Dental Implants – Lubbock, TX

Initial Dental Implant Consultation

First, we'll want to inspect your oral health and the status of your smile. With this information, Dr. Shively can begin to formulate a custom treatment plan that will determine if you require additional services. If we discover any signs of dental decay, cavities, gum disease, etc., we’ll need to address these issues before allowing you to move forward with dental implant surgery. We’ll also check your jawbone density to see if bone grafting will be required.

Dental Implant Surgery

Dr. Shively will begin by administering local anesthesia to numb your mouth before the surgery begins. Once you cannot feel any poking or prodding, he will start to place one or more implants into the jawbone, creating a sturdy foundation. This requires opening the gum tissue and creating a space within the bone for the implant to rest.

After closing up the gum tissue, protective healing caps will be positioned over the implant posts for improved recovery.

Dental Implant Osseointegration/Abutment

The implants will need a few months to bond with the bone in a process known as osseointegration. This can often take 3-6 months before it is complete. During this time, you will need to follow the instructions we provide to ensure you heal properly. You don’t want to take any chances, as your dental implants in Lubbock remain vulnerable until they successfully fuse with the bone. Once you are fully healed, we may also attach abutments, which will connect the implant(s) to the lifelike restoration.

Delivery of Dental Implant Restorations

Before you start living life with your new and improved smile, you will need to have your customized restoration put in place. Our team will seat your brand-new "teeth" over the implant or implants, ensuring a comfortable, confident fit. What you will see is a beautiful work of art that allows you to embrace all that life has to offer, enjoying foods you love and speaking with superior confidence and clarity.

Day-to-Day Benefits

Tooth loss can negatively impact your daily life because once-basic tasks, like eating and speaking, become much more challenging. Not only that, but many patients struggle to accept the sudden changes to their appearance with gaps in their grin.

Dental implants can help improve your day-to-day experience in the following ways:

• Improve bite force. These replacement teeth are firmly rooted and can potentially return up to 80% or more of your original bite force after you’ve fully recovered.
• Enhance enunciation. They close the spaces in your smile so you can overcome any speech impediments, like a lisp or slur, resulting from tooth loss.
• Boost confidence. They’re carefully customized to resemble your natural teeth so that you can look and feel like the most attractive version of yourself.

Health Benefits

There are additional reasons to consider getting dental implants that extend deeper than the surface. For example, they can support your oral and overall health because they help:

• Preserve your jawbone. This is the only treatment that involves surgically placing support rods into your jaw that function like roots, stimulating new bone growth to keep it active and healthy.
• Prevent additional tooth loss. Maintaining your jawbone helps avoid additional tooth loss so your smile can continue to function normally.
• Improve your dental condition. Keeping your prosthetics in good shape doesn’t require a lot of special attention. You can maintain them with a twice-daily at-home dental hygiene routine and visit our team for a checkup and cleaning every six months.

Long-Term Benefits

The results of this treatment tend to last longer than other restorations, allowing patients to enjoy additional long-term advantages, such as:

• High success rate. This procedure has a high success rate of 90% or more, meaning you’re unlikely to develop complications if you follow our team’s post-op directions carefully.
• Resilient materials. Implants tend to last longer than bridges or dentures and can be more resistant to chips, cracks, and stains.
• Save on additional expenses. There’s no need to invest in extra accessories over time, like adhesives, special soaking solutions, cleaners, or other products, saving you money over time.

Who Is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

Not everybody is a good candidate for dental implants right away, which is why the initial consultation process is so important. During your appointment, Dr. Shively will take X-rays of your mouth and conduct a thorough examination. He’ll also speak with you about your medical history and your goals that for your smile. If you’re not a good candidate right away, he may be able to help you become one with preliminary treatments like gum disease therapy, a tooth extraction, or a bone graft. 

Once you’ve healed from any necessary preparatory procedures, he’ll outline a customized dental implant treatment plan for you. This will revolve around many different factors, including how many teeth you are missing:

Missing 1 Tooth

To replace one tooth, Dr. Shively will place a single dental implant in the gap in your smile. Once it has fused with the jawbone, our team can then attach a customized dental crown to it that will fit in perfectly between your natural teeth. Our dental crowns are carefully crafted from natural-looking materials, so the end result will blend in seamlessly with the rest of your smile.

Missing Multiple Teeth

To replace two or more missing teeth in a row, we also offer implant bridges. Instead of altering surrounding teeth, like we would have to do with a traditional bridge, we’ll place two dental implants on either side of the gap in your smile. These will anchor the prosthetic securely in place and help you avoid all the drawbacks of a traditional dental bridge!

For multiple missing teeth throughout the mouth, we may recommend a partial implant denture! This restoration looks just like a partial denture, which fits around and between remaining teeth to fill in the empty spaces like a puzzle piece. However, instead of relying on metal wires and clasps to stay in place, this partial denture is supported by a few dental implants in precise locations for a much more comfortable and stable fit.

Missing All Teeth

In the past, the only option for patients who were missing all their teeth was to get a removable full denture. But that’s not the case anymore! We are pleased to offer patients facing severe tooth loss implant dentures, which offer unmatched stability, comfort, and function when compared to their traditional removable counterparts. We’ll use four to eight strategically placed dental implants throughout the mouth to anchor a full denture in place, giving you the complete, confident smile you deserve!

Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery

We may recommend preliminary treatments like gum disease therapy, tooth extractions, or bone grafting. While these services do add to your overall cost, they’re integral for the success of your implants. Next, your surgery will incur its own cost. Thankfully, we offer the entire implant process at the same convenient location, making your fees simple and compact instead of multiple payments to various practices.

The Parts of Your Dental Implant

There are several parts of the dental implant that impact your total cost, including:

• Number of implants: The number of implants that you need will affect your cost. Usually, the more teeth you need replaced, the higher your price will be. However, our implant dentist in Lubbock can replace an entire row of teeth with just 4 to 6 dental implants as a cost-effective treatment.
• Restoration: The type of restoration will also impact your price. Crowns, bridges, and dentures each have different assigned costs. Usually, the smaller restorations are less expensive.
• Material and size: Implants are made in different sizes with various materials to accommodate the needs of a wide range of cases.
• Brand: Like clothes or cars, there are different brands of implants, varying in cost.

Please don’t hesitate to contact our office if you have any questions or concerns. We proudly use high-quality materials for lasting smiles.

How Dental Implants Can Save You Money

Dental implants tend to cost more than other replacement options, however their benefits make them well worth your investment. In fact, dental implants can actually save your hard-earned cash because they last so long. Instead of replacing your dentures or bridges every 5 to 10 years, implants have the ability to last for the rest of your life with proper care. This keeps you smiling while saving you time and money from avoiding replacements. Plus, they help prevent common oral health issues like tooth decay, gum disease, and more, lowering your risk of needing to pay for additional dental treatments.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

Usually, dental insurance does not cover dental implants in Lubbock, however there are some exceptions. Your preliminary treatments and final restorations may be partially covered, but this will vary from plan to plan. That’s why it’s best to speak with your provider before making any decisions. Our friendly team is happy to communicate with your insurance directly to help you maximize your benefits and pay less out of pocket for your treatment.

Making Dental Implants Affordable

No insurance? No worries! We have our dental savings plan with KLEER® that allows patients to enjoy discounted dentistry without the confusing deductibles, maximums, and rules of traditional insurance. Additionally, we have alternative financing through CareCredit. With this option, patients can choose the monthly payment plan that fits their budget for cost-effective dental implants.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

Even with dental implants, daily brushing and flossing are still essential. Without good oral hygiene, bacteria might build up in your mouth and weaken the gum and bone that keep your implants in place, ultimately resulting in dental implant failure. Fortunately, this is easily preventable as long as you brush twice a day and floss at least once a day – just like you would for your home-grown teeth.

Eat a Healthy Diet

It’s no secret that sugary treats cause cavities, but they’re not great for your dental implants, either. Although your implants cannot decay, any natural teeth you have left still can. Not to mention, a diet too high in sugar can increase the risk of gum infections that put your implants at risk. Instead of giving harmful oral bacteria the fuel they need to wreak havoc, fill your diet with mouth-healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. Calcium and vitamin C in particular are valuable nutrients for your oral health, as they promote a healthy jawbone and gums, respectively.

Break Bad Habits

If you tend to bite your fingernails when stressed, like to eat ice, grind your teeth, smoke, or chew on pens and pencils, it’s time to quite these habits. All of them could put your implants and any remaining teeth you have in harm’s way. Biting down on hard objects that are not food could cause your implant restorations to break, and tobacco greatly increases the risk of gum disease. Feel free to ask our team about how to find the right resources to help you curb habits like these.

Protect Your Dental Implants

Do you play sports in your free time? Do you often wake up with headaches or jaw soreness? If the answer to either of these questions is “yes,” then ask Dr. Shively about a custom mouthguard. An athletic mouthguard can protect your implants from serious injury, while a nightguard can minimize long-term damage from teeth grinding that occurs while you sleep. Our mouthguards are personalized to fit your unique smile, so they’re much more comfortable and effective than the cheaply made appliances you can find in stores.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Unless we recommend otherwise, you’ll need to continue visiting our dental team every six months for a checkup and cleaning. Even if nothing feels wrong with your implants, natural teeth, or gums, it never hurts to make sure they’re in optimal condition. Oftentimes, oral health concerns like decay or infections are barely noticeable in the early stages, but Dr. Shively can detect them before they’ve had the chance to cause lasting damage to your smile.