Dental Implants - Falls Church, VA

Dougherty DDS is proud to offer Falls Church dental implants as a safe and effective treatment option to replace missing teeth. Dental implants also serve as the best option for patients who want to restore natural, healthy teeth. Whether you are missing one tooth, have several teeth missing, or are looking for more extensive implant treatment, we are here to offer implant dentistry in Falls Church. 

How Do Dental Implants Work?

Dental implants are a revolutionary three-part tooth restoration option designed to replace one tooth, several teeth, or an entire arch of teeth. The three parts of a dental implant are:

• The post (or screw), which replaces your natural tooth’s root. It is made of medical-grade titanium, which is an entirely biocompatible material that fuses with your jaw bone during healing.
• The abutment, which connects the post to your new replacement tooth (or teeth).
• The crown, which is custom-designed by your restorative dentist to match your natural teeth.

The fusion of the implant post with the surrounding bone in the jaw (a process called osseointegration) creates a healthy and secure foundation for a single tooth crown, a multi-tooth bridge, or in some cases, even a full fixed denture. 

Benefits of Dental Implants

Dental implants have been a proven and preferred choice for over 30 years and provide our patients with an all-around superior solution for restoring your smile after tooth loss. Dental implants are fully functional, just like your natural teeth, and are also so natural looking that our patients often forget they have had a restoration. Implants are designed to work just like your natural teeth, and with proper care, they can last a lifetime. No other tooth-replacement option has such a high long-term success rate.

We find that most of our patients who request implants are candidates for the procedure — in general, if patients are healthy enough to undergo a minor dental procedure, such as tooth extraction, they will be able to receive dental implants. Below are a few of the many benefits you can expect with dental implants:

• A permanent tooth loss solution, unlike bridges and dentures, which must be replaced after several years of wear
• The strength and stability to confidently eat and drink as you please without discomfort or embarrassment
• A beautiful, natural-looking new smile and the boosted self-confidence to go along with it
• Prevention of the destructive bone atrophy that can occur over time with missing teeth
• No inconvenient and unsightly removable parts

Our Falls Church Dental Implant Services

Our implant services include:

• Sinus Lift Augmentation: Often the sinuses will enlarge following loss of the upper back teeth. This can preclude placement of dental implants in the upper back areas of the mouth, since the sinus is an air-filled space and dental implants need to be surrounded by solid bone. A sinus lift augmentation/graft is a surgical procedure that restores the sinus cavity to its original size, and replaces the bone that has been lost as a result of the enlarged sinus. This new bone graft typically takes nine to 12 months to heal before the dental implants can be placed into the grafted bone.
• Autogenous Bone Grafting: Occasionally, the ideal areas for dental implants do not have sufficient bone quantity to support the implants. In these cases, it is often necessary to “borrow” bone from another area of your mouth and graft it into the deficient area. Often, the area of choice is from the chin or in the back of the jaw where your wisdom teeth used to be.
• Implant Site Development: When a tooth needs to be removed due to infection, it is not uncommon to have lost bone around the infected tooth. In these cases, various types of bone grafting can be done at the same time the tooth is removed to facilitate the placement of a dental implant at a later date.
• Computer-Enhanced Treatment Planning: We have special software on our computer that allows us to evaluate your dental CT scan in three dimensions for bone quality, bone quantity, and bone location, enabling the best possible placement of your dental implants. This also allows us to work closely and smoothly with your restorative dentist to ensure an ideal result where your dental implants are concerned.
• Implant Maintenance: Once your dental implant restoration is completed, it is important to keep the area clean and infection-free. Dental implants can accumulate plaque and tartar just as teeth can. Whether you have just one tooth replaced by an implant or several, a professional cleaning schedule will be necessary to keep your implants healthy. The time interval for these professional cleanings will be determined by your individual needs.

Contact Our Falls Church Implant Dentist

To learn more about our Falls Church dental implant treatment options, contact our office. Our dental team will help you determine whether you are a good candidate for dental implants or help you explore your other restoration options. We provide a calm and welcoming environment in our office, sedation dentistry options, and personalized care to ensure that your visit to us is as comfortable as possible.

William V. Dougherty III, DDS - Falls Church Dentist 
200 Little Falls St #506, Falls Church, VA 22046
(703) 532-3300