How Long After Tooth Extraction Can You Get an Implant?
If you have a tooth extracted for decay, injury, or other reasons, you might want to replace the missing tooth as soon as possible with dental implants. However, do you know how long you must wait to receive the implant after removing your tooth? If not, we suggest reading this article to ensure you make an informed decision about choosing the appropriate time for replacing your missing tooth.
Your anxiety about having the tooth replaced immediately after extraction is justified because you wouldn’t want to be a victim of a misaligned bite, dental infections in the edentulous tooth socket, embarrassed by showing off gaps between your teeth, and confronting challenges when biting foods. Dental implants are an excellent choice for replacing missing teeth and are currently considered the gold standard tooth replacement option.
Implants are not simple replacement solutions sitting atop your gums but require surgery to embed them deep into your jawbone and plenty of healing time before you can eventually have an artificial tooth in the form of a porcelain dental plan mounted atop it. After getting a tooth extracted, you have several options for replacing the missing one.
Can You Get a Temporary Tooth While Waiting for an Implant?
While waiting for an implant following tooth removal, you can discuss the option of having a temporary tooth in the edentulous socket with the dental office performing the removal. If you have a healthy jawbone dense enough to support an implant immediately, the dentist might recommend placing the implant immediately following the extraction. Unfortunately, if you don’t have a healthy jawbone to help the implant, the dentist might suggest getting a temporary partial to close the gap in your mouth until your tooth socket heals to undergo additional procedures to strengthen the jawbone.
Implant placement generally occurs about 90 days after tooth removal to confirm your jawbone is healthy and is not affected by conditions like periodontal disease that might have deteriorated it to make bone grafting surgery a requirement. The grafting surgery also requires healing time, ranging from three to six months before you can receive implants in the socket. You can proceed with implant placement surgery only after your gums are healthy and your jawbone is strong to provide it the stability and security it needs to remain stable in your mouth.
Who Are Deemed Ineligible for Implant Placement?
Although dental implants are the gold standard for replacing missing teeth, many people are not eligible to receive them. For example, people with immunosuppressive conditions like diabetes do not qualify for receiving dental implants because of the time they take to recover from the surgical procedure. In addition, people accustomed to smoking and unwilling to quit the habit are also ineligible to receive dental implants because the chances of implant failure are higher among such people. Therefore if you desire to have dental implants in your mouth for your missing teeth, you must not have uncontrolled diabetes or quit smoking if you smoke before receiving them as tooth replacement solutions.
Implants appear and function like your natural teeth after placement and recovery from the procedure. Therefore, implants don’t need special dental care besides brushing, flossing, and regular dental visits for exams and cleanings. When you receive implants, you also gain freedom from infections like tooth decay because the artificial dental crowns do not attract the bacteria that erode tooth enamel. Unfortunately, your gums remain natural and attract dental plaque, making you vulnerable to gum disease. Therefore, even after receiving implants, you must maintain excellent dental hygiene by brushing twice daily and flossing at least once around your natural and implanted teeth to remove plaque and prevent implant failure.
The stipulations for receiving implants might seem challenging besides the intensive procedure of having them as artificial tooth roots to replace your natural tooth. However, implants are a replacement solution for life that remains with you forever so long as you take appropriate care of your dental health and adhere to your dentist’s guidelines on caring for the placements appropriately. However, it helps if you wait at least 90 days for your tooth socket to recover from an extraction before considering implant placement to support your artificial tooth.
Alternatively, if you insist on having implants placed immediately following tooth removal, discuss the treatment with Smiles of Gilbert to plan ahead and perform socket preservation during your appointment for a tooth removal. Socket preservation is similar to bone graft to ensure jawbone deterioration doesn’t occur and allows expedited dental implant placement.