A decayed tooth can ruin an otherwise lovely smile, and once a tooth becomes discoloured, we can’t save it. There is always the option to go for veneers; however, if the tooth in question cannot support a veneer or is completely missing, your best option for replacement is going to be implants.  With a dental implant, we can support a whole new false tooth that will exactly match your other teeth in size, shape, colour and even transparency, allowing you to grin with confidence in a single appointment with us at CDIC.

What to do if my tooth can’t be saved?

Sometimes, in the case of a severe break or advanced infection, we may not be able to save your tooth with something like a crown or root canal and in this case, we will have to perform a tooth extraction. In order to do this, we will numb the side of the face where the tooth needs to come out and begin the extraction process. Teeth in these cases usually come out quite easily and in pieces and when we get all the bits out we will flush the space that is left behind to ensure that it is clean.

Placing the implant

If the hole that is left behind directly after extraction is not too large and if you have enough bone, then we can screw the dental implant directly into the hole immediately after extraction, this is an incredibly convenient way to do things. However, if the hole is too big or if you have had significant bone loss due to infection and decay, then we will place a bone graft with a synthetic substance into the hole and close it up and wait 3 months for it to grow enough bone for us to place the implants.  See types.

When either of these procedures takes place, even after the immediate placement of the implant, you will receive a temporary crown to replace your missing tooth so that you don’t have to walk around with a gap in your smile. The reason for this is that the bone needs time to fuse with the titanium implant and secure it before a permanent false tooth can be attached. This waiting period after implant placement can be 3-6 months.

Setting your new tooth

Once the dental implants have fused with the bone and your personal healing period is complete then we may fit the tooth to the implant, this is done by means of an abutment and your false tooth is prepared before the time. The tooth is created to match your other teeth perfectly, so if you want to whiten your teeth, you need to do so before we order your custom false tooth.