Strong, Stable Dental Implants For Life
Dental implants will give you a permanent and natural-looking smile and improved oral function for life. Micheal and Amanda provide world-class implant dentistry services that will get back your youthful smile.
Cosmetic Dentist Reviews
"I have been with Mike from Thompson Dental for many years. He is an excellent dentist and a very patient man. I usually come away with a smile on my face!"
Dental Implants For a Healthy Smile
Dental implants are a permanent cosmetic dentistry solution to replacing missing teeth that are most like your natural teeth. The implant technology restores your bite force enabling you to eat and speak easily and naturally. These cosmetic restorations look and feel the most like natural teeth.
Implant Alternatives
Dental dentures and bridges offer a more affordable cosmetic dentistry solution to replacing missing teeth. However, implants are the most like your natural teeth and provide the most stable and durable solution of all restorations.
Psychological Impact of Dental Implants
Getting back your healthy smile where you can feel confident to smile again is known to have positive psychological effects in general. Implants are durable and their stability provides normal oral function, making them a preferable alternative to dentures. A study showed that patients experienced significant improvements with regards to their teeth, mouth, face and overall body image after having implant dentistry.
Benefits of Dental Implants
- Boost your confidence with a stable healthy smile
- Durable enough to last a lifetime
- Eat naturally with ease
- Improve oral function permanently
- Improve oral health with easy brushing and flossing
- Maintain integrity of jawbone and facial bone structure
- Restore bite force
- Speaking naturally without impediment
- Stabilise a denture or bridge
Full mouth dental implant reconstruction can be used in cases where all the teeth need replacing. Alternatively, one or a few implants can be used to help stabilise the function and comfort of a denture or bridge. The titanium posts that are anchored into your jaw enable the necessary stimulation required to prevent bone loss and maintain your facial structure.
Talk to our Dentists
Book a 15 minute cosmetic dental consultation with Micheal or Amanda to get a professional assessment of your dental needs. We are based in Mt Albert Road, Mt Roskill, Auckland.
What are Dental Implants?
A dental implant is a surgical fixture that is placed into the jawbone. These implant posts fuse with the bone over a few months. The implant acts as a replacement for the root of a missing tooth and serves to hold a replacement tooth or bridge. The implant posts are made of titanium, which allows them to integrate with bone without being recognised as a foreign object in our body.
Osseointegration Provides Stability
The process of fusion between the dental implant and jawbone is called “osseointegration.” Having a dental implant fused to the jawbone is the closest thing to mimicking a natural tooth because it stands on its own without affecting the nearby teeth providing great stability.
Dental Implant FAQs
Preparation
Your dentist will first need to remove any damaged teeth.
Implant placement
Dental implant surgery involves an incision in the gums in the location of the missing tooth followed by the placement of a titanium screw into the jawbone.
Healing and osseointegration
Your gums will take a few weeks to heal and the titanium post will take a few months to fuse with the bone, this process is called osseointegration. The process of osseointegration allows dental implants to become a permanent part of your jaw, forming a secure connection to hold the tooth for life.
Placing the abutment
When the dental implant and surrounding bone have sufficiently healed to form a secure connection, the gum will be reopened and a small metal connector called an abutment will be attached to the implant post to hold the artificial tooth. The gum will need around 14 days to health before the dentist can secure the prosthetic teeth. Impressions will be taken at this stage and sent to a specialised dental technician who will design dental prosthetics that are matched to the colour, shape and size of your existing teeth.
Replacement teeth
Implant teeth that provide extremely natural looking replacement teeth will be attached to the abutment. A single tooth will be replaced with a dental crown and larger sections of missing teeth may either be replaced with multiple crowns or a single dental bridge.
Dental implants will not develop cavities, however dental implant care and maintenance is essential to protecting the gums and jawbone that are equally susceptible to gum infections as your natural teeth. Practicing both dental implant home care maintenance and regular visits to the dentist and hygienist will keep your teeth free of destructive bacteria and plaque and preserve the integrity of your smile.
- Brush twice a day with a soft-bristle toothbrush and low-abrasive toothpaste
- Clean under and around the implant crown
- Floss daily with unwaxed tape or implant-specific floss
- Oral irrigators are more effective at preventing gingivitis than flossing
- Use an interdental brush to clean hard-to-reach places
- Visit the dentist every 6 months routine check-ups
- Visit the oral hygienist every 6 months for a deeper cleaning of dental implants