By Arthur Kezian

The cost of dental implants have become an increasingly common way for people to get perfect smiles. Dental implants are even more popular – since it seems like everyone in Tinseltown wants to look and feel their best.  Whether you’re missing one tooth or all of your teeth, dental implants can get your smile back in shape!

What exactly are the cost of implants?

Dental implants are artificial tooth replacements.  They are made out of titanium and look like little tiny screws.  An Los Angeles implant dentist will use them to create an artificial tooth root, and they’ll hold a replacement tooth in place.

Why are dental implants so important?

If you’re missing teeth, you know how bad it can look.  In fact, you may even be hesitant to smile or speak with confidence.

But it’s not all about looks.

In fact, missing teeth can have serious consequences.  When you are missing a tooth, that particular spot doesn’t chew anything anymore.  Without chewing pressure, the jaw bone in that spot starts to deteriorate.  If left untreated long enough, your jaw bone in that spot can dissolve away entirely!

Once your jaw bone starts to deteriorate, your skin starts to drape over it.  Before you know it, that draped skin is causing wrinkles, and you wind up looking older than you really are!

How does implant dentistry work?

In Los Angeles, dental implants are done in a 3-step process:

1. If you visit a good dentist, the first thing he will do is examine the health of your mouth.  Your dentist will have to take x-rays and CT scans to make sure that your bones and gums are healthy enough to support the implants.

If your mouth isn’t healthy enough, your implant dentist can come up with some preliminary treatment to get your oral health up to par.

2. Once your mouth is deemed healthy enough for the implants, you dentist will install the tiny screws into your gums.  Usually, a local anesthesia is enough to combat any discomfort, but if you are especially sensitive, you can ask your dentist about sedation methods.

3. Once the implants are in your mouth, they need time to anchor to your jaw bone.  In most cases, this takes 3-6 months.  In the meantime, your dentist can install a temporary replacement tooth, so that you have some instant relief.

After the screws have successfully merged with your jaw bone, your dentist will put in a permanent crown that is designed to look and feel just like a natural tooth!

Dr. Arthur A. Kezian DDS 443 N. Larchmont Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90004 (323) 467-2777