Dental Implants & Fix Missing Teeth

Dental implants offer a worry-free alternative to dentures.

Start enjoying your food and smiling again

Getting dental implants can be a gentle and affordable alternative to missing teeth and removable dental work. Our dental implants team has been replacing missing teeth for over 25 years and can offer you the best options for your unique situation. Implants are terrific if you:

  • Have missing teeth, loose dentures or removable bridgework
  • Cannot chew and enjoy your food
  • Feel embarrassed with false teeth that slip
  • Don’t like your smile
  • Have nagging denture sores

To replace missing teeth, you have three choices. Each option has advantages and circumstances when they work best:

1. Fix Bridgework

The dentist generally caps one or more teeth next to the space where the tooth is missing and then the missing tooth is joined to the caps to create a replacement.  The fixed bridge takes the shape of a natural tooth so it looks and feels normal.

2. Dental Implants

Dental implants can make it possible to replace several, or even all, of a patient’s teeth with non-removable, natural looking and feeling teeth. They are especially helpful in a case where a patient does not have enough healthy teeth to make a fixed bridge.

3. Removable Bridgework

It can be used as a temporary option to replace just a few missing teeth. It can also be used as a long term method of tooth replacement in a case where the patient does not have enough teeth or want to fixed bridgework.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the FAQ we’ve received from our patients. Have additional questions or concerns, call us: 203-324-6171

Placing dental implants is a surgical procedure, so there is definitely some mild discomfort after the surgical phase, but generally less than a tooth extraction because it is a precise, gentle controlled procedure. After the initial healing phase passes, there is nothing to be fearful of in so far as pain is concerned.

Dental implants can be made to look great. Patients with dental implants report that biting and chewing feel perfectly natural.
Placing an implant requires one surgical visit and several follow up visits to check the healing and remove the sutures. The purpose of the dental implant(s) is to replace missing teeth, so in addition to the surgical placement of the implants, the patient must wait 3 to 6 months while the bone heals and then another month or two for the final dental bridgework.

 

You cannot be too old for dental implants. The issue is your health. As long as you are  a candidate for elective surgery, you can have dental implants. A person with medical conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes, heart disease, severe hypertension etc., would not be an appropriate candidate for dental implants.

With regards to being too young, dental implants are usually done for patients whose jaw bones are fully formed, so that would be late teenage years.  If you are not ready yet for implants there are temporary options so you don’t have to go without teeth

Medical conditions that would preclude the placement of dental implants would include people with problems healing, such as people with AIDS and people who are not candidates for elective surgery, such as people who have uncontrolled diabetes, severe high blood pressure or heart disease.

 

Dental implants are a good way to replace a single missing tooth.

 

Absolutely.  Dental implants are often used to replace one or several missing teeth when there aren’t sufficient teeth for fixed bridgework.

 

Many patients who get dental implants do so because they are uncomfortable with the old removable bridgework that they had.

 

Placing dental implants and then putting a cap on it is a great way to replace a missing tooth if you do not want to put caps on the teeth adjacent to the missing tooth, or if there aren’t enough strong teeth to support a fixed bridge near the missing tooth. This is especially true if the adjacent teeth are perfectly healthy, straight, decay free-teeth and the patient would rather avoid capping them.

 

The disadvantage of the implant is that two surgical procedures need to be done to place the implant and then place the supporting post in the implant so that a cap can be placed to replace the missing tooth. This takes several months. And the cost for a dental implant, plus the post and crown,  might be greater than a conventional fixed bridge. If the patient has perfectly good teeth adjacent to the missing tooth, the benefits of not having to cap those teeth may be worth the extra time and expense.

 

If the teeth adjacent to the missing tooth are crooked, decayed or already have big leaking fillings, and need to be capped anyway, it makes no sense to go through the time and expense of a dental implant and then have to cap the adjacent teeth anyway. Also, if there is not an adequate amount of jaw bone to hold the dental implant, bone grafting procedures may need to be done and the patient would need to evaluate the benefits of the implant approach versus the time and expense of the implants and bone graft.

 

Dental Implants are way to improve your comfort, health and appearance and that is why at Dental Care of Stamford we have a whole team of cosmetic dentists and surgeons to see what is best for your individual  situation and why we offer free consultations.  There are times when dental conditions such as bone loss or gum recession may allow a dentist to use a dental implant to adequately replace a missing tooth but not restore the normal shape and contour of the gum tissue. In the back of the mouth, where it doesn’t show, this may not matter. In the front of the mouth, it could result in a chewing success but an appearance failure. That is one reason why dental implants, as great as they are, are not a panacea for the replacement of all missing teeth.

Our Excellent Team and Amazing Patients

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Your Dental Implant Team

Dr. Jerry Simon

General, Cosmetic & Restorative

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Dr. Randy Niechen

Periodontist

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Dr. Rools Dessieux

Oral Surgeon

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Why Choosing Dental Care of
Stamford is a Best Option for You

Finding the right dentist can be a challenge. Among other things, you want a dental expert who has extensive experience in their specialty, who will listen to you and will help you choose the right procedure. Dental Care Stamford prides itself on doing all of this and more. We strive to be the best dental experience you’ll ever have.

Opens 7 Days a Week
Nights & Weekends

Access to a Team of
Every Dental Specialist

Emergency Dental Care
Same Day Appointments

Personalized Care
and Attention

Locally Owned
for 40+ years

TVs with
Hulu & Netflix

Sedation
Dentistry

Free On-Site
Parking

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