Dental Implant Professionals in Boulder Colorado

Welcome!  Dental Implants Boulder is pleased to feature valuable information on dental implant surgery to help you find the best restorative dentist in the Boulder and Front Range area.  You might be looking to replace missing teeth, or perhaps you already have a removable partial denture that you would like to replace with a permanent one.  Our site is meant to be a great guide to dental implants and gneral cosmetic dentistry to aid you in your search for information and a qualified maxillofacial surgeon.

Oral Health and Hygiene

Success rates for permanent implants depend greatly on the general state of the patients oral health.  Specifically, your dentist or oral surgeon will make a detailed 3D model of the underlying bone in your jaw to ensure there is sufficient bone to make the procedure a success.

Often you will have the highest level of bone health at the time that you lose your natural tooth.  In many cases a prosthetic tooth can be implanted immediately following the extraction of a tooth whose root has died.  The sooner the implant can be placed the less chance there is of bone degradation.

Are Dental Implants Right for Me?

A permanent implant will generally be more comfortable than a removable partial or full denture.  Removable work needs to be precisely fitted to the shape of the patient's mouth, and will need periodic adjustment due to shifting over time.  Removable appliances, especially when improperly fitted, can cause painful rubbing and sore spots in the mouth.

Implants might be more expensive, but provide longer term comfort and a more natural appearance and feel.

Understanding Dental Implants

A dental implant is a permanent device, usually made of titanium, which is surgically grafted to the bone in your jaw. The jaw bone will actually attach and integrate with the titanium device as it heals, forming a permanent bond.

The titanium implant acts as an artificial tooth root, and provides an anchor point that can be used to attach a variety of prosthetic items such as fixed bridges, single tooth replacements, or even a full denture when multiple implants are used.

Additional Procedures

In cases where the jaw does not have enough bone to accept an implant, or where the bone is not deemed strong enough, you may require a bone graft, also called a bone augmentation procedure.

When performed correctly, an augmentation will produce a living bone tissue very similar to the original jawbone that is perfectly suitable for implantation.

Failure Rates

In general dental implant surgery is considered to be very safe and effective, with a 95% success rate when performed by a qualified and experienced restorative dentist.

Risk of failure can increase in smokers, due to the increased risk of infection caused by the hygiene effects of smoking. Because of this, implants will generally only be placed after a patient has quit smoking.

In the majority of times when the implant fails to permanently integrate with the bone or is rejected by the body's immune system, the cause is unknown.  Generally the body does not view titanium as a "foreign body" and so does not attack the implant.