Dental Implants in Oxford
Losing a tooth changes more than your smile. Chewing shifts to one side, nearby teeth start to drift, and the bone that once supported the root slowly shrinks. If you live in Oxford and have been managing around a missing tooth — or a partial denture that never quite settled — dental implants give you a replacement that behaves like a natural tooth instead of a stand-in. Our Ocala office sees patients from Oxford regularly for implant consultations, surgery, and long-term maintenance, and we handle each stage under one roof.
A dental implant is a small post placed into the jawbone where a tooth root used to be. Over several months, bone grows around that post and locks it in place. Once it has integrated, we attach a crown, bridge, or denture to it. The result is a replacement tooth that is anchored in bone rather than resting on gum tissue or clipped to neighboring teeth.
That anchoring is what makes implants different from other tooth replacement options. A conventional bridge relies on the teeth on either side of the gap, which means reshaping healthy enamel. A partial denture sits on the gums and comes out at night. An implant stands on its own and stimulates the bone the way a natural root does, which helps limit the bone loss that follows an extraction.
We place single implants, implant-supported bridges, and full-arch options including All-on-4 and Teeth In A Day. For Oxford patients who wear complete or partial dentures and are tired of adhesive and slipping, implant-supported dentures and snap-in dentures secure the appliance to implants, so it stays where you put it.
Most adults missing one tooth, several teeth, or an entire arch are candidates. The main questions we answer at your consultation are whether you have enough healthy bone to hold an implant and whether your gums are free of active infection. Both are fixable in many cases. We perform bone grafting and sinus lift surgery to rebuild volume in the upper and lower jaw, and we treat gum disease with scaling and root planing, periodontal surgery, and gum grafting before implant work begins.
Timing matters too. The longer a gap sits empty, the more bone tends to recede — so if you've recently lost a tooth or know an extraction is coming, it's worth asking about implants early. We perform both simple and surgical extractions, which means we can plan the removal and the replacement together rather than treating them as separate projects.
The Implant Process From Start to Finish
Your first visit is an exam and conversation. We look at the site, assess bone and gum health, review your medical history, and go over what the full treatment would involve and how long it would take. Nothing is placed that day — the point is to build a plan you understand.
Here is what the process generally includes:
- A consultation and exam to evaluate bone, gums, and surrounding teeth
- Any preparatory work needed, such as an extraction, bone graft, or gum disease treatment
- Surgical placement of the implant post, with nitrous oxide or oral sedation available
- A healing period while bone integrates with the implant
- Design and placement of your final crown, bridge, or denture
Our on-site dental lab shapes a good deal of that experience. Crowns, dentures, and denture repairs are made here rather than shipped out, which shortens waiting and lets us adjust fit and shade directly. For Oxford patients driving in, fewer appointments and fewer delays make a real difference.
Caring for Your Implants
An implant doesn't decay, but the gum and bone around it still need attention. Brush and floss it like a natural tooth, and keep up with cleanings. We provide implant maintenance and periodontal maintenance visits that check the tissue around each implant, clean areas a toothbrush can't reach, and catch inflammation early — the main threat to a long-lasting implant.
If something does go wrong between visits, we offer emergency dental appointments. A loose crown, a sore spot under a denture, or a cracked tooth elsewhere in your mouth doesn't have to wait.
Insurance, Payment, and Getting Started
We accept all major PPO insurance plans and file claims as a general practice, including for implant and periodontal procedures. We also welcome self-pay and cash patients, and we offer flexible payment plans so a full-arch case can be spread out rather than paid all at once.
Dr. Hussein Salifu and Dr. Marco Geris see patients of all ages, and no referral is needed for implant, periodontal, oral surgery, or prosthodontic care. Call our office to schedule a consultation and we'll tell you honestly what your options are.