Menu

Call Us Today

Dental Implants

Dr. Cleave has been surgically placing and restoring dental implants since 1986. He has done in excess of 1700 implants. Dr. Cleave has the highest credetials in Implant Dentisry (please see biography page). Dr Cleave has also published in the Journal of Oral Implantology and was a manuscript reviewer for this journal for many years. For those that need dental implant treatment and are frightened of the surgery, Dr. Cleave has held a Moderate IV Sedation Permit since 1993.

The office also has a 3D Cone Beam CT Scan (Computerized Tomography) to aid in treatment planing the best sites for dental implant placement as well as predicting, before surgery, the proper prosthetic reconstruction you require.

Dental implants can be a permanent and appealing solution to replace missing or extracted teeth. They are better than other alternatives like bridges because no additional virgin teeth need to be altered to place the new tooth. If you have teeth with fillings or root canals next to the site that has no tooth, then a convention fixed bridge is a better option. If you have no teeth behind your extracted tooth, then implants are the only choice for prosthetic teeth that do not have to be removed on a daily basis and of which has little or no security with denture adhesives, DENTURES.

The entire implant process is performed over the course of a few months depending on the quality and volume of bone that exist around the extracted tooth or around the area that has no teeth. If you have no teeth, it is likely that your bone has resorbed and that you may need a bone graft in addition to a dental implant. If this bone loss is extensive then you will have to have the bone graft first, along with guided tissue regeneration to give us enough bone to place an implant.

If, on the other hand, their is enough bone in the exttraction site, then an immediate placment of an implant into the extraction site with some bone grafting and guided tissue regeneration is needed Healing is required in most cases before the prosthetid phase of the treatment is to be started. There are exceptions to this relative to the type of implant receiveddd. Some hybrid cases can be loaded immediatelyi, but as a patient, you will have to remain on a soft diet for 3 months following the implants and prosthesis being done on or near the same date as implant placement.

The implant must heal undisturbed in the bone for between 4-6 months based on the area that the implant is placed. This healing and attaching to bone is termed osseointegration. During this healing time you can have temporary removable bridges inserted so that you can eat and speak normally and maintain a proper aesthetic appearance for your smile.

When the time comes and your doctor tells you that you can now restore the implant a small incision or tissue punch is used to expose the surgical healing screw. An implant abutment is attached to the implant via a hex stabiliation interrnal insert and a retentive screw. This serves as the base for your new tooth. Once placed and the proprer length and angulation are created with a high speed dental drill with copious water, an impression of the abutment is taken just like we would do if a tooth was still in that position. The impression is then sent to the dental laboratory for the construction of an implant crown, your permanent restoration.

Once the restoration is completed you can return to the office to attach the restoration permanently, either a crown or a bridge with or without natural teeth being attached.

This will return you to form, function, and aesthetics. Minimal time is required to get used to the prosthesis since it is just like a tooth retained fixed restoration.

Call our office for a consultation and a 3D Cone Beam CT Scan to determine if you are a candidate for Implant Dentistry.

Contact Us

Send Us an Email

Our Location

Find us on the map

Hours of Operation

Our Regular Schedule

Monday:

9:00 am-8:00 pm

Tuesday:

9:00 am-5:00 pm

Wednesday:

Special Surgical & IV Sedation Appointments

Thursday:

9:00 am-8:00 pm

Friday:

9:00 am-5:00 pm

Saturday:

Closed

Sunday:

Closed