all of the teeth are missing. Full dentures can be fixed in place with about four to six implants. This type of prosthetic gives a patient the ability to bite and chew a wider variety of foods compared to a removable denture, and it eliminates the potential issue of the new teeth slipping out of place. Implant dentures ensure a more stable, permanent, and longer-lasting smile, and it doesn’t require frequent adjustments and replacements like traditional dentures.

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Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery

Your dental implant consultation will include a thorough examination that determines if you require preliminary treatment. Bone grafting, sinus lifts, periodontal therapy, and tooth extractions may be necessary and will be added to the total cost of your dental implant placement.

Also, your oral surgery will have its own fee. Fortunately, because the procedure is performed in-house, you will not need to worry about paying an outside specialist for treatment, which can help minimize confusion when it comes to paying your bill.

The Parts of Your Dental Implant

Another component of your dental implant placement cost is the various parts of your permanent prosthetics. There are several factors that you might not have considered before now but are necessary to better understand the reason for the cost associated with dental implants.

• How many implants you will need – It is much less expensive to replace a single tooth versus an entire arch. Only one dental implant as opposed to between four and eight for an implant denture is more affordable.
• The materials used – Dental implants are commonly made of either titanium or zirconia. Both are known for their abilities to fuse with bone, but they each incur their own price.
• The type of restoration – Much like the number of dental implants you need, the type of restoration you receive can cause your expenses to be higher or lower. A single dental crown will not cost as much as a full implant denture.
• The brand – The brands, sizes, and shapes of dental implants in Arvada vary. You might need a short or long implant, or you might require a specific brand. When meeting with your implant dentist, we will discuss the brand used in our office so you can understand why a higher quality implant is better than the cheaper options available on the market.

How Dental Implants Can Save You Money

While it is true that dentures and dental bridges are less expensive upfront, you will find that over time, they result in more of your hard-earned money being spent. Dental implants, on the other hand, cost more in the beginning but do not require the same amount of money spent over a lifetime. Instead of buying denture adhesives and special cleaning supplies, you can enjoy a prosthetic that remains in place because of its placement in your jawbone. You can also use many of the same oral hygiene instruments at home to keep your implants clean.

You also will not be required to visit your implant dentist in Arvada for regular adjustments and replacements like you would if you had dentures or dental bridges. Instead of receiving a new prosthetic every 5-10 years, you’ll be able to keep your dental implants in place for 30 years or more.

Finally, if you are continuing to take proper care of your dental implants, you’ll avoid many of the most common systemic issues that can negatively impact your overall health (i.e., osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, etc.). By choosing dental implants, you’ll spend less on treatment for systemic issues that commonly develop as a result of tooth loss.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

It is possible that your dental insurance company will agree to cover a portion of your dental implant procedure; however, this is not the case for all. Many plans do not offer any available coverage, which is why you may want to try filing under your medical insurance. It is also possible to file a claim with your dental insurance provider for preliminary treatments and/or your customized restoration. If you’re unsure how to do this or need help getting appropriate answers to these questions, our team will be happy to assist in helping you maximize your available benefits.

Making Dental Implants Affordable

Because we know how costly dental implants can be, our team at West Arvada Family Dental is pleased to provide:

• In-Office Membership Plan : With this plan, you pay an enrollment fee and monthly fee. In return, you receive $50 toward future services with each preventive visit as well as a 25% discount on most other services.
• Flexible Financing: With CareCredit, eligible enrollees can sign up for a low or zero interest payment plan to help finance their new smile. With manageable monthly installments, you can break up the cost of your care and stay within your budget.

Digital X-Rays

In the past, dentists had to rely on traditional film X-Rays, a fact that elicited concerns about radiation. Plus, it could take some time to develop and examine the images that the machine produced. Today, things are different.

Our office has a digital X-Ray machine. It uses approximately 90% less radiation than its old-fashioned counterpart. Plus, the images are available in our computer system right away. This streamlines diagnostic processes and makes your care as efficient as possible.

We often use digital X-Rays during the dental implant process. They can help us determine who is a candidate for implants, how healthy your existing teeth are, and more. They are an invaluable asset for an implant dentist in Arvada!

CBCT Scanner

We appreciate our digital X-Ray machine very much, but it does not always provide the high level of detail that we need in order to properly diagnose patients and plan for procedures. That is why we also have a CBCT scanner.

CBCT is an acronym that stands for “cone beam computed tomography.” That might sound a little complicated, but the concept behind a CBCT machine (also known as a cone beam scanner) is actually pretty easy to understand. It is essentially a super-powered X-Ray. It uses a cone-shaped beam of radiation to produce extremely detailed, three-dimensional images of the tissues that it scans.

We often use the CBCT scanner when planning for dental implant surgery. Not only does it provide a view of a patient’s teeth and jawbone, but it also shows nerves and connective tissues. This information allows Dr. Paylor to anticipate any unique aspects of your oral anatomy that might affect how he performs your implant surgery.

The CBCT machine can also play a big role in dental implant follow-up care. For example, it can help us to monitor osseointegration (the process of the implants bonding with the surrounding bone). It may also be used to diagnose potential problems with dental implants in Arvada.

The scanning process with a CBCT machine is fast, painless, and noninvasive. All you have to do is stay still while it captures images of your oral structures. Although it uses more radiation than a digital X-Ray, it emits less radiation than typical CT machines that are often used in hospitals.

Would you like to learn more about the advanced technology we use to facilitate our patients’ dental implant care? Contact us today to ask questions or schedule an appointment.

What to Do Directly After Dental Implant Surgery

After getting dental implant surgery in Arvada, your biggest priority is leaving the forming blood clot untouched so your gums can heal properly around the implant. To do this, make sure to avoid:

• Spitting (use tissues or swallow your saliva)
• Drinking with a straw
• Smoking
• Touching the surgical site with your fingers or tongue

Common Side-Effects When Recovering from Dental Implant Placement

If you’ve never had oral surgery before, you may be unsure which symptoms are normal and which ones you should be concerned about. Although discomfort is normal while you’re healing, it should gradually fade away over time. If that is ever not the case, don’t hesitate to contact our office for guidance. 

That said, here’s what you can expect in the days following your procedure:

• Intermittent Bleeding – This can be remedied by placing a small amount of pressure on the gauze that’s located on the surgical site.
• Swelling – While this may last over a week, you can get it to go down more quickly by placing a cold compress on the cheek or jaw.
• General Discomfort – You can alleviate your discomfort by taking prescribed or over-the-counter pain medication as needed.

Your Diet After Dental Implant Surgery

It’s a good idea to stick to a soft-food diet for the first few days after dental implant surgery. Therefore, it’s recommended that you stock up on foods like:

• Mashed potatoes
• Yogurt
• Ice cream
• Soup (make sure it’s not too hot)
• Pudding
• Scrambled eggs
• Pasta

You can return to your usual diet as soon as you feel up for it! However, make sure you avoid chewing directly on the implant surgery site.

Post-Op Health & Oral Hygiene

Following dental implant surgery, it’s incredibly important that you keep your mouth as clean as possible to ensure the titanium posts successfully integrate with your jawbone. Although it’s okay to brush your teeth the day after your procedure, you’ll need to be very careful around the surgical site. Make sure you rinse your mouth with warm salt water two to three times each day, ideally after eating. Avoid using mouthwashes that contain high levels of alcohol like Scope or Listerine.

What to Do After Your New Teeth Are Attached

Once you’re all healed up, you’re ready for the final step of the dental implant process – the attachment of your prosthetic! You may experience minor sensitivity in the gum tissue, but it should be completely manageable with pain medication. You’ll be ready to flash your stunning new smile that same day!

Make Oral Hygiene a Top Priority

Just like natural teeth, dental implants need to be taken care of every day to prevent plaque buildup. While the restoration that attaches to the implant is inorganic, meaning it cannot develop decay like natural teeth can, the gum tissue surrounding the implant can easily become inflamed and infected. In series cases, gum infection can cause the dental implant to fail. That’s why brushing twice a day with fluoridated toothpaste and flossing daily are just as essential after your receive your dental implant.

Eat a Healthy and Balanced Diet

The foods you eat on a regular basis can also have an effect on your oral health and tooth replacements. If you eat a large amount of sugar and starch throughout the day every day, it makes it much easier for oral bacteria to produce plaque acids that harm your oral health. Be sure your diet consists of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, which are conducive to long-term oral health and naturally scrub the surfaces of teeth throughout the day.

Break Bad Habits Early

Certain bad habits can harm dental implants just as much as natural teeth, so you’ll want to break them as soon as possible to protect the longevity of your tooth replacement. Just a few of these habits to break include:

• Chewing on ice cubes, pens, and pencils
• Biting your fingernails
• Using your teeth as tools (such as to open beverages or packages)
• Chewing on very hard foods like popcorn kernels or hand candies
• Brushing or flossing with too much force

Protect Your Dental Implants Like Your Natural Teeth

If you happen to be very active, you understand how important it can be to use the right protective gear during certain activities. For example, playing football, basketball, baseball, or hockey without a sportsguard can put you at much higher risk of chipping or otherwise damaging a tooth. Furthermore, if you have a teeth grinding habit, wearing a nightguard while you sleep is vital to prevent cracks or outright fractures to teeth throughout the night. Both sportsguards and nightguards can be customized to fit your mouth exactly from our practice.

Schedule Dental Checkups Every Six Months

Dental implants are quite durable but they still require routine checkups from a dentist every six months. These visits allow Dr. Paylor to confirm no underlying issues are present with your tooth replacement. It also gives you an opportunity to have your mouth cleaned of any dense plaque and tartar deposits that can harm your dental implant.