Important Dental Implant Terms!

How much do you know about dental implant placement, recovery, and the overall process? If you have a general understanding that you can replace your entire tooth but you don’t know much more, you may quickly find yourself up against some slightly confusing jargon. To avoid a sudden standstill in your research, we suggest you make your way through a handful of helpful, essential terms. Once you’ve got the basics down, feeling clued-in and well-informed about implants will be a piece of cake!

What Is An Implant, Really?

You might think of an implant as one unit that replaces your whole tooth. This is a common misconception! What a dental implant is really is a single post that will sit in place of your missing roots. It will be inserted into your jaw tissue and is just long enough to reach your gumline.

What’s Osseointegration?

It sounds fancy and it’s quite impressive but it’s very easy to understand. The reason implants are successful is because of this process. It’s what happens when we place the implant into your jawbone: Your jaw tissue and the dental implant post fuse together.

About The Abutment

The abutment is a term you should know because it refers to the piece that will connect your dental implant (the post in your jawbone and gum tissue) to a future restoration.

Understanding The Terms Restore And Restoration

About that restoration term…what’s it mean? When we say we are going to “restore” your dental implant or that we are placing a “restoration” this is just a word that’s used to talk about the artificial tooth or series of teeth that receive its support from your implant (or implants). A restoration may be a crown (for a single implant) or a denture or bridge (for multiple implants).

ABOUT YOUR AUSTIN, MN, DENTIST:

Our team offers our patients and their family access to comprehensive dental care, including general, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry. To schedule an appointment with the Potach and Mitchell Dental Clinic, contact our Austin, MN dental office today by calling 507-437-6312. Our office welcomes patients from Austin, MN and surrounding communities.