Single Tooth Implant in Astoria and Bayside, Queens

A single-tooth implant is an option if you have a knocked-out, removed, or severely damaged tooth that needs extraction. The permanent dental solution offered at Precision Dental in Astoria & Bayside, Queens, functions identically to a natural tooth and can help restore the look and health of your smile while preventing decay and jawbone deterioration going forward. Well-versed in the newest and most advanced dental implant techniques and procedures, oral surgeon Dr. Alexander Bokser offers single-tooth implant treatment at the most competitive price in NY.

What Is a Single Tooth Implant?

A single dental implant is a self-supporting replacement tooth composed of a small post that is surgically inserted into your jawbone and quickly bonds with the bone surrounding it. The implant is strong enough to hold an implant crown once it has been bonded in place. When looking at photographs of people who have a single dental implant, it is difficult to tell which tooth has been replaced since the implant crown is covered by gum tissue, much like a natural tooth.

Why Choose a Single Tooth Implant?

With a single dental implant, there is no need to grind down or change the shape of surrounding teeth. At the same time, the implant helps to distribute the load created when you bite and chew food, and it keeps the surrounding teeth from shifting out of place and becoming unstable.

When you lose a natural tooth, your dentist will extract the whole tooth, including the root, which usually extends deep into your jawbone. A healthy tooth root serves an important role. It keeps the jawbone surrounding it in place by providing stimulation that signals your body to replace old bone cells in the jawbone as they eventually die off due to bone remodeling. When the tooth root is removed, old bone cells are no longer replaced because they die due to a lack of stimulation.

If you choose an implant, the implant body or post will stimulate the bone surrounding it to guarantee bone cells are replaced, protecting and restoring the strength of your jawbone.

What Are the Alternatives to a Single Tooth Implant?

Besides single-tooth implants, there are two main choices to replace a single missing tooth, such as:

• A dental flipper is only really considered a temporary solution because it is unstable, won’t be very comfortable to wear, and won’t provide good biting or chewing strength. It can be a good option while you decide how you’d like to replace your tooth but don’t think of it as a long-term solution.
• A three-tooth bridge is a popular choice, but this option has some drawbacks. The main drawback is the need to crown the adjacent teeth on either side. These teeth must be strong enough to support the bridge, and to fit the crowns, a dentist needs to remove a substantial amount of tooth structure. That’s all very well if these teeth are decayed, stained, or aren’t a nice shape, but if they are healthy and strong and nicely shaped, it’s undesirable to remove this tooth structure. Once crowned, there is always a risk the crowns will begin to leak as they age, and when it comes to replacing the restoration, you will need to budget for a three-tooth bridge rather than just a single implant crown.

Who Can Have a Single Dental Implant?

The truth is that most people can have dental implants successfully. They are best suited for people with reasonable overall and dental health and those who do not have any existing dental issues like gum disease. Your Astoria dentists will assess your mouth to ensure you are suitable for implant surgery and that your jawbone is strong enough to support the dental implant.

What Is the Procedure for a Single Tooth Implant?

Although dental implants are a sophisticated treatment, having a single implant is very straightforward.

There are multiple stages involved with your tooth implant replacement process, including:

• Evaluation. Initially, you will need to see an implant dentist for a full evaluation. During this visit, your implant dentist will examine your existing teeth and your mouth closed and will discuss your medical history with you just in case it could affect treatment.
• Planning. If you decide to go ahead, you will need a cone beam CT scan and dental x-rays that provide 3-D and 2-D images of your teeth, allowing your implant dentist to decide exactly where to place the implant and at what depth and angulation. Your implant dentist can manipulate and rotate the 3-D images of your teeth and jaws and tell how your implant will look and function once it is placed. The process ensures the implant is inserted in the right place to achieve excellent aesthetics and a comfortable bite.
• Placing the dental implant. Once your treatment plan is ready, your implant dentist may choose to create a surgical stent from the computer plan that guides them during surgery and ensures the implant is inserted in just the right place identified in the plan. Usually, a single dental implant can be placed using just local anesthesia because it typically takes an hour or less to place. However, more anxious or nervous patients can always opt to receive dental sedation to ensure they feel comfortable during the process.
• Crowning the implant. When the implant is in place, traditionally, it is covered over and left to heal for several months to bond with the bone around it. Sometimes this is still the best course of action, and patients receive a temporary tooth from wearing it in the meantime. However, nowadays, an implant dentist may choose to restore the tooth immediately, sometimes on the same day of surgery, fitting an implant crown over the implant post.

How Long Does It Take To Recover After a Single Implant?

Rarely will the healing time for a single dental implant be less than four months, and it may potentially go more than six months. If the tooth’s degeneration has reached the jawbone, it will even last longer than that. In such cases, the tooth implant frequently requires more care and, as a result, takes longer to heal.

If you have any questions about single-tooth implants or would like to schedule an appointment with a board-certified periodontist or expert dental implant specialist, please feel free to contact or visit our Queens, NY, dental implants center.