Dental Implants – Tulsa, OK

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

Your very first step is to schedule an appointment with your holistic dentist, Dr. O’Brien, who will go over your medical health history and determine if you are a candidate for treatment. He’ll also look to see if you require any preliminary procedures such as gum disease treatment, bone grafting, or even tooth extractions to ensure that you’re prepared for the procedure. Afterward, we can move forward with the rest of your plan. We’ll be sure to also discuss the timeframe of your treatment as well as the cost.

Dental Implant Surgery

Once you are cleared for surgery, Dr. O’Brien will pencil you in for a later date. Before beginning your procedure, our team will ensure that you’re completely pain-free with a local anesthetic. After we’ve verified that you’re comfortable and safe, we’ll make a small incision in the gums before inserting the ceramic implant posts into your jawbone. Once finished, Dr. O’Brien will close the gum tissue, place a protective cap over the posts, and send you home to recover.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment

Over the following 3-6 months, osseointegration will occur, allowing the bone tissues and implants to fuse. This will create a firm foundation for your new teeth once they’re put into place, that way they can feel entirely natural and won’t move out of place when eating or talking. After this process is completed, you’ll come back to us to have your abutments placed—small connector pieces that help anchor your restoration(s) to your implants. Then you’ll go home to rest and heal your gums.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)

Once you’re fully healed, you will return to our dental office to receive your fully customized dental crown, bridge, or denture. Dr. O’Brien will double-check that your bite is correct, your restorations match the rest of any remaining teeth, and that you’re satisfied with the results. If all is well, you’ll be free to enjoy all the advantages of your fully rebuilt smile!

Day-to-Day Benefits

Dental implants can have a positive effect on your daily life in a number of ways:

• An expanded diet. Dental implants are strong enough to enable you to eat virtually any food, including those that would be off-limits with traditional dentures, such as raw veggies and sticky items.
• A beautiful, confident smile. Dental implant restorations look incredibly natural. Plus, the ceramic implants offered in our office will never make your gums look gray or dull.
• No embarrassing slippage. Unlike traditional dentures, your implant-supported restoration should never slip or slide out of place.
• Clearer speech. Clear speech depends on complex interactions between the teeth and tongue. A full set of stable teeth can help you to communicate with ease.

Health Benefits

Dental implants may benefit your health in a few ways:

• Jawbone preservation.  When the natural teeth get extracted, the jawbone begins to deteriorate. Dental implants stimulate the bone and help to keep it strong, healthy, and whole.
• Improved nutrition.  Because implants will equip you to eat a wide variety of foods, you should find it easy to get all the nutrients you need to have a healthy body.
• No gum sores.  Because implant restorations do not slip and slide, they can prevent gum sores and similar problems.
• Support the remaining natural teeth.  Dental implants can prevent your remaining natural teeth from drifting out of place. Plus, placing them almost never requires that the natural teeth be modified.
• No galvanic toxicity.  Traditional titanium implants can interact with other metals and cause unpleasant side effects. Our ceramic implants are free from this problem.

Long-Term Benefits

Dental implants can start providing benefits soon after you get them, and those benefits can extend for many years:

• Dental implants have a remarkably high success rate, and they have the potential to last for many decades if they receive proper care. They may even endure for the rest of your life.
• Monetary value.  The long life expectancy of dental implants makes them an excellent monetary value. If you calculate their cost per day over the course of a few decades, they might even be more affordable than a daily trip to your local espresso shop!
• Extend your life.  Some research suggests that tooth loss is associated with early death. Replacing your teeth might allow you to enjoy all that this world has to offer for as long as possible.

Who is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

While a majority of adults who experience tooth loss are considered candidates for dental implants, some factors must be considered before the process can begin. Not only does your oral and overall health need to be evaluated but also your jawbone health. If you lack the essential bone density, we’ll need to recommend a bone graft before you can receive permanent dental implants. If you suffer from diabetes or another systemic condition, you’ll need to make sure that you are properly managing it when choosing to move forward with dental implants.

All of these will be factors in our decision as to how you should go about receiving dental implants.

Missing One Tooth

When only one tooth is missing, we can replace it with a customized implant post, abutment, and dental crown. This will restore oral function, allowing you to eat, speak, and smile with greater ease.

Missing Multiple Teeth

When faced with multiple missing teeth, we can place two dental implant posts before topping them with a customized dental bridge. Instead of altering healthy tooth structures, we can place the implants into the exterior sockets before attaching the bridge in place. If your missing teeth are along an arch but not next to each other, we can also create an implant partial denture.

Missing All Teeth

An entire row of missing teeth can be easily replaced with the help of 4-6 dental implant posts. Positioned within the jawbone, these prosthetics can deliver maximum support for the implant denture when it is put into place. Allowing for an improved bite force, you’ll be able to eat the foods you love without worrying about the embarrassment of having no teeth or possible slippage due to traditional dentures.

Learn More About All-on-4 Dental Implants Learn More About Implant Dentures

Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery

Dental implants rely heavily on a strong, healthy jaw for support. For that reason, patients who suffer from oral health problems are likely to need preliminary treatments (like gum disease therapy or bone grafts) in order to prepare them for the implants. Obviously, these procedures add to the overall cost of treatment.

As for the surgery itself, that should be handled in-house by Dr. O’Brien himself. That means that we’ll be able to give you a precise estimate of what that surgery will cost before doing anything.

Pricing Out The Parts of Your Dental Implant

There are several factors that go into determining the overall cost of your dental implants. Besides the surgery itself, it’s also smart to consider:

• How many dental implants you’re going to need. A single dental implant will cost much less than an all-on-4 denture, for example.
• Which restoration you’re using. Crowns tend to be less expensive than bridges, which are in turn less expensive than dentures. Typically, the smaller the restoration, the more affordable it will be.
• The size of the dental implant, which depends on where it’s placed inside the jawbone.
• The manufacturer of the dental implant.

How Dental Implants Pay for Themselves

Again, it’s true that dental implants have the highest upfront cost of any tooth replacement option. However, it’s also true that dental implants consistently outlast those other tooth replacement options by a factor of two to one.

While you may have to spend more money in the short term, the fact that dental implants can easily last a lifetime. That saves you the cost of replacing them and affords you significant peace of mind that dentures and bridges can’t offer. Thinking about it that way, it’s not unreasonable to say that dental implants really do pay for themselves.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

Dental implants rely heavily on a strong, healthy jaw for support. For that reason, patients who suffer from oral health problems are likely to need preliminary treatments (like gum disease therapy or bone grafts) in order to prepare them for the implants. Obviously, these procedures add to the overall cost of treatment.

As for the surgery itself, that should be handled in-house by Dr. O’Brien himself. That means that we’ll be able to give you a precise estimate of what that surgery will cost before doing anything.

Making Dental Implants Affordable

Dental implants rely heavily on a strong, healthy jaw for support. For that reason, patients who suffer from oral health problems are likely to need preliminary treatments (like gum disease therapy or bone grafts) in order to prepare them for the implants. Obviously, these procedures add to the overall cost of treatment.

As for the surgery itself, that should be handled in-house by Dr. O’Brien himself. That means that we’ll be able to give you a precise estimate of what that surgery will cost before doing anything.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

True enough, implants can’t get cavities; their materials don’t erode like enamel can. Despite that fact, though, you simply must clean the prosthetics daily.

You see, implants depend on your adjacent teeth and gums. Said body parts keep your restorations stable and secure. When they degrade, your new teeth can become loose and eventually fail. (For example, gum disease often triggers gum recession – a condition known to loosen implants.)

Given these facts, you’ll want to stick to proper oral care. In particular, remember to brush twice daily, floss once daily, and rinse with mouthwash often.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Because implants restore bite force, they usually let you eat as you please. However, it’s still a good idea to follow a mouth-healthy diet.

Even after their fusion is over, implants are vulnerable to certain foods. Hard items – hard pretzels, nuts, etc. – can chip the prosthetics. At the same time, sticky and sugary stuff wedges between implants and decays nearby teeth. These traits mean sweet treats can trigger implant failure.

Meanwhile, foods with mouth-healthy nutrients help implants last. Those with calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin C can prevent gum disease and strengthen your jaw.

Break Bad Habits

While they look harmless, bad oral habits can make implants fail or break. That being the case, quit such practices before or soon after treatment.

For instance, just look at the act of smoking. Many tobacco products – especially cigarettes and cigars –  slow recovery from implant surgery. They also tend to cause gum disease, which raises your odds of implant failure.

Another poor habit to stop is chewing hard objects. You can chip your teeth by biting on fingernails, ice, and other such things.

Protect Your Dental Implants

To be clear, implants are simply durable; they aren’t indestructible or immune to damage. Consequently, you should take suitable steps to keep them safe.

The best of these protective measures is to wear an oral appliance. By wearing a sports mouthguard, you’d keep your teeth safe from physical injuries. Meanwhile, a nightguard would prevent the wear and tear of bruxism during the night.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

No matter your level of care, you need help to maintain implants. There are issues you’ll inevitably miss if you work on your own. Therefore, remember to attend six-month dental checkups and cleanings. These visits with a dentist offer great protection.

If you weren’t aware, dental checkups prevent threats to your implants. Their core function is to treat oral health issues before they worsen. As a result, these trips to the dentist will nip potential implant problems in the bud.

What to Do Directly After Dental Implant Surgery

After finishing your dental implant surgery, you’ll have to protect the blood clot that is supposed to form around the surgical site. This means you’ll need to refrain from certain habits to prevent disturbing the area, such as spitting, smoking, touching it with your tongue or fingers, and drinking through a straw. Be sure to also get plenty of rest to optimize your healing period, and elevate your head while you sleep to avoid blood rushing to your head.

Common Side Effects When Recovering from Dental Implant Placement

Some of the most common side effects that patients encounter after dental implant surgery involve:

• Soreness: It’s normal to feel some slight discomfort following your procedure, which can typically be managed with pain relievers.
• Swelling: There may be some inflammation that occurs around the gums for the first 72 hours. Try using a cold compress to minimize swelling.
• Bleeding: Some mild bleeding can likely happen for a few days after your treatment. You can alleviate the situation with a clean gauze or washcloth and light pressure.

Your Diet After Dental Implant Surgery

Since you’ll need to rest frequently and avoid disturbing the surgical site, it’s best to stick to softer foods while you recover. These can include:

• Mashed potatoes
• Soup
• Pasta
• Yogurt
• Applesauce
• Scrambled eggs
• Pudding

Post-Op Health & Oral Hygiene

As long as you stay clear of the surgical site, you’ll be able to carefully brush your teeth the day after your placement surgery. The last thing you want to do is disturb the blood clot that needs to form around your dental implant. That’s why, when rinsing your mouth, use salt water and avoid spitting it out. If you use mouthwash, choose one that isn’t alcoholic, which can aggravate the tissue surrounding the implant.

What to Do After Your New Teeth Are Attached

After getting your new replacement crown, bridge, or denture, our team will double-check that your bite is correct and that you’re satisfied with your complete smile. It’s natural to feel some sensitivity in the area, but you can manage this with OTC pain medication. If you do notice any abnormalities after this appointment, such as inflammation or bleeding, notify us for help.