Dental Implants: What They Are and How They Replace a Missing Tooth
If you are missing a tooth, or expecting to lose one, you have probably come across the word implant. It covers a particular piece of hardware and a particular idea about what is being replaced, so that is where this article starts.
What a dental implant is
A dental implant replaces a missing tooth root (American College of Prosthodontists). Once the implant heals, your dentist can restore it with an artificial tooth. Implants are small, threaded posts that surgically replace missing teeth (Cleveland Clinic).
The parts of an implant
An implant has three main parts. The threaded post is the actual implant, and a provider places it in your jawbone during surgery. The abutment is a tiny connector post that screws into the threaded post. The restoration is the new tooth that can be seen, and common implant restorations are crowns, bridges and implant-supported dentures (Cleveland Clinic).
Most implants are titanium, but some are ceramic (Cleveland Clinic).
The types of implant treatment
Implant treatment comes in several forms. A single-tooth replacement is a single implant that supports a crown. An implant bridge is two or more implants that support a permanent bridge to replace three or more teeth. A full arch is multiple implants, usually four to six, that support a full arch of teeth — an arch meaning all of your upper or lower teeth — and those implants may support non-removable dentures or dentures that snap on and off (Cleveland Clinic).
Whether implants suit a particular person is a separate matter, and it is covered in who can get dental implants. The surgery itself and the healing that follows are covered in the dental implant process, step by step.
Whether there is enough jawbone
With all types, it is important that there is enough jawbone to support the implant. If there isn't, your provider may need to place dental bone grafts to build up places where there is bone loss (Cleveland Clinic).
How long implants last, how they compare with bridges or dentures, and what treatment costs are all separate questions that this article does not settle.
Our office is at 147 Main St, 2nd Floor, Lodi, NJ 07644, and Dr. Steven Liao is our dentist. There is also our dental implants page. When you are ready to put these questions to a dentist in person, the next step is our first-visit page.
Sources
- Cleveland Clinic. "Dental Implants." Updated 2026-06-11. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/10903-dental-implants
- American College of Prosthodontists. "Dental Implants." https://www.gotoapro.org/dental-implants/
