Dental Implants – Pea Ridge, AR
A Smile That’s Worth a Thousand Words
Just like the saying, “A picture’s worth a thousand words,” having a smile that’s complete and confidence-boosting says a lot to someone you meet. Dental implants in Pea Ridge are a modern, highly-effective solution to replace missing teeth that restores the entire structure of your tooth, from the roots upward. This allows patients to reap a variety of unique benefits, like a long restoration lifespan of 30+ years with routine maintenance, and preservation of the facial structure. To learn more about dental implants in Pea Ridge, AR, read below.
Why Choose Peak Dental Care for Dental Implants?
- We Restore Dental Implants with Beautiful Restorations
- Small, Friendly Dental Team That’s a Part of Community
- Convenient & Trustworthy Dentistry
What are Dental Implants?
Dental implants themselves are small, titanium posts that are surgically placed below your gumline and into your jawbone to replace the missing root structure of a tooth. Due to their biocompatible nature, they’re able to naturally fuse with the jawbone to provide it with necessary blood flow and support to keep it from deteriorating. Once they’ve fused with the bone, small, metal connector pieces called abutments are attached to the top of them. These will hold a customized bridge, crown, or denture in place to restore your smile.
The 4-Step Dental Implant Process
The dental implant process is a bit complex and involves several steps. In fact, carrying it out usually takes a few months. However, you can rest assured – implants are worth this time and effort. We refer patients to outside specialists for the actual surgery. That way, your treatment results benefit from skilled and experienced work. All you need to do is undergo four key steps. These are the initial consultation, implant surgery, osseointegration, and delivery of the final restoration.
Initial Dental Implant Consultation
Your implant treatment will start with a brief consultation. At this session, you’ll talk with Dr. Baioni about what you want from dental implants. Doing so lets us learn about your oral health, medical history, and more. We’ll then use those things to see whether implants suit you. If they do, our dental team will quickly draft a custom treatment plan.
Should you not qualify for dental implants at first, don’t worry. We’ll gladly help you get preliminary services – gum disease therapy, tooth extraction, etc. Through such procedures, your mouth will become strong enough to support implants.
If we approve, the consultation will also review the details of your future treatment. Such facts include your procedure’s timeline, costs, and similar matters.
Dental Implant Surgery
We don't place dental implants in-house. Instead, we’ll refer you to local specialists for your implant surgery. This setup lets your new teeth benefit from the skill and knowledge of expert surgeons. With their help, you can trust that implant placement will go smoothly.
The implant surgery will involve things like:
- Anesthesia – Before doing anything else, the surgeons will numb your treatment site(s). This step keeps you from feeling pain during the surgery. At most, you’ll just sense a slight pressure as the treatment proceeds.
- A Minor Incision – The surgeons will make a small gum incision once the treatment site is numb. Then, they’ll create a space for your future implant(s).
- Implant Placement – With the incision made, the surgeons will place your implant using advanced dental methods and tools.
- Gum Closure – The surgeons will close your gum incision after the placement. They’ll then put a cap over your new implant post to wrap things up.
Dental Implant Osseointegration & Abutment
Following the surgery, your new implant(s) will slowly fuse with your jaw. This fusion – also known as osseointegration – occurs over 4-6 months. Once it’s done, your implant post(s) should be permanent and secure.
You’ll have another surgery when you’ve recovered from implant fusion. For this second one, our team will set an abutment (i.e., a metal connector) on top of your implant. The new part will secure your final restoration, which will be based on earlier dental impressions.
Delivery of Dental Implant Restoration(s)
You’ll get your final restoration at the end of the implant process. As for the specifics of this prosthetic, its nature will depend on how many teeth you’ve lost. It could be a dental crown, bridge, or an implant denture.
We won’t take long to fit this restoration. Really, adding it to your implant only requires some dental cement. Our dental team will then make a few last-minute changes. From there, you should be ready to enjoy your beautiful and fully-restored smile!
Benefits of Dental Implants
Dental implants from Peak Dental Care offer a wide array of unique benefits to offer due to their unique structure that sets them apart from traditional dental restorations. Since over half a million implants are placed every year in America, they are quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to replace lost teeth. Here’s a brief guide to how these remarkable prosthetic devices can improve your health, confidence, and quality of life.
Day-to-Day Benefits
Dental implants boast a number of benefits for your day-to-day life such as:
- Allowing you to eat any food that you could with real teeth, which means that you’ll be able to enjoy tasty and healthy foods like tender steaks and snappy raw veggies.
- Making speaking clearly easy since implants won’t slide out of place.
- Requiring only a hassle-free oral hygiene regimen of brushing, flossing, and rinsing with antibacterial mouthwash.
- Giving patients the confidence they need to smile proudly at friends and family so they can enjoy a more fulfilling social life.
Health Benefits
Dental implants can also boost your oral and overall health in ways such as:
- Being easy to clean, which can help prevent painful and debilitating oral infections.
- Providing the exercise the jawbone needs to stay healthy and strong, which can prevent or even reverse the process of bone loss that happens due to missing teeth.
- Allowing the patient to enjoy the diverse, nutritious, and tasty diet the human body needs to remain healthy.
- Chewing thoroughly can prevent many cases of indigestion.
- Preventing the remaining teeth from drifting out of place, which can help you avoid dental injuries, oral infections, and tooth loss.
- Not sliding around in the mouth, which can prevent oral injuries such as gum sores and enamel damage.
Long-Term Benefits
Dental implants can also deliver a range of long-term benefits for your quality of life and budget. A few of these include:
- Boasting an incredible success rate of over 95% even ten years after placement.
- Lasting for thirty years or even a lifetime if they receive proper hygiene and maintenance.
- Since they are permanent, they won’t need to be periodically replaced like traditional dentures and bridges. This can potentially save a patient thousands of dollars over a few decades.
- Having a complete set of teeth can make it much easier to proudly show your smile off. This can give you a significant edge at job interviews or when you are being considered for a promotion. Having a grin you love can also help you in the social scene by making it easier to win trust, build connections, and make friends.
Who Can Dental Implants Help?
The best candidates for dental implants include patients who are missing any number of teeth, are committed to good oral health, and don’t have any underlying or untreated medical conditions that impact their immune system. Dr. Baioni will break down the pros and cons of this treatment depending on your unique health and situation to help you gain a clear picture of whether dental implants or traditional restorations would be the better option to restore your smile. He’ll also outline a customized treatment plan for you during your initial consultation.
Missing One Tooth
If you’re missing a single tooth, we can restore it by placing one dental implant in the space and attaching a customized dental crown. It will complete your smile without involving the alteration of your surrounding, healthy teeth.
Missing Multiple Teeth
For multiple missing teeth, we can place two dental implants on either end of the gap in your smile to hold a dental bridge. This will keep your surrounding teeth from drifting out of place and ruining the alignment of your arch.
Missing All of Your Teeth
Using anywhere from four to eight dental implants, we can secure an entire denture to your mouth, eliminating any slipping or shifting and allowing you to eat all of your favorite foods with ease. They’ll look and feel completely natural, and you won’t need to worry about taking them out of your mouth each night.
Maintaining & Caring for Your Dental Implants
Dental implants can keep a patient’s smile healthy, strong, and complete for several decades or possibly a lifetime if they receive excellent care. Neglecting to properly maintain your restorations, on the other hand, can lead to damage and infections that can cause them to fail and need costly replacements. Here’s a brief overview of a few simple habits that can help your implants last for as long as possible from the team at Peak Dental Care.
Make Oral Hygiene a Priority
While dental implants cannot develop cavities, proper oral hygiene is still essential to ensure that the gum and bone tissues supporting them avoid destructive infections. Even if all your teeth have been replaced with implants, you’ll still need to brush at least twice and floss at least once every day. It’s also ideal to rinse with antibacterial mouthwash on a daily basis.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Dental implants give you the chewing power to eat whatever you like, but it’s crucial to ensure that you enjoy a diet that provides your body with the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and strong. Be sure to get plenty of calcium, protein, and vitamins C and D to keep your jawbones and gums in great shape.
Break Bad Habits
Tobacco use in any form is completely horrible for your gums and your natural and artificial teeth, so it’s best to quit this habit several weeks before receiving implants. You should also refrain from excessive alcohol use as well as using your teeth to open packages or bottles.
Protect Your Dental Implants
Dental implants are made from incredibly durable materials such as ceramics and titanium, but they are not invulnerable. If you enjoy playing sports or riding your bike, be sure to wear an athletic mouthguard to protect your smile from injury. If you grind in your sleep, it’s best to invest in a nightguard to reduce the stress this puts on your jaws, teeth, and implants. We provide customized appliances such as these at our Pea Ridge office so your smile can enjoy superior protection.
Schedule Regular Dental Checkups
Be sure to visit us at our office in Pea Ridge every six months for routine checkups and cleanings. That way, we can monitor your implants and natural teeth for any issues and address any problems in their early stages. We’ll also be happy to answer any questions you have about your oral health and the best ways to take care of your smile at home.
Understanding the Cost of Dental Implants
The cost of getting dental implants depends on your unique situation, like whether you require any preparatory procedures or are missing several teeth instead of just one. All of these factors will alter the price of your treatment, which Dr. Baioni will discuss with you during your initial consultation. Our team is happy to file insurance claims on your behalf to help you maximize your benefits, and if necessary, we can discuss other financing options as well. Remember, even though dental implants might seem expensive, they are an investment that can provide decades of benefits!
Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery
Before they can get dental implants, some patients need to undergo a bone graft, tooth extractions, or gum disease therapy. Each of these services comes with its own fee.
The dental implant placement surgery has a separate price, which depends on a number of factors. When you visit a local specialist to talk about your procedure, they will make sure you understand your financial obligation so you do not run into any unpleasant surprises.
The Parts of Your Dental Implant
Every dental implant procedure is tailored to a patient’s unique circumstances. The type of implants you receive, as well as how many, will impact your total cost of care. Your restoration, whether it is a crown, bridge, or denture, will have its own price. We strive to use only top-quality materials in our practice so you can be confident that you are getting an excellent value. If you have questions about where the parts of your implants come from, feel free to ask.
How Dental Implants Can Save You Money
Dental implants have a significant upfront cost. However, they could actually help you save money in the long run.
- Dental implants have the potential to last a lifetime . If you calculate their cost per day over a few decades, they may cost less than a daily trip to your local espresso shop! Their longevity may make them more affordable in the long run than traditional dentures, which need to be replaced every 5 – 7 years.
- Dental implants can protect your oral and overall health. Therefore, they can help you save money on various medical and dental procedures.
Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?
Some dental insurance policies cover dental implants, whereas others do not. You will need to check the unique details of your plan to find out for sure how it applies. Even if it does not cover the implants themselves, it might cover other parts of your tooth replacement journey, such as preliminary procedures or your final restoration. Our insurance-friendly team will be happy to help you maximize your benefits.
Making Dental Implants Affordable
Whether or not your insurance will pay for part of your dental implant procedure, it is understandable if you do not want to pay your entire financial obligation upfront. That is why we accept CareCredit. CareCredit is a third-party lender that provides low-interest and no-interest payment plans for dental services. The application process is fast, and most patients are deemed to be credit-worthy. You may even be able to choose a monthly payment amount that fits your family’s budget.
Dental Implant FAQs
Does Getting Dental Implants Hurt?
Most patients say getting dental implants is much more comfortable than they expected! At Peak Dental Care, we use local anesthesia to ensure you don’t feel pain during the procedure. Though you may experience some mild soreness or swelling afterward, it’s similar in intensity to a tooth extraction and can be managed with over-the-counter pain medications until it fades.
If you’re nervous about the procedure, talk to our team. We’ll walk you through the process and explore options for pain management or distraction methods if needed. Your comfort is always a priority at your trusted implant dentist in Pea Ridge.
How Successful Are Dental Implants?
Dental implants have one of the highest success rates in dentistry—often 95 percent or higher! However, their long-term viability depends on careful planning, precise placement, and healthy healing. At our Pea Ridge dental practice, we use advanced imaging and treatment protocols to ensure your implant is positioned correctly from the start.
We’ll also give you clear instructions to promote proper healing at home. When placed and maintained properly, dental implants can last decades, or even a lifetime in some cases. That’s why patients searching for dental implants in Pea Ridge trust our experienced team for outstanding results.
Am I Too Old to Get Dental Implants?
You’re in luck—there’s no upper age limit for dental implants! In fact, many older adults make great candidates. If you’re healthy enough for minor dental surgery and have enough jawbone density to support implant fixtures, you’re likely a good match. At our office, we focus more on your oral and overall health than your age.
Whether you’re 50 or 80, implants can restore your ability to chew, speak clearly, and smile confidently. When you come in for your consultation, we’ll evaluate your medical history, jawbone health, and goals to create a treatment plan especially for you. Dental implants can greatly improve your quality of life, no matter how old you are.
How Long Does It Take to Recover from Dental Implant Surgery?
Recovery time varies depending on your health and how many implants you receive. In most cases, patients return to normal activities within a couple of days. However, the implant site will continue healing over the next few months as the titanium fixture fuses with your jawbone—a process called osseointegration.
During this time, it’s important to follow all post-op instructions from Dr. Baioni, including dietary recommendations and oral hygiene tips. Minor swelling or tenderness is normal but should improve quickly. If you ever feel like something is “off” with your recovery, including extended or severe pain, give us a call, and we’ll follow up to ensure everything stays on track.