Listen to Your Dentist When They Recommend Wisdom Teeth Extraction

When you are missing a tooth, especially in the mouth's front area, you can feel demoralized and upset. When a tooth is gone, the open space in your mouth can negatively impact your overall confidence. Fortunately, you have some options that can replace your missing tooth in one visit, at least temporarily. Here are some things you need to know:

How Can a Tooth Be Replaced in a Day?

An oral surgeon will look at your damaged or missing tooth to begin the restoration. The replacement will involve the placement of a dental implant. The process of getting a dental implant can take months, but you can get a temporary tooth placed while you wait for the entire implant to take place.

The doctor will start the dental implant process by checking your bone density within the jaw. If your jawbone is strong enough to hold an implant, the doctor will begin the process of inserting the screw into the jawbone. Once that process is finished, you can have a temporary tooth placed while your permanent crown is in production.

Keep in mind that, depending on the location of the missing tooth, a temporary may not be possible. Your jawbone may not be strong enough to support a tooth that needs to function. The implant can take longer to integrate with the jawbone and therefore cannot support a temporary tooth.

However, when the jawbone is in great shape and you have no other dental issues that would prohibit a temporary tooth, you can leave the procedure with a temporary tooth in the open gap in your mouth, essentially restoring your smile on the same day. In a best-case scenario, you will never be seen without some type of tooth in your mouth.

After the dental implants have had time to fuse to integrate to the jawbone and have completely healed, a customized porcelain crown that matches your other teeth will be attached to the head of the dental implant, which is permanent and will completely restore the missing tooth.  

Are You a Candidate for a Temporary Right Away?

As mentioned, you must have a strong jawbone structure to ensure the temporary tooth can be fully supported. There are some other indicators that make you a good candidate. You are also a good candidate if the missing tooth is visible within your smile line. If your doctor does not believe a temporary bridge is not a good option, you may be able to get a temporary crown with your initial implant procedure.