Did you know that plenty of celebrities get aesthetically-pleasing replacements for their teeth on the regular? It’s no wonder so many of them have jaw-droppingly perfect smiles. Dental implants are for more than just replacing a lost or damaged tooth—they can be tooth implants that look just like the real deal when you’re trying to fix an unsightly snaggle tooth. Welcome to the wide world of cosmetic dentistry. A beautiful smile is so much more than just appearance, and it has innumerable benefits.
The Benefits of Cosmetic Implants
Realistic-looking dental implants offer a number of benefits for patients who are seeking a more symmetrical, curated smile. Cosmetic replacement teeth have a natural appearance—there’s virtually no distinguishing them from the real thing, and the texture and feel is uncannily similar to an actual tooth.
The most obvious benefit is a major boost in confidence. If you’ve struggled in the past to accept your smile as it is, whether it’s due to a couple crooked teeth that didn’t warrant braces, major staining and discoloration, or other reasons, pearly white dental implants restore your self-confidence in full. Missing or damaged teeth can make for patients who have difficulty smiling or laughing in social situations—not because they can’t, but rather because they’re highly self-conscious about their teeth. Well-constructed dental implants that mimic the look and feel of real teethcan help.
The other major upside of cosmetic dental implants is that they last for a long time. Like an upwards of 30 years long time. With proper care of their implants, we’ve even seen patients whose faux teeth replacements last them a lifetime.
Getting High-Quality Dental Implants Installed
Obtaining dental implants that transform your smile isn’t hard by any means. Like most other oral procedures performed by dental surgeons, it all starts with a consultation. Your local oral surgeon will sit down with you as you tell them what you’re hoping to gain for your smile. They’ll outline a plan and walk you through what the steps will be and what to expect for your oral surgery that’ll give you cosmetic tooth replacements.
When the big day comes around and you get to sit down in the chair while your experienced dental surgeon installs your new chompers, you can expect a few things:
- Anesthesia – an anesthetic used in oral surgeries will be administered prior to the procedure.
- Incision – an incision will be made on the gum tissue around where the implant is set to go.
- Jawbone prep – your surgeon prepares the jawbone to receive the implant. All this involves is a small pilot hole drilled into the bone to allow it to receive the implant.
- Implant placement – the implant—or rather the titanium screw post—is inserted into the pilot hole that was drilled into the jawbone.
- Stitches – the incision is sewn back together with the aid of stitches.
It’s actually pretty simple. The whole procedure of getting new, long-lasting tooth implants doesn’t take long at all—only around 30 minutes to an hour in most cases. For the amount of difference an implant can make, that’s barely any time at all. After the procedure, your dental surgeon will give you a detailed aftercare sheet that outlines what you’ll need to watch out for while the surgical wound heals. Every aftercare sheet will look a bit different, but in general, you can expect to do the following:
- Avoid strenuous activity
- Rinse your mouth with a saltwater solution twice a day
- Eat soft foods for a period of time following the operation
- Take any medication your surgeon has prescribed
Following the instructions as closely as possible will greatly reduce the chance of infection or complications post-operation.
Make sure those new titanium tooth replacements last for a while too. With proper oral care and routine checkups with your dentist, that implant can last ages. This means regularly brushing and flossing twice a day and receiving cleanings at least twice a year from your dentist. Avoid biting down onto hard food with your implant—this puts extra stress on it and can lead to degradation in its quality over time.
Same-Day Cosmetic Tooth Replacements Fast Track Your Smile
So, sure. The process of getting high-quality, stunning tooth replacements takes a fair bit of time when you consider all the steps. But what if we told you that it’s possible to get pearly white dental implants installed in a single day? It saves a tremendous amount of time, not to mention back and forth trips to the oral surgery practice.
Patients have to first qualify to be eligible for dental implants installed in one day. Generally, it comes down to your jawbone’s health. Patients who present with jawbones in top shape will likely get a ticket to the fast lane. Those presenting with jawbone degradation due to already missing teeth will have to wait the usual timeframe. Surgeons will also check to make sure there aren’t any autoimmune disorders present that would delay the healing process.
Do Insurance Companies Cover Aesthetically-Pleasing Tooth Alternatives?
Sadly, most insurance companies consider dental implants to be a cosmetic dentistry procedure. This may be surprising. After all, dental implants aren’t like teeth whitening. They are a piece of dental work that performs an essential function in your mouth. And they’re the best way to restore teeth and gums lost to tooth decay or gum disease.
But most insurance companies consider dental implants to be an elective procedure, because technically there are other cheaper options for tooth replacement — dental bridges, dentures, flippers. Insurance companies run a numbers game. Most don’t want to pay for expensive dental implants when they could shell out way less money for a less comprehensive, less permanent type of tooth replacement.
It’s always worth checking with your insurance company to see if they cover dental implants. Some do, at least partially. It all depends on how good your insurance is. Unfortunately, patient well-being isn’t the first and most important variable to most insurance companies. But it is to us at Wilmington Oral Surgery! We’ll discuss below how we help our patients work around the limitations of their insurance policies in order to get them the best oral surgery care possible.
Tooth Implants Are More Than Alternatives to Real Teeth That Are Aesthetically and Functionally Similar
Dental implants are functional, no matter what your insurance company says. Dental implants are different than other forms of tooth replacement because they replace the missing tooth root – the part that anchors the tooth into the jaw. And this is extremely important, because after dental implant surgery, the patient’s jaw actually heals around the implant. Dental implant surgery offers a form of holistic tooth replacement that other methods like dentures and bridges simply cannot. When you use a form of tooth replacement that doesn’t replace the tooth’s root, you will have some degeneration of bone in your jaw and your other teeth will shift. This is just a reality. So the fact that dental implants truly replace the tooth makes them ideal for comprehensive mouth reconstruction.
But dental implants also have a number of cosmetic benefits:
- They make your smile more attractive because they are perfect teeth.
- They look natural.
- Dental implants are made of porcelain, so they mimic the shape, size, and color of a natural tooth.
- Porcelain dental implants are durable, long-lasting, and stain-resistant.
- Dental implants also feel natural. You won’t be able to tell the difference from your original teeth — and neither will other people. They look more natural than other options for teeth replacement like dentures.
If you want a replacement for missing teeth you don’t have to think about, dental implants are your ticket. You don’t have to remove them at night. They never fall out during meals. You simply brush them as you would your natural teeth. They’ll likely last as long as you will. Yes, they are expensive, especially if you require a dental bone graft to accommodate them, but they are well worth it. Because insurance companies don’t see dental implants as much more than cosmetic and consider them elective, the out-of-pocket expense can be daunting. But we make dental implants affordable, because everyone deserves the best tooth replacement options available.
Wilmington Oral Surgery Saves You Money
It’s no secret that we absolutely love to save our patients money and help them obtain beautiful teeth implants that look and feel exactly like the real thing while also not breaking the bank.
We take an innovative approach with our sedation methods that can save our patients some major money. While plenty of other practices charge for the maximum time allowed by the insurance company—typically 60 minutes total, billed in four, separate 15-minute increments—we keep things fair and simple. We’ll only bill you for the exact amount of time the anesthesia is needed while your oral surgeon is busy giving you permanent replacement teeth to restore damaged smiles. It really can—and should—be that simple.
Rather than rely on the standard fee schedule book, Dr. Puckett likes to base his prices around a fair and reasonable understanding of what the procedure is like and what kinds of materials are used. In fact, combined with saving money on anesthesia, we save our patients anywhere between $300-$800 per tooth. When you’re focused on fixing your smile with beautiful and dependable tooth replacement options, the last thing you want to do is get hung up on the cost. We’re not afraid to advocate on your behalf against insurance companies, and we’ll do everything possible to save you money.
Remember—dental implants aren’t always for those who have missing or damaged teeth. If you’re looking to enhance your existing smile, they can be wonderful alternatives to the real thing, and they’ll last decades with proper care.
