Dental Implant Materials
Edmonds, WA
 Getting a new dental implant can be both unnerving and exciting. For one, you are trusting someone else with your mouth, being ready for any pain you might feel. On the other hand, it will give you the kind of smile you could never make without teeth. Fortunately, you can trust our hands at Perrinville Family Dentistry to fix your smile without much pain.
However, before we get to do anything for your implants, you should first choose a good material to base your implants on. Each material has its own strengths and weaknesses. The best dental implant material is what fits best on what you expect to get out of your dental implants.
Materials Used In Implant Dentistry
When choosing a material for your dental implant, you have two main groups of choices. You can have your implants made out of either metal or ceramic. All implant materials fall in either one of these.
Metallic Implants
Metallic implants are made from combinations of different materials called alloys. They are far stronger and last longer than ceramic implants. It is even possible to make them last for a lifetime. You will only need to get them replaced when they are chipped.
Most metallic implants are made from alloys of gold or titanium. By far, titanium implants are the strongest ones available on the market today. Gold implants are almost just as strong as titanium implants and are never out of fashion. All metallic implants appear as a bluish or goldish streak under the prosthetic tooth when seen from the outside.
Ceramic Implants
On the other hand, ceramic implants can last for about two or three years before getting chipped. This does not mean that they are useless. Unlike metallic implants, ceramic can be colored to give you a more natural-looking smile. You cannot have this with metallic implants because they cannot be colored. Ceramic implants are also far cheaper than metallic implants.
The most common material for ceramic implants is zirconia. This is a hard and translucent material that can be shaped into something that resembles teeth. Plus, we can make the whole implant out of this, from the post to the abutment and prosthesis. What is great with zirconia is that we can make this last for decades as long as they are well-maintained.
Zirconia Implants
Another detail that makes zirconia better than metal is that bacteria tend to find it hard to stick to them. This makes them easier to clean. They also do not contain nickel, which some people may be allergic to. Metal alloys have nickel in them to make them stronger.
However, at the end of the day, everything depends on you. You can choose a stronger and more expensive material if you would like. The tooth does not necessarily have to be made out of titanium or gold, either. Or you could have a more natural-looking smile with ceramic implants.
At Perrinville Family Dentistry, you can trust us to help you choose the right material properly. That, and to have expert hands to put them on for you. All you need to do is visit us in our office or call us at (425) 616-0620 so we can schedule you for an appointment. Visit our site to learn more about implant restorations or how to care for dental implants.
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Hours
(425) 616-0620 
Gary J. Jacky, DMD