One-piece dental implants come with the root, post, and artificial tooth, formally called an abutment, all connected together. The one-piece implant, also known as a single-stage implant skips a few steps of the typical dental implant process. But skipping those steps comes with some pros and cons you should discuss with your cosmetic dentistry specialist.

What are the pros and cons of one-piece dental implants that you should keep in mind?

Pro: Saves Treatment Time

One-piece dental implants require the dentist to drill a hole to insert the root. Once the root of the piece is inserted, the job is essentially done. Your dentist will want some follow-up appointments to ensure the bone is healing properly around the root, but if the healing succeeds, your implant process is complete.

Traditional dental implants start with the root insertion but the post and abutment don't come until after the bone heals around the root. You could walk around with no tooth in your mouth for a few months while you wait for the bone to heal. Then you might also have to wait for the gum tissue to heal after the post is attached before the abutment is finally placed.

One-piece implants have largely become popular for this reason alone since the time saved can equal a number of months.

Pro: Restores Your Smile Instantly

Is your missing tooth in a prominent position in your mouth? You might want to receive a full artificial tooth as quickly as possible to restore your smile to its cosmetic glory. The one-step dental implant allows your dentist to get your smile looking naturally attractive in a short period of time.

Traditional dental implants can come with a temporary bridge or partial denture that fills up the hole while you wait for the bone to heal. But those lab-crafted artificial teeth would again add more time and appointments to the treatment process.

Con: Dental Implant Could Fail

Notice all that talk about bone healing around the root? The process, formally called osseointegration, is the most vital step in the dental implant treatment plan. If the jawbone is weak or not dense enough, the osseointegration can fail and take your dental implant with the failure.

If osseointegration fails in a traditional dental implant, your dentist will likely catch the problem early and can recommend a bone graft or another course of action. One-step implants are already fully in place when the osseointegration happens so your dentist will need to remove the entire piece in order to potentially fix the underlying jawbone.

For more information, contact local professionals like Paul Dona DDS.

Share