What Can I Wear While a Front Tooth Implant Heals?
In this video, Dr. Thomas Hanson explains temporary tooth replacement options that help maintain your appearance while a front dental implant heals.
When we find a patient needs a tooth extracted and they’re wanting to restore it with an implant, sometimes we do what we call the immediate placement of a dental implant. That means we numb you up real well, wiggle the tooth out, place the implant, and then maybe pack some bone graft material around the implant to take up the space and suture it closed with stitches.
Then we take an impression of your mouth and fabricate what they call an Essix bridge. The Essix bridge is like an over-snap-on clear plastic device that snaps over your teeth and has the space for the tooth that you’re missing, which we fill in with composite tooth-colored material so it looks like your real tooth.
We wear that for maybe a week or 2, and we can also scan for a more permanent solution since you have to wait 3 months for it to heal. That’s called a unilateral flex partial, and that takes about 2 weeks to make and get back. That works real well for the patient while they’re waiting on their permanent porcelain crown.
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- Temporary Teeth vs. Final Implant Restoration: What’s the Difference?
- How Are Final Implant Teeth Designed for Fit and Appearance?
- Can I Get a Dental Implant Immediately After Tooth Extraction?
- What Are My Options for Replacing a Single Tooth?
- Healing After Dental Implant Surgery: What to Expect
- How Long Does the Mini Dental Implant Process Take?

