Your Complete Guide to Dental Implants

Without wisdom teeth, the adult mouth should have 28 teeth. In reality, though, a lot of people have fewer. Per the latest data from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, the average American adult between the ages of 20-34 has 27 teeth. Between ages 35-49, that number drops to 25.5. For ages 50-64, the average number of teeth is 23.4.

In other words, tooth loss is somewhat common. If this issue has affected you, we have good news. With a dental implant, Gemini Master-Patel, DMD, can replace your tooth with one that looks, feels, and functions like a natural tooth. Better yet, with proper care, a dental implant can last your lifetime. 

You can visit either of our Riverside Dental offices — Yonkers or Thornwood, New York — to see if this option is right for you. If it is, here’s your guide to the dental implant process, which usually takes 6–12 months. 

Step 1: Getting your jawbone ready

A dental implant lasts so long and functions so well because it gets rooted into your jawbone like a natural tooth. But first, Dr. Master-Patel makes sure your jawbone is ready to support this new tooth.

If you have any gum disease or jawbone decay, she works with you to address that first. Once your jawbone is strong and healthy, the process can move forward. 

Step 2: Placing the post to root your tooth

Dr. Master-Patel numbs your mouth, then surgically implants the titanium post that will root your implant. 

Next, we wait for a process called osseointegration. This fuses the post to your jawbone as the bone heals around it. This step usually takes a few months. Dr. Master-Patel monitors your progress to ensure you’re healing properly and to identify when you’re ready for the next step. 

Step 3: Adding the crown

As your implant heals, we start working to create your replacement tooth — also called a crown — that will get mounted on the post. 

Our Riverside Dental team takes intraoral scans, which we send to a lab to create your crown. This way, it’s shaped and colored to blend seamlessly with your other teeth. 

Once your crown is ready, you come back to our office so Dr. Master-Patel can affix your crown to your titanium post. You’ll be able to talk, eat, and drink normally from this point forward. 

Step 4: Enjoying life with your dental implant

You care for your implant as you do your natural teeth: daily brushing and flossing and regular visits to our office for dental cleanings and checkups. If you properly care for your implant, it can last your lifetime. 

To learn if this natural-feeling and looking, long-lasting kind of replacement tooth is right for you, call our Riverside Dental office nearest you or book your appointment online today.