Dental Implants in Lawrenceville, GA

Start-to-Finish Convenience

With well over three decades of experience and advanced training from prestigious organizations like the Pankey Institute and the Kois Center, Dr. Carter and Dr. Zafrani are uniquely qualified to handle even complex dental implant procedures in the comfort of his own practice. He will personally carry out each stage of the treatment process, from the initial extraction of damaged teeth to the surgical placement of the implant(s) to the design and placement of a brand-new restoration – and every step in between! This comprehensive approach saves our patients valuable time and money.

The Steps of Dental Implant Treatment

During your initial appointment with Dr. Carter or Dr. Zafrani, he’ll evaluate your jawbone density and the health of your gums. We want to check if your dental implant will successfully bond with your jaw tissue before we take further action. When it’s decided that you qualify for dental implants, we will plan your treatment.

First, Dr. Carter or Dr. Zafrani will surgically place your dental implant within the jawbone and gum tissue. This will be followed by a period of recovery during which your new implant will fuse with your soft tissue and bone.

Once we’ve determined that your dental implant surgery was a success, our team will attach an all-porcelain crown to your dental implant. Dental implants can also be used to retain bridges or fixed hybrid dentures – our restorative recommendation will depend on your personal needs and preferences. Each of these smile solutions can be made to look like a patient’s actual set of teeth and are created to be essentially permanent. Speak with Dr. Carter or Dr. Zafrani to learn more about the many uses of dental implants and the benefits of bridges and fixed hybrid dentures.

Day-to-Day Benefits

• Boosted confidence – When you have a full set of pearly whites, you’ll feel more comfortable showing them off to the people around you. Your newfound confidence could lead to better romantic prospects and even help you land your dream job!
• Stable teeth – With dental implants, you’ll never need to worry about your teeth shifting around or falling out. Thanks to their firm foundation in your jawbone, your prosthetics will stay in place at all times, allowing you to eat what you want and speak with complete clarity.
• Easy cleaning – Keeping your implants clean doesn’t require any special products. In fact, maintaining your new smile is virtually the same as caring for your old one. Just brush and floss every day, and see Dr. Carter or Dr. Zafrani for a checkup twice a year.

Health Benefits

• Expanded diet – Empty spaces in your smile, or a loose-fitting denture, make it hard to chew crunchy fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious foods. Therefore, your overall health suffers. Dental implants make it a cinch to get all of the vitamins and nutrients you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
• Lower risk of gum disease – Because dental implants are easier to clean than bridges or dentures, they naturally reduce your risk of oral infections like gum disease. By avoiding gum disease, you also decrease your chances of developing the health complications associated with it, such as heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and type 2 diabetes.
• Healthier jawbone – After a tooth is lost, its roots are no longer there to stimulate the jawbone through biting and chewing. As a result, the jawbone gradually begins to deteriorate. Eventually, it may become unable to support the teeth you have left, so they may fall out as well. Dental implants are the only method of tooth replacement that fulfills this function of natural teeth, keeping your jawbone healthy and strong.

Long-Term Benefits

• Younger appearance – Jawbone loss also has aesthetic consequences; over time, it causes the tissues in your face to droop and wrinkle, making you look older than you actually are. Since dental implants prevent this from occurring, they let you enjoy a youthful glow long after your natural teeth are gone.
• Results that last – While a regular denture or bridge will rarely last for more than 10-15 years, a dental implant is capable of lasting for 30 years or longer. If you take proper care of it, it may even last for the rest of your life!
• High success rate – Dental implant placement is a successful procedure in at least 95-98% of cases. Even after over a decade has passed, more than 90% of dental implant patients are still enjoying their replacement teeth to the fullest.

Missing One Tooth

If only one tooth has been lost, Dr. Carter or Dr. Zafrani can pair an individual dental implant with a porcelain dental crown. This new restoration will fit right in alongside surrounding natural teeth, and its addition won’t threaten the health of the existing dental structure either.

Missing Multiple Teeth

While implants-supported crowns can also be anchored in multiple places throughout the mouth, a custom bridge may be the more optimal solution if the lost teeth used to appear consecutively. This sturdy prosthetic is anchored in place with just two dental implants – one on either side of the gap.

Missing All Teeth

An implant denture can provide reliable, cost-effective coverage to patients who are struggling with drastically reduced smiles. Instead of partnering each new “tooth” with its own dental implant, we can instead strategically position a small number of implants to support a full, custom prosthetic. This style of denture can either remain removable or be permanently fixed in place.

Learn More About Implant Dentures

Types of Dental Implants

Dental implant posts and their surgical placement will make up the majority of the costs of dental implants-supported tooth replacement. Each dental implant post is customized to fit your unique needs. Dental implant posts are most often crated from zirconia or titanium. These two materials have been proven effective in seamlessly fusing with your supportive bone and gum tissue to provide support to anchor your replacement tooth or teeth. While the custom crafting and use of high-quality materials improve the chances for successful implantation, this quality does come at an added cost. However, until less precious materials have been tested and proven, these custom titanium and zirconia implants will remain the best option. In addition to the cost of the dental implant posts themselves, the complex surgical placement procedures can also be costly.

What Are the Stages of Dental Implant Treatment?

Before we get started designing, crafting, and placing your dental implant posts and replacement teeth, we will likely need to perform one or more preparatory procedure like a tooth extraction or tissue graft. After your smile is prepared, we surgically place the implant posts. Over the course of several months, the implants fuse with the gum and bone tissue. Once this process is complete, we’ll attach the abutments. These are the connective pieces that affix replacement teeth to dental implant posts. When the abutments are in place, we’ll capture bite impressions that are used by our lab to craft your dental crown, fixed bridge, or denture. When we receive your final restoration from the lab, you’ll return to the dental office, so we can affix your replacement teeth to the dental implants, leaving you with a flawless new smile.

Are Dental Implants Worth the Investment?

The time and monetary investment of dental implant tooth replacement can seem a little daunting, but most patients agree that the benefits far outweigh the initial investment. Some of the many advantages of dental implant supported tooth replacement include:

• Semi-permanent – these restorations will last for several decades, and many people keep their repaired smile for a lifetime.
• Natural function – the dental implants stabilize any number of replacement teeth, so they function just your own healthy smile.
• Confidence – you’ll look and feel your very best when you speak, chew, and smile with total confidence in any situation.
• Improved health – because the dental implant posts replace tooth roots, the supportive bone and soft tissue is maintained and healthy tooth structure is protected, ensuring optimal oral health.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

The vast majority of dental insurance providers don’t offer coverage for the cost of dental implants or their surgical placement. However, other aspects of your treatment plan, like the preparatory process or replacement teeth, may be covered. Our knowledgeable team members will review your insurance policy and help you make the most of any available benefits.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

While it’s easy to assume that dental implants don’t require the same attention as natural teeth since they can’t get cavities, it’s important to remember that the tissues around them are still susceptible to gum disease – which happens to be a major risk factor for dental implant failure. To protect your dental implants, make sure your mouth stays healthy by brushing thoroughly at least two times a day. Flossing is also essential for cleaning the areas that your toothbrush can’t reach.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Eating too many sugary or starchy foods can lead to problems for your dental implants and the rest of your mouth. Since dental implants give you the freedom to eat virtually anything you want, you should make sure that your diet contains plenty of fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and lean proteins. These types of food can help promote the health of your gums, which is good news for your implant posts.

Break Bad Habits

Dental implants are very sturdy, but much like your natural teeth, they can still be damaged. Try to avoid biting your nails, chewing on pens or pencils, crunching on ice, opening packages with your mouth, or any other habits that could lead to problems with your implant posts. You can replace bad habits with ones that are more beneficial for your smile as a whole; for example, instead of biting your nails, you can chew on sugar-free gum, which helps boost the production of cleansing saliva.

Protect Your Dental Implants

If you end up getting hit in the mouth while playing sports, your dental implants could be badly damaged. As a safety precaution, you should wear an athletic mouthguard whenever you play sports of any kind. You can take similar steps to protect your dental implants from bruxism, which is when you grind your teeth while you’re asleep. A nightguard can go a long way toward helping you avoid bruxism-related damage.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Routine preventive care is of the utmost importance for taking care of your natural teeth, and your dental implants aren’t any different in that regard. Periodic checkups allow your dentist to take a look at your dental implants to see if there are any problems that need to be taken care of. In general, you should plan on visiting the dentist at least two times a year.