A dental implant is an actual prosthetic replacement for an absent tooth.
Dental implants are implanted in your jawbone, just like your natural teeth. One exceptional advantage of dental implants is that, unlike your natural teeth, they can’t develop cavities. In addition, implants will not disturb neighboring healthy teeth or lead to bone loss in the jaw. If well-cared for, dental implants can last you a lifetime.
Implants are made of titanium metal that “melds” with the jawbone through a process called osseointegration (when bone cells attach themselves to the metal surface of the implant itself) — this process usually takes several months to occur after the tooth is implanted into the jawbone and is the reason why implants never slip or click like dentures sometimes do, and why bone loss is usually not a concern.
