Dental Implants — Louetta, TX

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

Dr. Castleberry will begin by reviewing your oral and overall health history to determine if you are eligible for dental implant treatment. After using advanced technology to examine your oral and facial structures, he will go over any necessary preliminary procedures you might need to prepare your smile for greater success when receiving dental implants near Vintage Park. These can include bone grafting, periodontal therapy, or tooth extractions. He will then create a personalized treatment plan that he will discuss with you that details the start-to-finish process as well as how much you can expect to pay for your new smile.

Dental Implant Surgery

As a dental implant expert in Harris County, Dr. Castleberry is pleased to perform the surgical and restorative components of your treatment. Everything is completed in-house, allowing you to feel more confident and comfortable throughout the entire process. Your implant dentist in Louetta will begin by administering local anesthesia to numb the areas before making small incisions in your gums and exposing the jawbone. Carefully, he will place and angle each implant before closing the gum tissue and placing a protective cap over the top of the implant.

Dental Implant Osseointegration/Abutment

Once you are sent home to recover, osseointegration will begin. This is the process of your dental implants in Louetta fusing with the bone and surrounding tissues. This can typically take between four and six months depending on how many implants will need to fuse. It may also be necessary to undergo a separate, minor oral surgery to receive your metal abutments. These are small connective pieces that attach to your implant and customized restoration. While healing at home, your customized restoration will be crafted based on your oral impressions.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restorations

After your restorations are created out of high-quality materials at a state-of-the-art dental lab, you’ll come into our office for the final stage of treatment, which is receiving your customized restoration. Dr. Castleberry will check to see if you’re absolutely happy with your crown, bridge, or denture before permanently attaching them to the abutments. Once placed, he will look over your new smile and show off your results. All that’s left to do is walk out of our office with a beautiful, confident, and strong set of teeth!

If you have any questions or want to schedule your initial consultation, please don’t hesitate to contact our office today!

Day-to-Day Benefits

Here are a few of the many benefits you’ll enjoy on a day-to-day basis if you choose to rebuild your smile with dental implants:

• Enhanced Chewing Power: Tooth loss can limit your diet significantly. With dental implants, you won’t have to stick to soft foods like oatmeal, soup, and yogurt. Instead, you’ll be able to enjoy a well-rounded diet filled with all of your favorites.
• Natural Looking and Feeling: The restoration on top of your dental implant is custom-made to look extremely natural, but that’s not the only reason this tooth-replacement solution is lifelike. It also doesn’t slip or shift, ensuring it feels natural too.
• Easier to Speak: If a denture doesn’t fit properly or a dental bridge is loose, it can make enunciating clearly difficult. Fortunately, dental implants are incredibly secure, so you won’t have to worry about them moving around when you’re trying to talk.

Health Benefits

Another huge perk of dental implants is that they benefit your oral and overall health in the following ways:

• Prevention of Jawbone Deterioration: While other tooth-replacement solutions rest on your teeth or gums, dental implants get their strength from your jawbone. This means that they stimulate it throughout the day, preventing bone loss in the process.
• Preserve Healthy Teeth: As we mentioned above, some tooth-replacement solutions rest on your teeth, which requires the enamel to be altered, even if it’s healthy. Dental implants, on the other hand, are self-supporting, so your healthy teeth will remain perfectly intact.
• Improve Overall Health: Countless studies have found that tooth loss can negatively impact your overall health. The good news is that dental implants can help prevent that from happening by preserving your jawbone, strengthening your bite, and preventing dental drift.

Long-Term Benefits

Finally, here are some long-term benefits that patients with dental implants enjoy:

• High Success Rate: Did you know that dental implants have an impressive 98 percent success rate? At The Castleberry Dental Center, we will go above and beyond to ensure that your procedure results in a healthy, happy, and beautiful smile for decades to come.
• Long Lifespan: Another long-term perk of dental implants is that they can last for 35+ years with routine maintenance. So, do your best to take great care of them and your smile with habits like brushing twice a day and getting a dental checkup and teeth cleaning twice a year.
• Preservation of Youthful Facial Structure: In short, dental implants prevent a sunken-in, aged appearance by stimulating your jawbone and filling the gaps in your smile. In other words, you’ll look younger for longer with this state-of-the-art tooth-replacement solution!

Dr. Castleberry is a local implant specialist and expert who has undergone countless courses to perfect the dental implant process, which is also a benefit in and of itself! When you visit a trusted professional like him, you’ll be able to achieve ideal results.

Missing One Tooth

For a single missing tooth, we can restore it using what is called an implant crown. This consists of an all-porcelain crown connected to the implant using something called an abutment, which is similar to a tiny screw. Once in place, the crown will completely blend into the smile and resemble a natural tooth in every way.

Missing Multiple Teeth

For patients missing a few teeth in a row, an implant crown can also be bonded to additional prosthetic teeth to replace them, forming an implant bridge.

Missing All Teeth

Sick and tired of your unreliable dentures? Dental implants can give you a set of teeth you can finally rely on. With implant dentures, the prosthetic teeth are anchored directly to the jawbone using multiple implants placed within the mouth. Compared to a traditional removable denture, implant dentures have a much more secure hold, the fit lasts for years, and it even helps restore more of a patient’s bite strength, enabling them to enjoy a more varied (and healthier) diet.

All-On-4

With this procedure, we can replace an entire row of missing teeth in just one appointment using only four dental implants. Once the implants are placed, they are immediately attached to a denture. With that, a patient will have a completely new smile! This treatment enables someone to literally wake up one morning with missing teeth and go to bed that night with a full smile. Typically, the only regret people have is that they didn’t come in to see us sooner!

Mini Dental Implants

Many patients with missing teeth have experienced bone loss in the jaw as a result, making them ineligible to get traditional implants (implant posts need a strong jawbone to stay in place). For these patients, mini dental implants now offer a viable alternative. Shorter and thinner than regular ones, they can still be used to secure a denture with a much better fit than a traditional overdenture. They can also be placed in restored in much less time due to their reduced size!

Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery

It’s normal for patients to require one or more preliminary treatments, such as gum disease therapy or a bone graft, before they can receive dental implants in Louetta. Each of these services comes with its own price. The implant placement surgery has a separate cost, which depends on how many implants are being placed and the type of sedation that is used. Since we perform comprehensive implant treatment in-house, we can help you understand all the fees associated with your treatment. You will not have to worry about learning the pricing policies of an outside practice.

The Parts & Type of Your Dental Implant

Modern dentistry offers a wide variety of dental implant treatment options. Some require the use of just one or two implants, while others require four or more implants. There are also various implant manufacturers that create different types of implants. The products and techniques used during your procedure will have a bearing on your financial obligation.

Final Dental Implant Restoration

Implant restorations vary in price. Logically, a single crown to replace just one tooth costs less than a multi-unit bridge. There are also different types of implant dentures, including All-on-4 dentures, overdentures, and more. The size of your restoration, as well as the materials used to make it, will affect price. If more than one type of restoration might work for you, our team will explain the pros, cons, and cost of each option.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

It is becoming more common for dental insurance to cover dental implants. However, many policies still do not cover them. Our team will help you figure out how your benefits apply to your treatment. Even if your insurance will not help you pay for the implants themselves, it might cover other parts of your treatment, such as your final restoration or your preliminary treatment.

Making Dental Implants Affordable

Your implant dentist in Louetta, Dr. Castleberry, wants to help you afford your new smile! That is why, in addition to assisting you with insurance, we will do whatever else we can to make your treatment affordable. For example, we accept several different types of financing, including CareCredit, GreenSky, Lending Club, and more. They all offer reasonable monthly payment plans. Most patients qualify for at least one of our financing options.

If you are ready to learn more about dental implants and how you may be able to afford them, contact our friendly team today.

What to Do Directly After Dental Implant Surgery

The main priority at this time is to leave the blood clot at the surgical site completely untouched. This is necessary for the area to heal properly. Here are some rules to help you keep it in place:

• Don’t spit – use a tissue or swallow your saliva
• Don’t use a straw while drinking
• Don’t smoke after surgery
• Keep your tongue and fingers away from the surgical site

Common Side Effects When Recovering from Dental Implant Placement

Some minor side effects are completely normal as you recover from surgery. Here are some of the most common:

• Bleeding: Minor bleeding is common for a few days after surgery. To reduce bleeding, use gauze and light pressure.
• Swelling: For the first 72 hours after your procedure, inflammation is likely. Use a cold compress to reduce this.
• Discomfort: Soreness is normal after dental implant surgery. It can be managed with over-the-counter and prescribed pain relievers.

Your Diet After Dental Implant Surgery

After your surgery, it is recommended that you stick to a soft-food diet to avoid aggravating the dental implant site. Here are some foods that you can enjoy at this time:

• Scrambled eggs
• Mashed potatoes
• Apple sauce
• Oatmeal
• Ice cream
• Apple sauce
• Pasta
• Soup
• Pudding

Post-Op Health & Oral Hygiene

The day following your surgery, you should brush your teeth like normal. Just be careful to avoid the surgical site. To keep this area clean, gently rinse your mouth with salt water after meals. When you use mouthwash, make sure to pick one that doesn’t contain alcohol. This can aggravate the surgical site.

What to Do After Your New Teeth Are Attached

Now that your replacement teeth are secured to your dental implants, the hard part is over! You may still notice some sensitivity as your mouth adjusts, but this should be easy to manage and temporary. You shouldn’t experience any bleeding, swelling, or extensive recovery. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us so we can help.

How Long Do Dental Implants Last?

Most patients can expect their dental implants to last well over three decades. However, their exact lifespan can vary significantly from patient to patient based on several factors. Practicing good oral hygiene, visiting Dr. Castleberry regularly, and kicking bad habits to the curb (i.e., smoking, biting fingernails, using teeth as tools) are a few steps you can take to help your implants last as long as possible.

Does Getting Dental Implants Hurt?

Before your dental implant procedure, Dr. Castleberry will numb your mouth with a local anesthetic to ensure you’re completely comfortable. You’ll also likely be sedated, which means your body’s ability to register pain will be much lower. Although the surgery itself shouldn’t hurt, you can expect your mouth to feel slightly sore for the next few days. The good news is you can easily manage your discomfort by taking over-the-counter pain medication and using cold compresses.

What Can Cause Dental Implants to Fail?

Dental implants usually fail for one of two reasons: peri-implantitis and failed osseointegration. Peri-implantitis is a type of gum disease that develops from poor oral hygiene, damaging the jawbone and soft tissue. Meanwhile, failed osseointegration is exactly as the name implies – when the implant fails to integrate with the jawbone successfully. A few other causes of dental implant failure include chronic teeth grinding, poor oral hygiene, certain medications, and health conditions like diabetes and cancer.

Will I Have to Take Off Work for Dental Implant Surgery?

In most cases, patients typically only need to take a day or two off work to get dental implants near Kohrville. Of course, every case is unique, meaning the exact amount of time you’ll need to take off will be based on your specific situation. If you work a physically demanding job, you should ideally take three to four days off. Strenuous exercise could divert blood from the implant site and delay healing.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

Dental implants are unable to get cavities, but it’s still crucial that you practice excellent oral hygiene. If your surrounding teeth and gums are not healthy, your dental implant will be more likely to fail. By taking the time to brush and floss every day and rinsing with mouthwash, you can decrease your risk of getting cavities in your healthy teeth and developing gum disease.

Eat a Healthy Diet

After you get dental implants, you don’t need to limit the foods that you are eating, so you can enjoy a full and nutritious diet! However, eating too many foods that are hard, sticky, or sugary can cause issues. Stick to a diet that includes plenty of calcium and vitamin C to keep your jawbone strong and your gum tissue healthy.

Break Bad Habits

Bad dental habits can increase your risk of dental implant failure. You should refrain from smoking and using other tobacco products. Don’t use your teeth to bite or chew down on hard objects either. This can cause damage to your natural and replacement teeth.

Protect Your Dental Implants

Dental implants are very strong, but they are not indestructible. You should always wear a mouthguard when you are participating in sports. If you grind your teeth at night while you sleep, you may want to consider wearing a nightguard to prevent additional wear and tear.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Continue to attend regular cleanings and checkups every six months. This way, we can thoroughly clean your smile and be on the lookout for changes that could indicate a problem with your implant or another issue in your mouth.