Dental Implants to Restore Missing Teeth in the Southern Pines Area

Dr. Ritt Kuhn speaking with a patient about dental implants in Aberdeen

What Is a Dental Implant?

A benefit of a dental implant is that the durable titanium post is inserted into the jawbone, allowing it to support a restoration such as a crown, a dental bridge, or a denture. It takes the place of a tooth root and gives you virtually the same chewing power as your natural teeth. An implant can replace a single tooth, or provide partial or full-mouth teeth replacement.

The modern solution for missing teeth

Most dental professionals agree that dental implants are the best solution for replacing missing teeth. They are preferred over traditional dental bridges and dentures for their natural attributes and ability to help deter bone loss.

Learn more about our Solutions for Missing Teeth.

Benefits of a Dental Implant:

  • Function, look and feel like your natural teeth. People can’t tell the difference
  • Implants are the most durable and longest-lasting solution for missing teeth
  • You can exert the same amount of chewing pressure and speak like you can with your natural teeth
  • They do not require shaving down your healthy adjacent teeth as dental bridges do
  • Implants prevent bone loss that happens when you lose your teeth and don’t get them replaced

A More Comfortable, Efficient Procedure

State-of-the-art diagnostics and sophisticated techniques in dentistry make placing dental implants more comfortable and efficient than in the past. This results in little or no post-operative pain or discomfort.

Learn more about our Dental Implant Procedure.

An Alternative to Dentures

Dentures can be stabilized with minimally invasive mini dental implants.

Until recently, losing all – or most – of your teeth meant that you would need partial or full dentures. However, advancements in dental technology have provided us with alternatives to consider.

Dr. Kuhn achieves beautiful results with dentures, and this is certainly an option for people who do not want to undergo a surgical procedure.

However, if you want more stability than dentures can provide, Dr. Kuhn can secure partial dentures or full arches with dental implants. He can stabilize your existing dentures with mini dental implants, provide fixed dentures with the All-on-4® New Teeth in One Day procedure, or insert implants that attach to dentures that you can remove for cleaning and sleeping.

Learn more about the All-on-4 New Teeth in One Day procedure.

Smiling couple

Dental Implant vs. Dental bridges

A Dental Implant is a more affordable and natural replacement than a Dental Bridge

A bridge consists of a false tooth (or teeth) supported by adjacent teeth that have been capped. It is used to replace one or two missing teeth.

With a bridge, the teeth supporting the restoration need to be altered, which is not an ideal way of replacing a missing tooth compared to a dental implant. Bridges tend to have short lives, five to ten years, compared to a dental implant, which can last a lifetime. So while a bridge can sometimes be more economical at first, in the long run a dental implant can cost you less.

Who Can Benefit From A Dental Implant?

Most people are candidates for dental implants. You only need to meet three conditions to be a candidate for dental implants. You must be:

  • Missing or need the extraction of one or more teeth
  • An adult whose jaw has finished growing
  • Healthy enough for surgery

People who wear dentures, or have lived with missing teeth for some time, lose bone density in the ridges that would normally support the tooth roots and were formerly refused dental implant treatment.

This is no longer the case, as advanced bone grafting technology and the ability to locate available bone through 3D imaging has given the majority of people the option of receiving dental implants regardless of their current volume of bone.

People with certain health conditions such as diabetes or habits such as smoking were previously not considered candidates for implants because of the potential risk of failure of the implant or of infection. With recent developments in technology these people can now be safely treated.

There is no upper age limit for dental implants. People over the age of 95 have had great results with dental implants.

To make an appointment, call (910) 692-4450 or click here to request an appointment online.