Between the time of your dental implant placement session and the time you receive your final repair, your gums might expand. That is why, on top of the implant, our Calgary dentist installs a healing abutment or a temporary crown. The purpose of the healing abutment is to allow for expansion of the gum tissue and installation of an actual permanent crown once it's healed. Healing abutments are made of titanium or gold and serve as anchors for the developing gum tissue. They are placed inside the mouth next to the implant and allow time for the bone and gum tissue to heal around the implant before it is replaced with a permanent crown. Even though this procedure is used for dental implants, it can also be used for teeth that have been damaged or lost. A healing abutment is placed above the site where a tooth was removed so that the bone will heal properly around the empty space. This allows time for new bone to form and grow into the hole where the tooth used to be, thus replacing it with natural-looking bone. These are just some examples of how gums can expand while you wait for your dental implants to heal. Your doctor will explain all of the details of this process when you come in for your consultation. The next step is to remove the healing abutment once sufficient bone growth has occurred around the implant.