Broken tooth? Got you covered.

This is an example of one of my favorite procedures -- extracting a tooth, placing an implant, and then using the patient's own tooth as a temporary crown on the implant at the same appointment. This patient broke her tooth off at the root and she was so worried about the implant process and the lengthy healing time required. Because of the right indications, I was able to place the implant, hollow out the broken tooth, and then attach it to the implant to function as a temporary restoration. By doing this, we capture the patient's natural gum shape and tooth position which allows us to make a final crown (4-6 months later) that will truly be a copy of the shape of what she had naturally. It's so gratifying when a patient comes in with a broken front tooth in a panic and we have a solution like this. My favorite part is the after photo (only 8 days later) that shows the implant as the only tooth in her smile that doesn't have a little gingivitis happening.