Dental Implant

When I was a wee thing, dental x-rays showed that I was missing a permanent tooth. The stoic molar stayed with me until last December, when it started getting a little baby infection, and had to be pulled. Here is a photo essay showing all the steps.... 


Step 1- After my regular dentist pulled my tooth, the oral surgeon drilled a hole in the bone of my jaw and inserted a screw, which will eventually hold the fake tooth. This metal screw cover was in my mouth for more than two months while the screw integrated into my bone. It looked SWEET.

Step 2- When it had healed appropriately, I went back to the oral surgeon, who put in the steel post that will hold the tooth. Here are two pictures: one of the plastic thingy I had to wear on my ride to my dentist, and the steel post.

Step 3- My dentist had to put a LOT of goopy stuff in my mouth to make a bunch of molds of the surrounding teeth so they can make me a new one. I got to pick the color, too. COOL! The dentist gave me this cool white pencil eraser temporary cap. It looks totally weird. It will be my tooth until my fake one is finished being made.


Step 4- I finally got a real tooth two weeks later. It's a little bit lighter than my other teeth, but my dentist did that in case I want to bleach my teeth later on. It feels a little weird but it's way better than that pencil eraser I had in there before. That thing was a pain. This tooth feels smooth in the right places, jagged in the right places, and it's here to stay. Hooray!