Is It Better To Get A Dental Implant When A Tooth Is Pulled, Or To Wait?
Dental implants can help to restore even the most damaged smiles. If you know that you need to have a tooth pulled and are interested in getting a dental implant to replace that tooth, you may be curious as to whether you should get it at the same time your tooth is pulled, or if you should wait until after you've recovered from that procedure first. Here's what you should know.
No Reason to Delay
It's actually quite common for people to get dental implants at the same time that they're having a tooth pulled. Doing so means you don't have to go to the dentist's office twice, and your dentist can take care of pulling your tooth while you're under general anesthesia, which may make it a more pleasant experience for you.
Easier Installation Process
There are actually some advantages to having a dental implant put in at the same time a tooth is pulled.
When a dental implant is put in place long after a tooth is pulled or lost, some additional steps are needed to get that implant in place. Namely, a small hole has to be drilled in the jaw bone in order to insert the implant. This is because the implant extends as far as a real tooth, which means that it's anchored in the jaw bone and emerges just over the surface of the gums.
When you have a tooth pulled and an implant inserted at the same time, the need for drilling is eliminated or reduced. The tooth that was in the jaw will open up a space in the jaw once it's out of the way, which the implant can simply be slid into instead of having to make a new hole. Even if you do need some drilling, there will be less of it than if you were getting an implant after your jaw had sealed up the place where your tooth used to be.
No Need for Two Recoveries
Another great advantage to getting everything done at once is that you don't have to go through recovery twice. Getting a tooth pulled and getting a dental implant both require a little downtime before you can get back to your regular life. After all, they're both intense procedures, and the opening in the gums will need to heal before you can fully get back to normal.
Much like having wisdom teeth extracted all at once, most people prefer to not have to go through oral surgery and its recovery more than once in a short period of time, so consider getting your implant when you get your tooth pulled.
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