Dental Implants: Let’s Review The Parts

When you hear friends discussing choosing dental implants, you may think to yourself that this term refers to a single item that replaces an entire tooth. While it is absolutely accurate that implants are the only prosthetic to guide you toward complete tooth replacement (from the root to the crown), it’s not true that this is a single product. In fact, an implant is only one piece of the entire replacement. To ensure you have a solid foundation regarding implants, let’s review the different parts (don’t worry, it’s simple).

The Dental Implant Post

First, when you hear the term “dental implant” it is essential that you remember that this is only referring to the post. You see, to begin your journey toward replacing teeth with implants, you will receive a titanium post that we will surgically place (or “implant”) within your jaw tissue. The post acts as a replacement prosthetic for your missing roots. It will, once you are finished recovery, then support the rest of your missing tooth.

The Abutment

As you may have realized, we will place an artificial tooth (or a larger prosthetic) on top of your dental implant post as a means of restoring the remainder of your missing tooth (the part that sits above your gum tissue). To complete this task, we rely on an accessory known as an abutment that will connect the artificial tooth to the post.

The Restoration

About that visible part of your missing tooth – we call this the restoration. You will hear us say we are going to “restore” your dental implant, which means we will place a dental crown on it. Or, if you choose a larger implant-supported restoration, we may restore multiple implants with a modified denture or bridge.