Missing teeth can make you feel really self-conscious. There are various things that your dentist can do for you. One of those things is to use a dental implant, which can help replace your missing tooth or teeth. 

Dental Implants

A dental implant is a replacement that acts more like a real tooth than just plain dentures do. That's because the implant consists of a post that is implanted into the existing socket and jaw bone. The post acts as the root of the tooth and then an artificial tooth or dentures are anchored to your mouth using that post. Getting implants is a long process, but if you are a good candidate, they are a good way to replace your missing teeth. 

Bone Grafts

If you don't have enough bone left in your jaw, your dentist will have to make sure that you get a bone graft. Adding in a little bit of bone will make sure that your jaw is healthy enough to take the implants. The grafts aren't generally very large, but the size will vary depending on how many implants you need and how degraded your jawbone is. The dentist has several choices of material to use when they are giving you bone grafts. One is that they can use your own bone. In this case, they will take a small section of bone from some place like your foot and then put that in your jaw. Your dentist could also choose to use a synthetic material. A material like this will act as the bone and will meld with your bone making it stronger. A third choice is to use donor bone. These bones usually come from an organ donor. The bone is carefully cleaned and sterilized so that it will work with your body better. Your dentist will make the decision which kind of bone to use for your situation depending on the size of the grafts and your general health. If you have to have a bone graft, you will have to wait several weeks for it to heal before the rest of the implant process can proceed. That's because it takes time for all the bone to meld together to become one solid whole. 

If you are missing teeth, dental implants may be the right choice for you. Your dentist can tell you if you are a good candidate for dental implants. Contact someone like Aaron G Birch, DDS PC for more information.