Dental Implants

Dental implants are widely considered the gold standard for replacing missing teeth. At Nova Dental Care of Chantilly, implants offer a permanent, natural-looking, and natural-feeling solution to tooth loss that preserves bone, restores full chewing function, and lasts decades or even a lifetime. Unlike bridges, implants don't require modifying adjacent teeth, and unlike traditional dentures, they provide stability and chewing ability comparable to natural teeth.

A dental implant consists of three parts: a titanium post that's surgically placed into the jawbone where the missing tooth root would be, an abutment that connects the post to the visible portion, and a custom crown (or bridge or denture) that attaches on top. The titanium post fuses with the jawbone over several months in a process called osseointegration, creating a stable foundation that mimics a natural tooth root. This biological integration is what makes implants so successful and long-lasting.

The implant process typically takes 4 to 6 months from start to finish. The first phase involves surgical placement of the implant post, followed by a 3 to 6 month healing period during which the implant fuses with the bone. Once integration is confirmed, the abutment and crown are placed. While this timeline is longer than alternatives like bridges, the result is a permanent solution that doesn't require adjusting adjacent teeth and offers superior function. For patients with sufficient bone, this treatment preserves jawbone that would otherwise deteriorate after tooth loss. For patients with bone loss, bone grafting may be performed before or with implant placement.