Can You Get An Implant Immediately After Extraction?
Jun 01, 2023
Losing teeth can significantly impact your bite function, oral health, and self-confidence. Dental implants offer an excellent option to improve your bite function and smile. Compared to alternative tooth replacement treatments, dental implants are the closest to your natural tooth in terms of stability, strength, comfort, and appearance.
Since dental implants require surgery, most people are often curious about how long they can wait after tooth extraction to get dental implants. Traditional, you would have to wait several weeks to get dental implants after tooth extraction. It allows the gums and bone to heal before placing the implant.
Thanks to recent innovations in dentistry, you don’t always have to wait for weeks to get an implant after tooth extraction. In some cases, implants can be placed immediately after tooth extraction, also known as immediate implant placement. Keep reading to learn more about immediate dental implant placement, factors to consider, benefits, and risks.
Benefits and Risks of Immediate Implant Placement
While immediate dental implants are highly successful, they come with their pros and cons. These include:
- Benefits of Immediate Dental Implant Placement
Some of the benefits of getting a dental implant immediately after a tooth extraction include:
- Immediate results: Traditionally, you would have to wait several weeks to get an implant after tooth extraction. By placing an implant immediately after extraction, get your new smile immediately.
- Shorter treatment: Traditional implants require separate appointments and a healing time for tooth extraction and implant placement. Immediate implant placement performs both procedures in a single appointment, significantly reducing the length of your treatment.
- Preserves the jawbone: Once you lose a tooth, the underlying jawbone deteriorates due to a lack of chewing stimulation. Waiting several weeks to get an implant can cause significant jawbone loss. Immediate implant placement helps preserve the jawbone and provides a better foundation for the implant.
- Fewer surgical procedures: Since immediate dental implants are placed on the same appointment the tooth is extracted, it reduces the number of procedures and appointments required for the treatment.
- Quick recovery: Removing your tooth and placing the implant in a single appointment reduces the amount of recovery. With a traditional implant, you would have two appointments, each with its independent recovery.
While rare, below are the potential risks of getting an immediate implant:
- Infections: Immediate implant placement increases your risk of infections in the implant site, particularly if you have underlying oral issues like gum disease and decay. Contact any of our dental offices if you experience complications after immediate implant placement.
- Complex procedure: Removing a tooth and placing an implant can be a lengthy and relatively complex procedure, which can be overwhelming.
- Dental implant failure: Your immediate implant may fail due to various factors like infections, improper positioning, or patient noncompliance to aftercare instructions.
- Poor aesthetics: Improper implant positioning can lead to unnatural results.
Factors That Affect Immediate Implant Placement
Below are some of the factors that can influence the success of your immediate dental implants:
- Overall oral health: A good candidate for immediate implants should have healthy gums, bones, and mouth. Existing oral problems like gum disease and tooth decay can increase your risk of implant failure or infections.
- Reason for tooth extraction: In most cases, immediate implant placement replaces teeth due to trauma. Teeth with severe decay, infection, or gum disease may not be suitable for immediate replacement.
- Adequate bone density: Healthy and sufficient jawbone density is essential to create a strong foundation for dental implants. An insufficient jawbone can lead to implant failure. You may need a bone graft before getting an implant if you have inadequate bone.
- Overall health: It’s great to have overall good health. Existing health problems like diabetes can slow down wound healing, increasing your risk of implant failure. Such conditions can disqualify you for immediate implant placement.
- Excellent oral hygiene: Excellent oral hygiene is essential for the long-term success of immediate dental implants. Poor hygiene can lead to infections and implant failure.
- Lifestyle habits: Certain habits like smoking can increase your risk of infections and implant failure.
Are Immediate Dental Implants Right for You?
Are you interested in immediate dental implants or other dental implants like all in 4 implants? Contact Jersey Smile to book a consultation with our dentist in Berkeley Heights.