With so many different types of dental implant options available, choosing the best implants for your situation doesn’t have to be as hard as it sounds. By combining various implant designs with different types of implant restorations, you can find a solution to fit all of your missing tooth needs.
Depending on your circumstances, here are your best treatment choices:
Best Implants If You’re Only Missing One Tooth
One of the best characteristics of dental implants is that we can place them between your natural teeth if you have one missing tooth. This approach prevents cutting down the adjacent teeth for a traditional dental bridge. Instead, a single tooth implant is regarded as the better, minimally-invasive option. Most people say having an implant installed is even easier than having a tooth extracted.
For one missing tooth, our DFW implant dentists will place a traditional titanium dental implant and abutment, then fit it with a porcelain dental crown. Once complete, you brush and floss around the implant and neighboring teeth each day as if nothing happened at all.
Best Implants for 3-4 Missing Teeth
If you have a few teeth in a row that are missing, the traditional option would be to get a partial denture. Since you can’t place a traditional bridge (supported by natural teeth) in that wide of space, the better option is to install one dental implant on either side of the open area. The pair of implants can then support a fixed bridge on top of them.
Implant bridges typically work best when there are three or four missing teeth. If you have additional teeth that are missing, implants can be added as necessary. Once again, implant-supported restorations are safer for adjacent teeth. Whereas something like a removable partial uses clasps that can rub and weaken the teeth it anchors onto.
Best Implants for Complete Tooth Replacement
Are all of your teeth missing? If that’s the case, the two most popular implant treatments are All-on-4 and All-on-6. Both of these streamlined restorations use a thin, hybrid denture that’s more like an extended dental bridge. And it’s permanently anchored on top of four or six dental implants, respectively.
Upgrading from a denture to All-on-4 or All-on-6 makes it easier to eat and talk during the day. The thinner design is durable and comfortable, plus it offers all of the same biting strength of natural teeth.
You may be wondering how only 4-6 implants are required, but their strong design and track record make it possible for them to work together to support the weight of an entire arch of teeth.
Best Implants for People Who Don’t Qualify for Implant Treatment
Maybe you’ve been told that you don’t even qualify to get dental implants. Perhaps it’s because of past gum disease, extensive bone loss, or a shallow bone ridge from extended denture wear. That’s when you want to meet with implant specialists, like the ones at ARCHPOINT. We can adjust your care plan to include options and therapies that still allow for dental implant placement. While these scenarios can significantly vary from person to person, yours might include zygomatic dental implants, mini dental implants, or snap-on dentures. Or perhaps we can complete sinus lift and bone augmentation surgery and still move forward with All-on-4 treatment.
Best Implants for Limited Bone Support
When there’s an absence of bone support for traditional dental implants, you have the option of getting zygomatic dental implants instead. These implant designs are perfect for people with extensive bone loss or who don’t qualify for conventional implants.
Zygomatic implants are different from traditional implants in that they’re placed at an angle and are a bit longer. This design allows them to maximize the support of the bone you already have, including the bone adjacent to your bite.
Since zygomatic implant therapy is a specialized form of treatment, only certain experts in the DFW area offer them. ARCHPOINT implant dentists frequently use zygomatic implants in our patients who have limited options when it comes to tooth replacement.
Best Implants for Cosmetic Purposes
Do you have concerns when it comes to using a titanium metal dental implant somewhere in your visible “smile zone”? Although your implant will be covered with a porcelain crown, some people have thin gum tissue or recession issues where cosmetic concerns come into play. When that’s the case, we have the option of using tooth-colored zirconia or ceramic dental implant instead. That way in case anything ever becomes visible between your crown and gum tissue, the implant will blend in with your overall tooth color.
Best Implants for Snap-on Dentures
Maybe you just want dental implants to help hold your denture in place. If you’re tired of using denture adhesive or struggling with a loose, uncomfortable denture, you have a few options to consider. One is having the denture retrofitted to snap onto 2-4 dental implants. Or, we can make a new denture entirely. Snap-on dentures can also be a bar-retained appliance to offer a bit more stability for a more streamlined prosthesis design. Some people also refer to them as overdentures or implant stabilized dentures. Occasionally, you’ll also see people use zygomatic or mini dental implants for their denture needs.
Which are the Best Dental Implants for You?
There are dental implant options for just about everyone. As long as you’re an adult with a stable medical history who has missing teeth, we can help you weigh the pros and cons of different options to make the decision process an easy one. Be sure to read our article about the best dental implants for you to learn more about the designs available in our Dallas and Ft. Worth offices.
See Our Experts in DFW
ARCHPOINT Implant Dentistry boasts some of DFW’s most highly qualified implant specialists. With convenient locations in Dallas and Ft. Worth, we can make your new smile a practical reality. Contact us today to reserve a consultation or to learn more about our flexible payment plan options.
