Dental Implants in Reston, VA
At Pal Family Dentistry in Reston, we’re dedicated to helping you regain your smile with top-quality dental implants. Our skilled team, led by Dr. Pal, offers both Endosteal and Subperiosteal implants customized to your needs. We use the latest techniques and equipment to provide expert guidance and exceptional care to ensure adequate dental restoration.
Our practice has earned the Angie’s List Super Service Award and the Patients’ Choice Award and was named a 2021 Neighborhood Favorite on Nextdoor. With awards and a five-star Google rating, we are trusted by the community. Explore our dental implant options to achieve a healthier, brighter smile today.
Implant treatment is a proven way to restore a complete dental arch, along with normal chewing and speech. Research consistently reports success in the range of ninety-six to ninety-eight percent.
An implant is placed when one or more teeth are missing entirely. It offers something the alternatives cannot. A dental implant restores the full function of a natural tooth, and it does so without any cost to the health of the teeth beside it.
If you are missing most or all of the teeth in one jaw, full-arch treatment on four or six implants is a separate approach, and we cover it on its own page.
Types of Implant Treatment
Two-stage treatment
At least three months pass after the tooth is removed. The implant is selected based on a CT scan, a three-dimensional image of the jaw. During surgery, under local anesthetic, the soft tissue is opened, the bone is prepared with specialized surgical drills, the implant is placed into the prepared site, and the gum is closed and sutured over it. You come back the following day for a check, and the sutures come out two weeks later. After three to four months a small opening is made over the implant under local anesthetic and a healing abutment is placed. Two to three weeks after that we take impressions, and the permanent crown is made.
Single-stage treatment
A temporary crown goes onto the implant the day it is placed, and is replaced with the permanent one after two to four months. This is the option that works best in the visible zone, at the front of the mouth.
Immediate placement
In a single visit the damaged tooth is removed, the socket is prepared, and the implant is placed directly into it. A healing abutment goes on in the back of the mouth, or a temporary crown at the front. The permanent crown follows after three to four months.
About the Implants Themselves
Modern implants are made from titanium, a material with excellent biocompatibility and strength that rarely provokes an allergic response. Manufacturers differ in how the surface is treated, in thread design, in shape and in dimensions, and each publishes its own expected service life. Part of planning is choosing an implant suited to the bone you actually have.
Patients sometimes ask about zirconia, usually because they would rather avoid metal. Zirconia is a ceramic and has a shorter track record in implant dentistry than titanium, so there is less long-term data behind it. It is a fair question to raise at your consultation, and you will get a straight answer about what each material can do in your case.
What an Implant Costs
Implant treatment is divided into stages with meaningful gaps between them, which is one reason it turns out more manageable than people expect.
The surgical stage covers the titanium root and the healing abutment. The restorative stage comes later and covers the abutment and the crown, and is handled by the prosthodontist as a separate piece of work.
An implant has three parts: the titanium root, the abutment, and the crown.
If more than three teeth are missing, the surgeon and the prosthodontist plan the case together from the start, since the sequence matters as much as the individual steps. The goal of implant treatment is a fully restored mouth, not a set of separate procedures.
After your consultation and scan you receive a written treatment plan with an itemized estimate, stage by stage. Many dental plans contribute toward implant treatment and coverage varies, so we will review your benefits with you beforehand. Implant treatment is generally an eligible HSA and FSA expense, and financing is available.
What Needs to Be in Place First
The mouth is prepared before surgery. Any decay is treated, teeth beyond saving are removed, and you have a professional cleaning, all of which keeps the risk of infection to a minimum.
Placing an implant also calls for healthy gums and enough jawbone to support it. Because implant treatment usually involves one or more preparatory steps, you will have a CT scan first, along with any lab work the surgeon asks for.
The scan shows the width and height of the bone where the implant is going. That tells us which implant fits, and whether any of the following is needed beforehand.
Bone grafting, to rebuild volume that has been lost.
A sinus lift, which raises the floor of the maxillary sinus and fills the space with graft material that the body gradually converts into its own bone.
A ridge split, which widens a jaw that has become too narrow.
Membranes, either titanium or collagen, used when more than a couple of millimetres of bone volume is being rebuilt.
The Stages, Visit by Visit
Surgical stage
- First visit, reviewing the CT scan, selecting the implant, planning the surgery and the restoration together.
- Second visit, placing the implant.
- Third visit, a check two or three days afterward.
- Fourth visit, suture removal, two weeks after surgery.
Three months later we take an X-ray to confirm everything has integrated, and the healing abutment goes on. It stays for two to three weeks, and then the restorative stage begins.
Restorative stage
- First visit, impressions.
- Second visit, trying in the restoration.
- Third visit, fitting the permanent restoration.
The last step is placing the abutment and the crown, in either porcelain-fused-to-metal or all-ceramic, and this is done by the prosthodontist.
After Your Implant Is Placed
Eat once the anesthetic has fully worn off.
Chew on the opposite side, and set aside hard, spicy and very hot food for now.
Skip saunas, hot baths and strenuous exercise until the sutures come out, about two weeks.
Keep the mouth clean. Brush thoroughly, use the rinse we recommend, and treat the sutured area with the antiseptic gel we give you.
Smoking is not an outright barrier to treatment, but it roughly doubles the risk of an implant failing to integrate. Cutting back around the healing period makes a real difference, and we are glad to help you plan that.
When Can an Implant Go In After an Extraction?
Immediately, in the same visit, with the implant placed straight into the socket. This is possible when there is no inflammation behind the root, the tooth is not painful or troublesome, and the surrounding gum is healthy.
After about three months, which gives any inflammation time to settle and the bone in the socket time to form and mature.
Why it is worth not putting it off
There is no need to wait a year or two. The longer a gap is left, the more the bone in that area recedes, and the more likely it becomes that rebuilding the volume will need to happen first, which makes treatment longer and more involved. Coming back within two or three months of an extraction generally avoids all of that. Every case is different, and some of these stages can be combined when conditions allow. Our dentists will go through the options with you and settle on the plan that suits your situation best.
Who Implant Treatment Suits
Implants are for anyone missing one or more teeth, and most people who want them turn out to be candidates.
There are some general health matters worth raising at your consultation, since they affect how well an implant heals and sometimes change the plan. These include cardiovascular disease that is not well controlled, active cancer treatment, connective tissue conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, thyroid and parathyroid disorders, conditions affecting the bone itself, and long-term medications such as bisphosphonates or immunosuppressants. Untreated disease of the oral mucosa is dealt with before surgery, as is any acute illness. Implant treatment is generally postponed during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and is not placed before the jaw has finished growing, usually around age eighteen.
Very few of these are a closed door. Most simply mean we plan around them, occasionally in consultation with your physician. Bring your full medication list and mention anything you are being treated for, even if it seems unconnected. It is far easier to work with that information than without it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a dental implant cost in Reston, VA?
Is a dental implant the same as a tooth transplant?
Does it hurt?
How long does the whole process take?
Can I still have an implant if the tooth has been missing for years?
Am I too old for implants?
How long do implants last?
Safe, Gentle, High Quality Dental
Our staff of highly trained professionals are committed to providing the highest quality dental services. We use only the most advanced dental techniques along with the most current equipment—all in a comfortable, soothing environment. Our range of expertise is such that we are able to handle all your dental needs under one roof.
Some of our services, include: Invisalign clear braces, Propel orthodontics, porcelain veneers, same-day Cerec ceramic crowns/bridges, root canals, dental implants, and sedation dentistry. Click on Dental Solutions to learn more about our full range of services.
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