Anita came to Dr. Ueckert’s office with a failed dental restoration. She had undergone root canal therapy and crown placement on her fourth molar, which was unable to maintain tooth’s strength. When the restoration fractured at the gumline, the tooth was no longer able to be saved and tooth extraction was her only option.

In order to maintain jawbone density and preserve the patient’s ridgeline, Dr. Bradley recommended a dental implant procedure. A dental implant provides a long term solution to tooth loss, and is instrumental in maintaining and preserving the bone tissue in the mouth.

The first step was a simple extraction of the damaged tooth. The arrow in the image below points to the fracture.

Bone Grafting was completed to restore health to the jaw bone. The bone graft helps to regenerate tissue, preserve the existing bone structure and creates a strong, stable location for implant placement.

Once the extraction site has healed and the bone graft has effectively strengthen the bone tissue, the dental implant post can be set.

The positioning post is used to confirm proper bone density, and to ensure the implant is correctly aligned with the surrounding teeth.

The dental implant is then installed and fitted with a healing abutment. The abutment will allow the tissues to heal before the implant has pressure placed on it. After the implant site has completely healed, the implant post will be fitted with a final restoration..