Dental implant placements are excellent to replace missing teeth. However, the dental implant procedure is invasive involving surgery. Therefore it is essential to find a suitable dental professional to perform your dental implant placement.
Which Professional Is Suitable for Dental Implant Placement?
There are three different implants providers, including cosmetic or general dentists, oral surgeons, and periodontists. Understanding what these terms stand for, you find it helpful when looking for dental implant placements to determine who should perform the surgical process. In addition, although all professionals have a high success rate for placing implants, you may prefer one over the other in certain situations. Therefore it helps if you understand the information provided in this article to find a professional best suited to place your implants.
Let us look at the three professionals identified as experts for placing dental implants.
Dentists
Dentists, in the most likelihood, are the professionals determining whether you need a dental implant. As a result, general dentists are increasingly recommending dental implants over other options for replacing missing teeth like dentures or partials.
Cosmetic dentists focusing on enhancing the appearance of your smile are also likely to recommend dental implants over other tooth replacement solutions. In addition, dental implants appear natural than other replacement options to make them a preferred choice among dentists for their patients.
Most dentists receive the training to perform dental implant placements and may complete the surgical process without third-party intervention. Unfortunately, dentists have received less training than oral surgeons or periodontists who are specialists in surgical procedures for dental implants.
Oral Surgeons
Oral surgeons specializing in oral surgery are the safest option for dental implant placement. Therefore if you are wary about the surgical procedure, rest assured you will receive excellent care when having an oral surgeon perform the surgical procedure.
If you need bone grafts before dental implants are embedded into your jawbone, an oral surgeon will likely become necessary as they have more training in bone grafting procedures compared to dentists and periodontists. That said, we must also mention an oral surgeon may not always become necessary as the process for placing the implant is relatively straightforward. In addition, in many cases practicing dentists are also oral surgeons. Therefore when determining whether an oral surgeon is required for placing implants, discuss all options with the Scottsdale dentist.
Periodontists
The procedure for placing implants requires drilling into the gums and integrating the implant with the jawbone. Therefore periodontists specializing in supporting teeth structures are considered highly capable of completing dental implant placement without complications.
Periodontists receive additional education after graduating from dental school on the placement of dental implants. In some cases, they might assist dentists with the placement rather than the former performing the surgery by themselves.
In many cases, dentists are likely to have the know-how and the training to complete dental implant placements without any trouble or risks. Dentists completing the procedure by themselves can save you time and money by scheduling appointments with oral surgeons and periodontists. At the same time, dentists can also walk you to the procedure and provide after-care instructions following the surgery to ensure you indulge in appropriate dental care to help during the recovery until you receive your artificial tooth over the implant.
Dentistry has various divisions with professionals specializing in many. Dentists begin practicing immediately after completing four years of dental school. Still, specialists like periodontists, orthodontists, pedodontists and others spend an additional two to three years specializing in their preferred specialty.
You cannot assume that general dentists cannot perform dental implant placement procedures because they haven’t received the necessary training during their dental school. General dentists concentrate on providing routine dental care needed by their patients and treat patients of all ages. However, whenever necessary, they can also perform the implant placement procedure if required by their patients. Therefore better option is to discuss your needs with the dentist who determines the extent of the process you need by considering factors like how many implants you want, whether you need treatments for other oral conditions, bone grafts, et cetera before determining whether they will do the process themselves or refer you to a specialist for the surgical procedure. It indicates dentists are your first point of contact whenever you need teeth replacements of any kind, especially a procedure as intensive as dental implants.