Why You Should Get A Dental Implant Right After Having Your Tooth Extracted

There may come a time in your life when a dentist cannot save one of your teeth. The tooth might be full of decay to a point where it can't be saved, or the tooth may have become loose from trauma. If you need to have a tooth extracted for any reason, you should consider getting it replaced with a dental implant quickly. The longer you wait to do this, the harder it might be to have the tooth replaced.

What Is A Dental Implant?

A dental implant is a dental product that consists of three main parts. One of the most important parts of it is the implant itself, which is a small part that is placed inside a person's jawbone. Over time, the jawbone will grow and connect itself permanently to the implant. When this occurs, it creates a very strong method for inserting an artificial tooth, and it emulates tooth roots. Once this takes place, the other two components of the implant are put in place, and these are the post and the crown (the artificial tooth).

While the process of getting a dental implant normally takes at least five to six months, or longer, the implant will last for your entire life if you have good oral habits.

Why Is Timing So Important?

A dental implant can only be placed in a person's mouth when the person has enough jawbone to support the implant, and this is important to know simply because of what happens to the jawbone when a tooth is removed. When a tooth is extracted from your mouth, it can lead to a loss of jawbone in the spot where the tooth once was, and this can happen very rapidly. In fact, if you get a tooth extracted and do not replace it, you could lose 25% of the mass in your bone within the first year alone. If you leave the gap in your mouth for longer than this, you will lose even more mass in the bone.

For an implant to remain in place properly, there must be enough bone. In other words, if you get the implant right after the extraction, there will most likely be enough bone for the procedure. If you wait, there may not be. While this wouldn't prevent you from getting an implant, it would delay the process and cost more money, because a dentist would have to add more bone to this part of your mouth through a bone grafting procedure.  

Your dentist may recommend waiting a couple of weeks after the extraction, simply to give your gums time to heal a little before putting the implant in place.

What Are The Benefits Of Dental Implants?

Choosing to have a tooth replaced with a dental implant is one of the best options you have, primarily because dental implants are very similar to regular teeth. With a dental implant, you will not have to worry about embarrassment caused by a missing tooth. You will be able to eat almost anything you want, and you will never get cavities in the implant because a dental implant cannot rot.

Additionally, a dental implant will cause your jawbone to stay healthy, so you will not have to worry about losing mass in that area. When you have a tooth (or an implant), pressure from chewing with it is what stimulates the jawbone to continuously regenerate itself.

If you have a tooth that cannot be saved, you should talk to a dentist like John P Poovey DMD PC about extracting it and replacing it. Your dentist is likely to recommend replacing it with a dental implant. You can learn more about this procedure, the costs, and what to expect by visiting a dental clinic today.