A missing tooth does not stay a single problem. The teeth either side lean into the gap, the bone under it thins, and what was one decision becomes several. An implant is the replacement that goes into the jaw rather than resting on top of it.
Associate Fellow, American Academy of Implant Dentistry
Dr. Orr earned it in 2014, after completing a MAXI course in Atlanta.
A 300-hour implant course
The MAXI program behind that fellowship is 300 hours of implant training.
Comprehensive Conscious Sedation
Dr. Orr holds the Tennessee Board of Dentistry's permit, so implant surgery here can be done under sedation.
Whether it is one tooth or a whole arch, the planning, the surgery and your new teeth happen in one building in Winchester, TN. Losing a tooth, or most of them, does not have to be the end of your smile. Dr. Orr plans and places your implants himself, in the same office where you have your checkups.
Placing one is surgery, and the part that decides how it goes is the planning: how much bone is there, where the nerve runs, what the bite will do to it over the years.
Dr. Orr became an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry in 2014 after a course devoted to planning and placing implants.
Dr. Orr gives the sedation himself if you want it.
Three ways to replace a tooth, and the right one depends as much on the teeth around the gap as on the gap itself.
Implant, bridge and denture, compared
Which one you need is a question about how many teeth are gone and how much bone is left, and it is answered at a consultation with a scan.
One missing tooth, root and crown
The post goes where the root was, and the crown on top matches the teeth beside it.
A run of missing teeth in one area
Two or more posts carry a fixed bridge, so fewer implants than teeth.
Every tooth in an upper or lower jaw
Posts carry one fixed arch, replacing a full jaw of teeth.
This is the biggest of the three options above: a full-arch implant denture replaces every tooth in an upper or lower jaw, supported by implants instead of resting on the gum.
Dr. Orr places them in this office. IV sedation is available for the surgery.
Implants are available from several brands, in solid zirconia or titanium. Which suits you is decided at a consultation with a scan.
Two years of dentures that would not stay in, and what eating, talking and laughing are like with implants.
Most of an implant is waiting. The appointments are short and there are not many of them; what takes the time is bone healing around the post, and there is no way to hurry it.
We look at the gap, the bone around it and where the nerve runs, and decide whether an implant is the right answer at all. Nothing is placed on this visit.
Where a tooth has been gone a while the bone under it has thinned, and it is built back up before anything is placed. This adds healing time, and not everyone needs it.
The post goes into the jaw. This is the surgical appointment, and it is the one people ask about sedation for.
The bone grows onto the post. You leave with something to fill the gap in the meantime and you get on with your life.
Once it has taken, an impression or a scan, then the tooth itself, shaped and shaded to the ones beside it.
Brush and floss it like a tooth, see us like a tooth. It does not decay; the gum around it still can.
Available with sedation, from nitrous to IV.
Patients of this practice, shown with their consent.
A missing front tooth left a gap in the middle of his smile. An implant and crown filled it to match the teeth either side.
Gaps top and bottom. A lower implant and an upper bridge filled them.
Call and we will go through yours.
How many are being replaced, and whether neighbouring teeth share implants.
Whether the bone needs building up before an implant can go in.
What the crown, bridge or arch on the implants is made of.
What your plan covers, which for implants is usually partial, sometimes nothing.
Payment plans through Cherry, and financing through CareCredit. You can apply for either online before your visit.
Implant work is the thing Franklin County patients most often go elsewhere for: an hour to Murfreesboro or Huntsville, and a day off.
It is placed in Winchester, TN, by Dr. Orr.
The first visit is a scan and a look. You will know what is possible before anything is scheduled.
A dental implant replaces the root of a tooth as well as the crown. A post is placed in the jaw and a crown goes on top, so the tooth is held the way a natural one is. An implant can replace a single tooth, several teeth, or a full arch. How implants compare with a bridge or a denture is set out in the pros and cons article.
Dental implants: pros and consAll-on-4 is Nobel Biocare's registered name for a full-arch treatment concept, a full arch of teeth held on four implants. We place full-arch implant dentures here in Winchester, TN, with sedation available, and how many implants a patient needs is decided at the consultation.
What is All-on-4?The placement is done numb. The days after are more like an extraction than a surgery, sore for a few days. If the worry is the appointment rather than the healing, sedation is available for it, from nitrous through to IV.
Most of it is waiting rather than appointments, and your dentist sets how long from your scan. The post has to knit into the bone before anything is built on it, and that is biology rather than scheduling. If grafting is needed first, that adds healing time. The appointments themselves are short and there are not many of them.
The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons says that, properly cared for, dental implants can last a lifetime. Care means brushing and flossing the implant as you would a tooth and seeing the dentist as you would for a tooth. The implant does not decay, but the gum around it can still get disease.
It depends on how many teeth are being replaced, whether the bone needs building up first, and what the tooth on top is made of. Insurance for implants is usually partial and sometimes nothing. There is no useful single figure until someone has looked at your mouth. Call the office and we will go through yours.
Usually in part, sometimes not at all, and it varies by plan. We will do our best to check yours before you commit to anything, but please bring your plan details, and the patient is ultimately responsible for the cost. Billing and insurance are on our patient information page.
Patient informationA mini implant is a narrower, one-piece post. Because it is smaller it can sometimes go where there is less bone and it is often used to help hold a lower denture steady rather than to carry a single tooth on its own. Which kind suits a particular gap is a question for a scan and a conversation.
Age on its own is not the criterion. What decides it is the bone, the health of your gums, and your general health and medications, which is why the medical history comes before the plan.
Yes. Implants can hold a denture in place so it does not move when you eat or talk, which is a different thing from a denture that rests on the gum. If that is what you are weighing, the dentures page goes through the options side by side.
DenturesYes. An implant consultation can be your first visit: the scan and the conversation come before any treatment. What to bring is on our patient information page.
Patient information
