Dental Implants in Bellevue, NE
Missing teeth can hinder your social life, make smiling a challenge, and even contribute to future oral health problems.
At Kennedy Dental, we provide personalized dentistry to meet all your family’s unique oral care needs, including tooth replacement. If you need to replace missing teeth, we’ll work together to find the healthiest tooth replacement that is right for you.
Our implant dentists often recommend dental implants to patients near Bellevue, NE because they are the next best thing to real teeth. When you choose to replace one or more missing teeth with dental implants, you’ll be able to share a confident smile with friends and go out and enjoy your favorite foods again. You’ll also contribute to your future oral health.
If you would like to arrange a consultation for dental implants, we encourage you to contact a knowledgeable staff member at Kennedy Dental to get started. For now, check out the information below to learn more about our dental implants.
- The Gold Standard for Tooth Replacement
- The Process for Dental Implants in Bellevue
- Implant-Supported Dentures
- Here's What Happens When You Lose a Tooth
- Taking Care of Your New Smile
The Gold Standard for Tooth Replacement
We want to make sure our patients have options, so our tooth replacements include dental implants, dental bridges, and full and partial dentures.
Of all these, dental implants are the only one that replaces an entire tooth, from the root in your jaw to the crown that’s visible when you smile. Dentists refer to dental implants as the “gold standard” because they are the best and most reliable tooth replacement available today.
And tooth implants aren’t a recent innovation, either; they’ve been used to replace missing teeth for over 40 years and have a proven success rate of 95 percent.
Our patients have been thrilled with their smiles following dental implant placement, and we think you’ll be pleased as well.
The Process for Dental Implants in Bellevue
The entire process—from the placement of the implant in your jaw to restoration of the tooth—takes several months to complete. But ask any of our patients who’ve gotten dental implants at our Bellevue dental office, and they’ll tell you the results made the wait worthwhile!
We start with a consultation to discuss various tooth replacement and dental implant options. We also want to make sure that this treatment is right for you.
Implant-Supported Dentures
For our patients who have a single missing tooth, we recommend one dental implant. But if you have significant tooth loss and are not interested in removable prosthetics, we can talk to you about a dental bridge or an implant-supported dental bridge or denture.
Technologies like implant-supported dentures in Bellevue, NE provide a stable tooth replacement option. You don’t have to worry about loose prosthetics, relines, or denture adhesives to prevent slippage.
Your dentist evaluates your smile to make sure this method will give you the best results.
Here’s What Happens When You Lose a Tooth
Even if you think you can live with a gap in your smile, it’s not optimal for your oral health. Teeth adjacent to the gap can start to tilt and shift, leading to tooth and bite misalignment. Eventually, the loss of one tooth can lead to the loss of more teeth due to wear and jawbone shrinkage. This is why tooth replacement is crucial.
If a tooth and its roots are lost, the bone in your jaw will start to break down without a tooth root to promote healthy bone regeneration. As bone loss continues, your facial features lose support, and you will start to take on a drawn or aged appearance as well.
Taking Care of Your New Smile
Dental implants are simple to care for because you treat them like natural teeth. This includes following best practices like visiting your dentist regularly for dental exams and cleanings in Bellevue, NE. This lowers your gum disease risks, which can cause your implants to fail and lead to further tooth loss.
You should also be brushing and flossing your teeth at least twice each day, especially before bed. It is important not to sleep with debris on your teeth and gums. A friendly staff member, including our dentist or hygienist, can provide tips to help you achieve the best results from your at-home routine.
As with natural teeth, you do not want to use your dental implant as a tool to open a bottle or as a device to crush ice. This can lead to tooth or implant crown fractures. You should also talk to us if you grind and clench your teeth (bruxism). Because this happens during sleep, you may not know you’re doing it, but your dentist can spot the signs during your routine dental checkup and create a custom appliance for night use. This appliance prevents nocturnal bruxism, which can damage your teeth and your implant.
If you work around unpredictable machinery or play on a sports team, consider a mouthguard to keep your teeth and implants safe.
Between checkups, if you notice any oral health changes, contact our dental office at (402) 291-3535 to schedule your next dental exam.
Contact Our Bellevue, NE Dentist Office to Get Started!
Our dental team would love to help you with tooth replacement at our Bellevue, NE dental office. Please call us at (402) 291-3535 to schedule a convenient appointment.
Dental implants are needed when you have teeth missing from your smile. Missing teeth can make you self-conscious about your smile and cause you to develop oral health issues. With a gap in your smile, your remaining teeth may begin to shift, leading to bite misalignment and difficulty chewing.
