Dental Implants

Front Range Dental Center PLLC, your Fort Collins dentist, places Dental Implants in Fort Collins.  Our Fort Collins Dental Practice places Dental Implants for residence of Fort Collins, Timanth, Windsor, Wellington, Loveland, Laporte and Cheyenne.

Dental Implants

Fort Collins dentists Dr. Kathryn Radtke and Dr. Brad Eckhardt have attend numerous classes after dental school on  placing dental implants.  The dentists are able to place the dental implants in their Fort Collins office.

What is a Dental Implant?

Dental implants are prosthetic replacements for missing roots and teeth. The dental implant acts as the tooth’s root, and a prosthetic crown is placed over the implant to replace the missing tooth. In essence, the dental implants are metal ‘screws’ in different sizes and shapes for the specific needs of a patient, whether a single or multiple teeth need to be replaced. These are fixed within the bone where the previous tooth or teeth existed. The root portion of the dental implant forms the root where as the exposed portion (above the gum-line) supports the prosthesis. Once placed, a prosthetic crown, bridge and even a denture can be fixed onto the implant to replace the natural crown of the tooth.

Dental implants are made of biologically-friendly metals such as nickel and titanium, of which titanium alloys are now most frequently used. Titanium is a precious metal which has the unique ability to attract bone cells. When a Titanium dental implant is placed, bone cells begin to deposit around the dental implant and over time, stabilize it firmly in place- this process is known as “osseo-integration”, whereby the dental implant naturally integrates itself within the bone due to the deposition of new bone around it.

How are Dental Implants placed?

Placing a dental implant is relatively simple, considering the complexity of the dental implants function. Before placement, your Fort Collins dentist will take X-ray to assess the condition of the bone available and the type of implant needed is decided accordingly. If additional bone is needed, your Fort Collins dentist can do a Bone Graph (add additional bone to your jaw area).  The placement steps are as follows:

• Local anesthesia is administered to effectively numb the area to be worked on.
• According to the type of dental implant being used, incisions in the gum are made and a hole is drilled with a hand-piece into the bone where there implant is to be placed.
• The dental implant is then inserted into the prepared hole and further tightened into place for better stability.
• The dental implant needs to heal for a period of a few weeks to a few months, depending on the severity of the procedure.

Once the gum and bone have healed, a dental prosthesis such as a crown, bridge and even a removable denture can be placed and fixed over the dental implant

Front Range Dental Center is located in Southeast Fort Collins near the intersection of Harmony and Ziegler.   Our Fort Collins dentist place dental implants for the following dental communites: Fort Collins, Windsor, Timnath, Wellington, Loveland, Laporte, Ault, and Cheyenne.