Dental Implants – Waverly, IA

Who Is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

Dental implant technology has come a long way in recent decades. In fact, most adults with missing teeth qualify for dental implants in Waverly — as long as they are in good oral and overall health and have a strong enough jawbone for the procedure. Oral health issues like gum disease or tooth decay could jeopardize the success of your implants, so we’ll need to treat those beforehand. Some overall health problems, like autoimmune disease or poorly controlled diabetes, may interfere with the healing process unless you learn how to minimize your risks. Lastly, a jawbone that has deteriorated after tooth loss cannot adequately support dental implants. In this case, you’ll likely have to undergo a bone graft to strengthen the area.

Once your mouth is fully ready to support your new smile, your dental implant dentist in Waverly can help you move forward with the treatment process. No matter how many teeth you’ve lost, we have a dental implant solution that can meet your unique needs.

Missing One Tooth

If you are missing one tooth, Dr. Smiley will place a single implant post in the jawbone to support a custom dental crown. This crown is made from materials that are so durable and lifelike, it will be nearly impossible for others to tell which of your teeth is the implant!

Missing Multiple Teeth

For several consecutive missing teeth, Dr. Smiley creates a dental bridge. Instead of attaching it to healthy, natural teeth, we use two implants to support both ends of your new prosthetic. This option is a great choice for patients who do not wish to alter their existing tooth structure to support a traditional dental bridge.

To replace multiple missing teeth that aren’t in a row, we can hold a partial denture securely in place with just a couple of implants placed at strategic points throughout the jaw.

Missing All Teeth

If you have lost most or all of your teeth, then an implant denture can bring back your entire smile at once. By placing a small number of dental implants in certain positions along the jaw, a foundation is created for a lifelike denture that Dr. Smiley designs, based on your mouth and preferences. This appliance snaps onto the implants and stays in place so that patients can smile confidently once more. We even offer All-on-4 implants, which allow us to anchor a full denture onto just four implants.

Learn More About All-on-4 Dentures

Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery

You may need one or more teeth extracted and others need bone or tissue grafting procedures to ensure adequate support for the implant post. During your initial consultation with your implant dentist in Waverly at Smiley Family Dentistry, we will examine your oral cavity using advanced technology to determine if you need preliminary treatments. If so, you can expect these to add to the overall cost of your treatment.

Your dental implant surgery will also incur a fee; however, because the entire procedure is performed in-house, under one roof, this eliminates the need for a referral and separate fee for an outside specialist. This can make the complete dental implant process much easier to financially manage.

The Parts of Your Dental Implant

The majority of what you can expect to pay for your dental implant placement will be the cost of the implant posts themselves. They are made from high quality materials and custom-crafted to exact specifications to ensure successful implantation. During your consultation, our team will go over the following details regarding your dental implants:

• How many implants you will need – The more titanium posts required, the higher the price. It is cheaper to replace a single tooth than an entire arch simply because it is using only one implant post versus 4-8.
• The materials used – Titanium and zirconia are the two most popular dental implant materials.
• The type of restoration – Naturally, an implant crown will be much less expensive and take less time to create than a full implant denture; however, when compared to traditional dentures, one that is anchored by titanium posts is more cost-effective.
• The brand – While there are many different brands of dental implants, the team at Smiley Family Dentistry is responsible for choosing our desired manufacturer and brand. Although they may be costlier than other dental offices, cheaper isn’t always better when it comes to dental implants. We will discuss all of this information during the initial consultation, so you can understand the importance of using higher quality materials.

How Dental Implants Can Save You Money

Dental implants in Waverly are known for their durability, longevity, and ability to stimulate the jawbone and promote better oral health. These factors alone should be enough to entice anyone who is suffering from tooth loss and is considering their options. However, if the ultimate factor comes down to cost, you’ll be pleased to learn that choosing dental implants will actually help you save money in the future. Here’s how:

1. You won’t be required to buy dental adhesives to help keep your teeth in place while eating and speaking.
2. You won’t need special cleaning supplies (i.e., denture cleaner) to soak or clean your new teeth.
3. You won’t need adjustments or replacements every 5-10 years like you would with traditional dentures or dental bridges.
4. You will be less likely to spend money on treatment for systemic issues caused by tooth loss (i.e., diabetes, osteoporosis, or even heart disease).

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

Unfortunately, dental insurance does not typically cover the cost of the dental implant posts or their surgical placement. However, most insurers will provide coverage for the preparatory treatments and replacement teeth. Some plans even offer some coverage for dental sedation. Our team works with dental insurance providers on a regular basis, and we know how to maximize your dental care benefits to keep the out-of-pocket costs of your treatment to a minimum. We bill for each step of the treatment plan individually, which does somewhat help to offset the costs of dental care.

Making Dental Implants Affordable

Additionally, we are happy to work with third-party medical and dental financiers who provide low and no interest payment plans. With CareCredit’s flexible financing plan, you can pay $299 per month for your dental implants in Waverly. This is a welcomed relief if you were concerned with the idea of trying to afford your new and fully functional smile.

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

Before planning any aspect of your treatment, we’ll need to ascertain whether you’re a good candidate for dental implants. As a skilled and experienced implant dentist in Waverly, Dr. Smiley can thoroughly examine your mouth with his trained eyes, take digital X-rays, and capture digital 3D images to get a full picture of your teeth, gums, and underlying jawbone structure. Ideally, your mouth should be infection-free, and you should have sufficient jawbone density to support dental implants. If that’s not the case, Dr. Smiley will recommend the appropriate treatments, such as gum disease therapy or bone grafting, before moving forward with the dental implant process.

Dental Implant Surgery

Next comes the surgical placement of the implant posts in your jaw. Thanks to Dr. Smiley’s advanced training, he can perform this procedure right here in our office – no need to refer you to a separate oral surgeon. That way, your treatment is fully streamlined.

Dr. Smiley will numb your mouth and make tiny incisions at carefully chosen locations in your gums. Through these incisions, he can position the implants at strategic angles. Then, he closes your gum tissue, and you can begin healing.

Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment

Osseointegration is the process of the dental implant posts encouraging your jawbone tissue to grow around them. It begins as soon as the implants have been placed, and once it’s complete, the implants will be able to function just like the roots of natural teeth. This process usually takes between three and six months.

Following osseointegration, you may need to undergo another surgical procedure to have abutments attached to the tops of your implants. Abutments are small metal connectors, onto which we will secure your final restoration. Your abutments will most likely be visible for a couple of weeks after placement, as your gums need time to heal.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)

At long last, it’s time to have your brand-new pearly whites placed! By this point, we will have taken impressions of your mouth, where a dental lab uses them to design the crown, bridge, or denture that we’ll anchor onto your abutments. While some types of implant dentures can be removable, your restoration will be fixed in place more often than not. Coupled with their secure foundation in your jawbone, this means that dental implants in Waverly should be indistinguishable from your natural teeth!