Understanding What Dental Implants Are

Dental implants are artificial tooth roots. Used to replace the roots of missing, damaged, or misplaced teeth, they’re usually overlaid with natural-looking tooth restorations. Implants are great ways to replace missing and broken teeth, but they’re not right for everyone. Understanding what dental implants are is the first step in determining whether you’re a good candidate for the procedure.

What Are Dental Implants For?

Dental implants serve several purposes, but generally, they’re used as replacements or alternatives to missing, broken, or crowded teeth. Implants act as the roots of your missing teeth. They’re built from sturdy titanium, which fuses with your jawbone. Unlike fixed bridgework or dentures, your implants won’t slip, make noise, or cause bone damage. In addition, the material that implants are made of doesn’t decay as bone does.

Apart from replacing missing, damaged, or misplaced teeth, some other reasons to consider dental implants include:

  • You have a jawbone that’s reached full growth.
  • You’re unable or unwilling to wear dentures.
  • You want to improve your speech.

Dental implants aren’t right for everyone. Certain conditions or diseases, such as uncontrolled diabetes, cancer, and periodontal disease, can affect the implants’ ability to fuse with your jawbone.

What’s the Procedure Like?

A dental team consisting of a dental surgical specialist, a restorative dentist, and a dental laboratory technician will examine the current state of your teeth. It will carefully plan the placement and restoration of your implants, including the crowns, bridgework, or dentures that will be attached to the structure work. Preparing your implants will require multiple studies of your mouth and bite, which can involve x-rays or CT scans.

During the procedure, the dental surgeon will create precision channels in the jawbone and fit your implants into the sites. Your roots will be replaced with thin, screwlike posts. It takes several months for the implants to fuse to the bone, after which they’re outfitted with tooth restorations. There are multiple options for implant tooth replacement, including single-tooth replacement, fixed multiple-tooth replacement, and removable implant-supported tooth replacement.

How Are Implants Different from Real Teeth?

To fully understand what dental implants are, you need to learn how they’re different from real teeth. Dental implants look and feel the same as natural teeth and function similarly, but that doesn’t mean the two are completely alike. The way implants are maintained, attach to the surrounding bone, and respond to dental disease is unique.

Regular teeth are attached to the surrounding bone by a periodontal ligament, while dental implants fuse directly to the bone. Since dental implants are made from metal, they don’t decay. They react differently to disease and don’t experience all the same problems that real teeth do. But just because they’re sturdier doesn’t mean you don’t have to maintain them. You must regularly brush and floss your implants, and your preferred dentist should evaluate them once or twice a year.

If you’re looking to get dental implants in Riverview, Florida ,Dr. Chris Castellano can help. We provide comprehensive care that will help you achieve a perfect, winning smile.

What to do with a dislodged tooth?

By chris castellano • May 6, 2025
The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

What to do with knocked-out teeth?

By chris castellano • May 5, 2025
If a tooth is knocked out, it's a dental emergency requiring immediate action. First, try to put the tooth back in its socket, then seek emergency dental care as soon as possible, ideally within an hour. If you can't put it back, keep the tooth moist by placing it in milk or saliva, or a tooth-saving solution. Detailed Steps: Locate the tooth: If possible, find the tooth that was knocked out. Handle the tooth carefully: Pick up the tooth by the crown (the chewing surface), not the root. Rinse gently: If the tooth is dirty, rinse it briefly with water or milk, but avoid scrubbing or removing any tissue attached to the root. Reinsert if possible: If the tooth is still loose, gently try to put it back in its socket, ensuring the root-side is facing the gums. Keep the tooth moist: If you can't put it back in the socket, keep the tooth moist by placing it in milk, your saliva, or a tooth-saving solution. Seek emergency dental care: Go to your dentist or a nearby emergency dental clinic as soon as possible, ideally within an hour of the injury. The tooth will have to ridgedly fixated for several weeks 6-8 or more done with heavy wire bonded over several teeth.

What happens when a tooth chips or fractures?

By chris castellano • May 5, 2025
A chipped tooth can be caused by stress cracking or just a sharp blow to the tooth. As long as it's minor like in this picture it can be fixed with composite. If it goes into the nerve chamber of the tooth it will require a root canal and crown. Chipped teeth have symptoms of increased temporary sensitivity to air, hot cold fluids, or any that's chewed into the area. It will be a sharp pain that quickly (within a second goes away). The reason for this is dentinal sensitivity. When the outer enamel layer is chipped off into the dentinal layer it exposes the open tubules of dentin that communicate with the nerve directly. Its important to get a chipped tooth repaired quickly because a slightly aggravated nerve in a healthy state can become irreversibly aggravated over time requiring root canal crown due to bacterial contamination of the tubules.

Millennial Brushing Habits, Bad Breath, and Tooth decay!

By chris castellano • February 25, 2025
Millennial Brushing Habits, Bad Breath, and Tooth decay!

Cracked Tooth Syndrome

By chris castellano • January 10, 2025
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11 Signs you can use to tell if your Dental Office is Good

By chris castellano • August 14, 2024
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PFM crowns are great for posterior restorations, Strong, natural looking and durable. Chris Castellano DMD , top implant dentist , Riverview, Fl. 33578

What is a porcelain fused to metal crown

By chris castellano • June 25, 2023
Porcelain fused to metal crowns (PFM crowns) are metal crowns with a layer of porcelain fused on the metal. This makes them almost as durable as pure metal crowns but a lot more esthetic. PFM crowns used to be the most popular crowns in dentistry for a long time. They are still used today, but nowadays ceramic crowns are preferred, especially for front teeth restorations. PFM crowns are more affordable than all-ceramic crowns. Even though they are not as esthetic as porcelain crowns they are still good candidates for back teeth restorations. They are used on: posterion teeth conjuction with partial dentures when durable metal rests are needed
signs of needing a root canal. Chris Castellano DMD , top implant dentist , Riverview, Fl. 33578

What are the signs I need a root canal?

By chris castellano • June 25, 2023
-Severe tooth pain while chewing -Your tooth pain wakes you up at night -Teeth that are highly sensitive to hot or cold, with the sensitivity lingering for some time. -Discoloration or darkening of the tooth -Swollen gums in the area of the infected tooth
wisdom tooth extractions. Chris Castellano DMD , top dentist fro the wisdom tooth delete , Riverview, Fl. 33578

How long does it take to remove all 4 impacted wisdom teeth?

By chris castellano • June 24, 2023
Most wisdom tooth removal surgeries last about 40-90 minutes. Even if you're having all four of your wisdom teeth removed at once, the procedure typically takes an hour. If your wisdom teeth are in a difficult position or there are unexpected difficulties, the surgery may take a bit longer.
taking all 4 wisdom teeth out at once! Chris Castellano DMD , top implant dentist , Riverview, Fl. 33578

Do All 4 Wisdom Teeth Come in at the Same time?

By chris castellano • June 24, 2023
No! All 4 wisdom teeth do not always come in at the same time, but they will always be the last set of teeth to come in. As a general rule of thumb, lower teeth usually erupts before upper teeth and teeth in both jaws erupt in pairs one on the right and one on the left. It is most common for the bottom row to erupt before the top. It is also not unheard of for the top to erupt first and it is also possible for one set to come in while the other doesn’t. Several factors can influence the permanent tooth eruption pattern such as Heredity, how they are growing and the condition of the tooth and size of the jaw.
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