

For over 30 years, dental implants have been considered the gold standard for tooth replacement by dentists and patients alike, and that’s because they do something no other treatment can: bring back the entire tooth.
Instead of just restoring the part you can see, implants involve placing a small titanium post into the jawbone to recreate the root, serving as the foundation for the new tooth. Thanks to this, they have a lifelike appearance, stability, and durability beyond every other prosthetic, enabling patients with any number of missing teeth to enjoy a renewed smile and oral health for a lifetime to come. Could they be exactly what your smile needs? To learn more about how you can close the gaps in your smile for good with dental implants in Friendship Heights, Washington, DC, contact us today.
Because of their two-part construction, dental implants offer a host of benefits you just won’t find with other replacements:
No matter how many teeth a person is missing, they can get dental implants if they meet two basic requirements: they need a healthy mouth and a jawbone strong enough to support the titanium roots. When this has been confirmed with an exam, implants can be topped with the following restorations:
Traditional bridges require the teeth near the missing one to be filed down in order to hold the prosthetic, but with a dental implant, our team can simply position a root within the smile and attach it to a porcelain crown, closing the gap without disturbing a patient’s remaining teeth.
Prosthetics like bridges and partial dentures can be supported by a small number of implants to replace multiple teeth in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible. Compared to traditional removable dental prosthetics, implant-retained bridges and dentures have been shown to fit better and last longer.
If you are missing an entire row of teeth, we can restore it using just four to six implants placed along the jaw. These will provide support for a full denture that simply snaps onto them. Thanks to this base, implant dentures help patients recover much more of their bite strength compared to removable ones, allowing them to enjoy a more varied and healthy diet.
It is very common for the jawbone to shrink and atrophy after the teeth go missing, meaning many patients with longstanding tooth loss lack the bone density to safely get dental implants. With a bone graft, however, our team can use a patient’s own bone, donated bone, or a lab-made grafting material to build up and strengthen the exact area of the jaw that will hold a patient’s implant roots. This procedure enables even more people to rebuild their smile and enjoy it for a lifetime to come.
Every dental implant treatment provided by our team here at Aesthetic & Family Dentistry Specialists is uniquely based on how many teeth a patient is missing, where they are located, and the condition of someone’s jawbone. This means the cost of the procedure is always different, so the best way to get an estimate for your particular implant process is to come see us for an in-person consultation.
While implants do tend to be more expensive than other treatments upfront, their superior aesthetics, strength, and durability often help patients save money over time. Regular bridges & dentures last, on average, about five to seven years, while implants can last for decades or longer. A patient will spend much less time and money on periodic maintenance, more than making up for the difference in the initial cost.