Dental Implants – Mount Prospect, IL

Expertly Restoring Smiles to Look & Feel Natural

As a specially trained periodontist, Dr. Khan is able to complete the entire dental implant procedure in-office, including the surgical placement of the implants. Cutting-edge dental implant technology allows our team to take smiles affected by tooth loss and rebuild them using materials that look and feel completely natural. Not only can this drastically boost your confidence, but with the proper care, your replacement teeth can last for 35 or more years. Schedule a consultation with Dr. Khan today to learn whether you’re a good candidate for dental implants in Mount Prospect.

Senior couple outdoors smiling with dental implants in Mount Prospect

Why Choose Epic Periodontics & Implant Center for Dental Implants?

  • Start-to-Finish Dental Implant Treatment
  • Trained Specialist with Over a Decade of Experience
  • We Accept & Maximize Dental Insurance

What Are Dental Implants?

Dental implants themselves are small, titanium posts that are surgically placed below the gumline and into the jawbone to restore the root structure of missing teeth. Due to their biocompatibility, they’re able to fuse with the jawbone through a process called osseointegration, providing necessary blood flow and support to the bone to keep it from deteriorating over time. Once the implants have fused with the bone, our team can secure a customized crown, bridge, or denture to them to complete your smile.

The 4-Step Dental Implant Process

Dentist holding a model of a dental implant
  1. The Initial Consultation. The first step of any dental implant journey is to schedule a consultation with Dr. Khan. She’ll gather diagnostic images of your mouth and go over your dental and medical history with you to help determine whether you’re a good candidate for the procedure.
  2. Dental Implant Surgery. Once you’ve agreed to move forward with treatment, Dr. Khan will schedule your dental implant placement surgery. To secure the implants into your jawbone, she’ll make a small incision in your gums.
  3. Osseointegration & Abutment Placement. Over the next three to six months, you’ll undergo a healing process as well as osseointegration, where your implants will fuse with the jawbone. Once this is complete, we’ll be able to attach small, metal connector pieces to your implants, called abutments.
  4. Securing the Restoration. As soon as your customized prosthetic arrives at our office, we’ll call you back in to secure it to your abutments and complete your smile.

Benefits of Dental Implants

Close up of smiling senior woman touching her cheeks

Dental implants in Mount Prospect offer a wide range of unique advantages that make them stand apart from traditional solutions for tooth loss, like dentures and dental bridges. Not only do dental implants offer a long lifespan, but their natural look and feel can truly be life-changing benefits for patients, allowing you to go about your day-to-day life with more confidence and improved eating and speaking abilities. Read on to learn more about the advantages of dental implants!

Day-to-Day Benefits

a woman smiling while holding a bowl of healthy food
  • Simple Maintenance: Unlike other traditional tooth replacements, such as dentures or dental bridges, dental implants will look and function just like natural teeth. This means you won’t have to use special products or techniques to keep them clean; simply brush, floss, and rinse them with mouthwash like normal as well as visit your dentist every six months.
  • Increased Biting Power: Those with dental implants normally get to enjoy 80% or more of their natural chewing power, meaning you’ll be free to enjoy a wider range of dietary choices, including foods with tougher textures.
  • Improved Self-Confidence: With a more natural and longer-lasting solution for rebuilding your missing teeth, you’ll be able to feel much more at ease while making the most of a brand-new smile. You also won’t have to worry about your pearly whites moving out of place, and others won’t even be able to tell the difference between them and your natural teeth.

Health Benefits

a man smiling while on a hike in the woods
  • Great Oral Health: With more natural restorations, it’ll be easier for you to keep them clean and bacteria-free, meaning you’ll have a better chance of avoiding issues like cavities, gum disease, and oral infections. You’ll also preserve your natural enamel, as we won’t need to alter your other teeth to prepare for your procedure.
  • Jawbone Preservation: Embedding your metal posts into the jawbone will help stimulate circulation and promote bone growth for stronger tissue. This can also aid in maintaining a more youthful facial shape in the long run, as your jawbone will be significantly less likely to shrink after tooth loss.
  • Better Overall Health: Having better oral health and a stronger bite can have a greater impact than just improving your smile. You’ll be able to eat a healthier diet as well as avoid more serious problems in the future, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Long-Term Benefits

a mature woman smiling with dental implants
  • Long-Lasting Solution: While other traditional tooth replacements last around 10 years or so before needing replacements, dental implants can go for decades to even the rest of your life depending on how well you take care of them.
  • Higher Success Rate: Dental implants typically boast a success rate of 95% or more, meaning you’ll be more likely to enjoy effective and reliable results, even 10 years after having them placed.
  • Cost-Effective Method: Although dental implants have a higher upfront cost, they won’t need to be replaced as often as other options and you won’t have to spend money on special products to maintain them. This can help you save more in the long run while enjoying lifelike and comfortable results.

Who Dental Implants Can Help

Laughing senior man and woman

Dental implants are an extremely versatile treatment because they’re able to help patients experience a wide range of tooth loss situations, from a single missing tooth to an entire arch. Once Dr. Khan has examined your mouth during your consultation, she’ll draw up a personalized treatment plan to walk you through so you know  how  we can restore your smile. Based on your unique situation, we may recommend one of three general pathways to a complete smile.

Who Is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

smiling woman in a dentist’s chair

Before we set out to replace missing teeth, we need to determine if your mouth is ready to receive them. To qualify for this treatment, you must not have any oral infections, including gum disease or cavities. Your jawbone must also have enough density to bond to the implant post. If you do not meet these criteria at first, Dr. Khan can help you get into a better position. Whether you need a bone graft or gum disease treatment, we can prepare you and set you up for implant success.

Prior to starting any treatment, Dr. Khan will closely inspect your mouth during your consultation and let you know if any preliminary work is required in your specific case.

Missing One Tooth

smiling woman in a dentist’s chair

For a single gap, it’s a one-for-one replacement. In other words, we can secure one dental implant below the gumline. Once it has fused with the bone, we can place the abutment, which comes above the gums but then is covered by a customized dental crown to complete the arch, making eating and speaking easier. The lifelike porcelain material makes this prosthetic tooth blend in perfectly with the surrounding dentition.

Missing Multiple Teeth

Two animated dental implants with dental bridge

If you’re missing two or more consecutive teeth, we can use a bridge. However, unlike its traditional counterpart, an implant bridge is secured to two implants placed on either edge of the gap in your smile. This will eliminate the need for altering your natural teeth. With this option, you could replace anywhere from two to five teeth with just two implants.

Missing All Teeth

Six animated dental implants with full implant denture

To restore an entire row of teeth, we can place anywhere from four to six dental implants along the arch. These will create a strong and sturdy foundation for a customized denture to be attached to with the ability to restore up to 80% of your original bite power. If you have suffered from jawbone deterioration and you need the entire arch, you may also be a good candidate for an All-on-4 implant denture.

Learn More About All-On-4 Implants

Learn More About Implant Dentures

Understanding the Cost of Dental Implants

A jaw mockup biting hundred-dollar bills

While you might want implants, you’d likely prefer to know their price first. You need to confirm they’re within your budget. That said, the cost of dental implants varies by patient. You can only get a precise estimate by consulting Dr. Khan. From there, we’ll do our utmost to make care affordable. Our team will even explain implants’ pricing factors and payment options. To learn more, just keep reading or call our office for details.

Preliminary Treatments & Dental Implant Surgery

Dentists performing a dental implant surgery

You see, patients often need preliminary work before implant surgery. Such services may include bone grafts, gum disease therapy, tooth extractions, etc. Naturally, these additions will add to the overall treatment cost. Still, you can trust that these procedures are vital; they’ll ensure your new smile’s success. Even better, many of them are partially covered by dental insurance.

At the same time, implant surgery has its own price. The amount is shaped by implant location, your need for sedation, etc. Fortunately, our own Dr. Khan does the surgery in-house. You won’t need to make a separate payment for the surgery.

The Parts of Your Dental Implant

A 3D illustration of dental implant parts

In reality, implant traits also affect your treatment cost. The most common of these are:

  • Implant Number – The more implants you get, the higher your treatment cost. However, an implant denture will be more cost-effective than replacing each tooth separately.
  • Implant Size/Material – Implants can have different sizes and materials. For instance, zirconia ones are more expensive than titanium kinds. Also, longer implants are pricier than short types.
  • Restoration Type – Crowns, bridges, and dentures each cost different amounts. The smaller your restoration, though, the less expensive it’ll be.
  • Implant Brand – Different manufacturers make implants differently. So, one brand may charge more for them than another does.

How Dental Implants Pay for Themselves

A pink piggy bank and tooth model against a blue background

Since they’re cheaper, you might assume dentures and bridges are better than implants. Truthfully, though, dental implants are the more cost-effective option.

For starters, implants incur fewer long-term expenses. Their lifespan – an average of 15-20 years – means they need fewer repair visits. Also, you don’t need to buy pastes and adhesives for them. Proper implant care won’t force you to buy expensive tools.

Furthermore, implants save you money on preventive care. They don’t wear down your teeth or irritate your gums. You can also clean them as easily as natural teeth. In other words, implants lower your risk of costly conditions like tooth decay and gum disease.

Does My Dental Insurance Cover Dental Implants?

A dental insurance form on a wooden table

Sadly, dental plans normally won’t cover dental implants. They view such tooth replacements as “medically unnecessary.” To that extent, patients must pay for implants wholly out-of-pocket.

Granted, exceptions do exist. There’s a chance your plan offers partial coverage. You should thus confirm the benefits of your policy beforehand. If you’d like, our team can help you maximize these perks.

Making Dental Implants Affordable

A patient paying the cost of dental implants

Aside from insurance, there are other ways to make implants affordable. The most notable ones are a dental practice’s payment options. Given the right one, your prosthetics will be budget-friendly.

Look at our practice, for example. We happen to have:

  • Dental Savings Plans – For a flat annual fee, our savings plan will give you a 25% discount on dental implants.
  • CareCredit Financing – Our office works with CareCredit, a great third-party financier. Through them, you could pay for implants in monthly installments.

Clearly, we’re eager to provide implants that fit your budget. That being said, book a consultation to learn more about financing them.

Dental Implant FAQs

3D render of a dental implant

Are Dental Implants Safe?

Compared to most other kinds of surgery, the dental implant procedure is easy and low impact. Moreover, we’re professionals who understand the potential risks of the treatment and are able to circumvent them.

As a result, we can promise that your dental implant procedure will be completely safe. If you have any existing health factors that could interfere with your dental implants, like gum disease or low jawbone density, we’ll deal with those issues before you begin treatment.

How Long Do Dental Implants Last? 

Dental implants’ attachments to the jaw means that they have an incredible level of durability. Dental implants routinely last over 30 years, and many of them endure for a lifetime if they’re cared for well.

Of course, their exact lifespan depends on how well you take care of them. Infection is one of the most common ways that dental implants fail, so be sure to brush your teeth often, floss daily, and use antibacterial mouthwash to keep your mouth clean.

Will I Have to Take Off Work for Dental Implant Surgery?

Patients tend to bounce back pretty quickly from dental implant surgery, so you should be feeling back to normal within a day or two. If you get your dental implant surgery on a Friday, you may not even need to take time off at all.

However, it is recommended that you refrain from strenuous exercise for at least three or four days, as excess blood flow could cause bleeding. If your work involves physical labor, you may need to take three or four days off.

Do Dental Implants Feel Natural?

Dental implants are made of the highest quality materials, and their connection to the jaw gives them an incredible level of security that allows them to stand up to just about anything that you throw at them. All this to say that your dental implants are going to feel completely natural once you’re used to them.

The only difference is that your dental implants won’t have nerve endings. While you should still “feel” the tooth, the impressions that you get will actually be from the gums around the implant.