Dental Implants

Dental implants make it easy to restore your smile if you’ve lost one (or several) teeth to extractions, trauma, or aging. At Smile Structure Dentistry and Braces, with five offices in San Antonio and Helotes, Texas, the team of general and family dentists specializes in placing and restoring dental implants. Call the nearest Smile Structure Dentistry and Braces office to schedule a dental implant consultation, or request one online today.

How do dental implants work?

Dental implants are small screws made of titanium. They replace your natural tooth roots and support custom dental restorations, like crowns, bridges, or implant-retained dentures. 

Your Smile Structure Dentistry and Braces provider inserts the implants into your empty tooth sockets. The metal screws fuse with your jaw or alveolar (the bone that anchors your upper teeth) after placement, providing a sturdy foundation for the restorations. 

Dental implants look and function like your teeth. With proper care and routine checkups, they often last a lifetime.

What are the advantages of dental implants?

Dental implants offer various advantages, including:

• Clearer speech
• Easier biting and chewing
• Greater confidence
• More convenience 
• Durability

Dental implants improve your oral health. Replacing missing teeth reduces your risk of more serious complications, like gum recession and bone loss. 

What does getting dental implants involve?

Getting traditional dental implants at Smile Structure Dentistry and Braces takes several appointments spaced over a few months. Alternatively, All-on-4® dental implants replace an entire row of teeth during a single appointment. All-on-4 implants are immediate load, so you can bite and chew with them immediately, with no downtime necessary.

If the team determines that you’re a good candidate for traditional dental implants, they take intraoral scans and digital X-rays of your mouth. These images provide key insights about where to place the implants and how to restore them.

Your dentist numbs your mouth with an anesthetic and inserts the dental implants into your empty tooth sockets. The number of implants you get depends on how many teeth are missing and the type of restoration you want.

After placing the implants, your dentist provides recovery instructions.

Several months later, when the implant(s) finishes integrating with your bone, you return to Smile Structure Dentistry and Braces. Your dentist takes digital impressions and sends them to a dental lab that creates a custom restoration. 

When the lab finishes your implant restoration, you visit Smile Structure Dentistry and Braces for a third time. Your dentist then attaches the restoration to the implant. 

How do I keep my dental implants in top condition?

You take care of your dental implants like they’re your natural teeth. Brush twice daily, floss regularly, and visit Smile Structure Dentistry and Braces every six months for preventive dental cleanings and oral exams. 

To reduce the risk of damage, wear a mouthguard when playing sports and avoid bad habits like nail-biting and chewing on ice. 

Call the nearest Smile Structure Dentistry and Braces office to schedule a dental implant consultation, or request your visit online today. 

*Results may vary.