Implant Dentistry

The Most Advanced Dental Implant Facility in King George, VA

Thanks to modern dentistry, people are preserving their smiles longer than ever before. However, even with regular flossing, brushing and dental cleanings, our teeth may still decay and become damaged. If you have missing teeth, implant dentistry may be right for you. Dental implants are artificial, metal tooth roots that are placed on the jawbone. Once the root is placed on the jawbone and merges with the existing bone, a replacement tooth crown can be placed over the implant. Dahlgren Dental in King George, VA is proud to offer an implant dentistry option to help our patients restore the ability to chew, and create a beautiful smile.

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What Are Dental Implants?

Dental implants are screw-like, artificial tooth roots, usually made of titanium. They are surgically placed on the jawbone underneath the gums and covered with a crown, and can function like natural teeth. There are two types of replacement teeth used in implant dentistry that can be placed over the artificial post:

Removable. Removable replacement teeth snap onto the dental implant root, and can be removed at the end of the day. This type of crown must be regularly cleaned, and are not as sturdy as fixed crowns
Fixed. Fixed replacement teeth are permanently screwed onto the dental implant root, and function the most like natural teeth. Because fixed crowns cannot be removed to clean, patients must practice excellent, diligent oral hygiene.

Implants can be used to replace just one tooth or multiple teeth. If you are missing multiple teeth in a row, several implants can be surgically placed along the jawbone to support a permanent bridge.

Benefits of Dental Implants

There are many advantages of dental implants over bridges or dentures. Benefits include:

Improves the appearance of your smile. They look like natural teeth, and can improve the appearance of your smile and boost your confidence.
Supports underlying bone. Because dental implants are fused to the jawbone, they better support the bone than bridges and dentures.
Comfortable. Because they are permanent, they do not slip like dentures or bridges, leading to increased comfort.
Function like natural teeth. Patients with dental implants can eat and speak easier than patients with bridges or dentures.
Improved oral health. If you have missing teeth, the remaining teeth take on extra forces of chewing and biting. Dental implants more evenly distribute this force, leading to better overall health.

Guided Implant Surgery

At Dahlgren Dental, we utilize guided implant surgery! Guided implant surgery is a surgical technique that combines careful planning and advanced dental technology. Our team uses two types of scanners to plan your implant placement: a cone beam computed tomography scanner (CBCT) and an intraoral scanner. First, the CBCT captures 3D images of your teeth, gums, jawbone, neural pathways and more. Then, we take goop-free digital impressions of your teeth using an intraoral scanner.

Once we have taken scans of your teeth, our team utilizes cutting-edge computer software to place these two files on top of each other to create a 3-dimensional representation of your mouth. The software allows our team to virtually place a tooth where one may be missing, and create a customized surgical guide for implant placement. This surgical guide ensures that implants are precisely placed at the right angle and depth to fit your specific needs.

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Why Guided Implant Surgery?

There are many advantages to using this technique. Benefits include:

Reduced pain. This technique uses a surgical guide to make a small hole in the gums for the placement of dental implants. This allows for faster healing because it avoids large incisions and reduces pain, discomfort and swelling.
Higher success rate. Removing the need for large incisions reduces the risk of infection. Furthermore, computer-aided planning allows for the most suitable implant placement and the best restorative outcomes.

Advanced technology and accuracy. Digital intraoral scanning replaces the use of traditional alginate “goop” dental impressions. Digital impressions are not only more comfortable for the patient, but are also more accurate.
Reduced surgery time.With our 3D-printed surgical guide, the procedure takes as little as 10 minutes.

Our Dental Implant Services

Dahlgren Dental in King George, VA is proud to offer dental restoration services. They include:

Sinus lift augmentation. Loss of the upper back teeth can sometimes cause the sinuses to become enlarged. During this procedure, the sinus is restored to its original size, and a bone graft is completed. After 9-12 months, the bone graft heals and dental implants can be rooted into the new bone.
Autogenous bone grafting. Autogenous bone grafting is used when the ideal areas for dental implants do not have enough bone on their own to support the artificial root. Bone is typically taken from the chin or the back of the jaw and placed in the desired area.
Implant site development. Sometimes, dental implants can become infected. When this occurs, patients may experience some bone loss around the infected implant. An implant site development procedure replaces bone in this area to support a new one in the future.
Computer-enhanced treatment planning. We used an advanced CT scanner to evaluate your bone quality, bone quantity and bone location to determine the best possible placement for your tooth replacement.
Implant maintenance. In addition to diligent dental hygiene, our team performs professional cleanings to keep your restored tooth clean and functional.

Case Study

The placement of this dental implant case was done by Dr. La using the surgical guide, which allowed the surgery to be seamless and quick with less swelling and post-op discomfort, because there was no large incision. All of these three implants are placed perfectly parallel, which is very difficult, if not impossible, to do using traditional surgical techniques without the guide.