How can we help you?
When you choose a new dental office, you probably have numerous questions about what we offer, what to expect, and about our team. We listed some of our most common questions here, but if yours is not listed, we encourage you to call our office for more details. You can also use our handy contact form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Dental Implants
Dental implants are one of the most innovative dental treatments because they actually integrate with your bone. This process, called osseointegration, provides exceptional stability and reliability for our patients with missing teeth.
When seeking dental implants in our Encinitas dental office, you can count on a few steps:
Oral evaluation – Dr. Kay will determine if you have enough healthy bone for a dental implant and where it should be located for the best results.
Surgery – Placing your dental implant in the ideal location will result in the best function and esthetics of your final dental implant crown. Dental implant surgery results in little discomfort and most patients recover quickly.
Healing time – Waiting for your implant and bone to fuse together is important before restoring your tooth. This will allow your dental implant to become stable enough to support the force caused by chewing.
Restoration – Placing a custom dental implant crown on your tooth will complete your smile. This is often the most exciting part of treatment for our patients. Your gap will disappear, and your crown will blend in. No one will know that you have a dental implant!
Caring for your implant – You should brush and floss regularly to keep your dental implant healthy.
Because of advancements in dentistry as well as improved patient education and knowledge about oral health, we extract fewer teeth than ever before. Occasionally, something occurs that makes an extraction necessary, but we will only recommend it after we have done everything we can to save your tooth.
If you have missing teeth or a planned extraction, we offer a wide variety of options to replace your missing tooth. For single teeth, we may recommend a dental implant or a dental bridge, depending on your health, lifestyle, and personal preference.
A dental implant is one of the most practical and effective ways to replace a missing tooth because your dental implant, which we surgically implant into your bone, is closest to your natural teeth in both appearance and function. Dental implants also provide the added benefits of preserving your bone and they do not require us to involve your adjacent teeth, leaving them intact.
If you prefer a different alternative or if you are not a good candidate for dental implants, we also offer dental bridges. Dental bridges use your adjacent teeth to anchor a prosthetic tooth. It will hold the space from your missing tooth as well as complete your chewing surface and smile.
If you have multiple missing teeth, we offer partial removable dentures, implant supported bridges, and complete dentures.