Despite often considerable dental implant cost, generally speaking, if you have a missing tooth or teeth, you are a candidate for dental implants. However, it is important that you are in good health, however, as there are some conditions that can affect your eligibility for dental implant. For example, diabetes, cancer, radiation treatment, smoking, alcoholism, or gum disease may affect whether dental implants will fuse to your bone. It is important to discuss with your dentist not only dental implant cost but your complete medical history and all medications and you are taking, whether prescribed or over-the-counter.
Where and how implants are placed requires a detailed assessment of your overall and dental health by your dentist. The dental implant cost includes compiling records, study models of your mouth and bite, and specialized x-rays. Use of computer imaging may also be part of the dental implant cost and it ensures that dental implants can be placed in exactly the right position in the bone.
Although improving your smile’s appearance is important, the primary justification for the high cost of dental implants is that bones need stimulation to maintain their form and density. In the case of alveolar bone that surrounds and supports teeth, the necessary stimulation comes from teeth themselves. When teeth are missing, the lack of stimulation causes loss of bone. There is a 25% decrease in width of alveolar bone during the first year after tooth loss and an overall decrease in height over the next few years. The greater the teeth loss, the more function and stimulation is lost. This leads to some particularly serious aesthetic and functional problems, particularly in people who have lost all of their teeth. And it doesn’t stop there. After alveolar bone is lost, the basal bone beneath it — the jawbone proper — also begins to melt away.
Grafting bone into the extraction sockets at the time of tooth loss or removal can help preserve bone volume needed for future implant placement. Surgical techniques are also available to regenerate some of the bone that has been lost to provide the necessary bone substance for anchoring implants. In fact, a primary reason to consider the treatment despite the high cost of dental implants to to replace missing teeth is the maintenance of jawbone.Bone needs stimulation to stay healthy. Because dental implants fuse to the bone, they stabilize it and prevent further bone loss. Jawbone resorption is a normal and inevitable process in which bone is lost when it is no longer supporting or connected to teeth. But dental implants can stop this process and preserve the bone.
You do not have to be an established River Dentistry patient to get evaluated for dental implants and get a quote for dental implant cost. Our convenient Downtown Los Angeles dental office is open till 7:00 PM Monday through Friday and till 4:00 PM on Saturdays. In addition to everyday low prices, we frequently offer best in Los Angeles dental specials and discounts. Call us at 213-486-0006 or use our online appointment system to schedule your consultation today!
