Dental Implants
Dental implants (tooth implants) are the ‘ultimate’ in dental rehabilitation. An implant dentist can replace a single tooth (or many teeth). Millions of people world-wide have now successfully had dental implants placed. The literature supports a world-wide success rate in excess of 95% - an incredible success rate for any medical procedure.
What are dental implants?
A tooth implant is a small titanium fixture that functions as a replacement for the root portion of a missing natural tooth. Ultimately the implant can act as an anchor for a prosthesis to be attached to the implant.
The prosthesis may be:
Crown - replacing one missing tooth
Bridge - replacing several missing teeth
Dental implants can even be used to help retain dentures. So if you have a poorly fitting denture, the placement of dental implants that clip onto your denture can dramatically improve your denture wearing ability. Implant retained dentures are called overdentures.
Dental implants are made of the most biocompatible metal known to man – chemically pure titanium. Three months after placement of the dental implant, adequate bone will have grown onto the surface of the implant to be strong enough to withstand the daily forces of normal function. This process is known as osseointegration.
Advantages of Dental implants
Unlike a bridge which has the missing tooth sitting on top of the gum, the dental implant actually emerges from the gum, hence the superior aesthetics of a implant retained crown to a bridge. Dental implants are the most ‘tooth-like’ replacement available.
Furthermore, dental implants stop the loss of bone from your jaw following extraction of teeth. When you have teeth extracted bone is lost, and shrinkage of the jaw bone occurs making you appear older.
Dental implants act and feel like your own teeth. They are fixed within your jaw bone and are not removable like a denture. Dental implants will look and feel like your own natural teeth
- No more suffering with dentures
Talk to anyone who has had complete dentures or even a partial denture and they will tell you of the nightmares that they have had with their ‘teeth’. They will tell you how they have suffered for so long with the fear of their teeth flying out when they laugh or smile, the embarrassment of sneezing and loosing their teeth, they dream of maybe eating an apple or steak. What about the constant traumatic ulcers from constantly moving dentures, the exposed nerves from bone loss, the need for relines. The need for sticky, messy denture adhesives, the inability to taste or grasp food. The list goes on and on. With implants – no more dentures becomes a possibility.
We mentioned earlier that today the standard of care for complete tooth loss (edentulousness) in the lower jaw is the provision of implant retained OVERDENTURES.
Overdentures are dentures that are made to ‘clip’ onto dental implants to have dramatically improved retention. Much like a press stud on my clinical jacket, there is a male component attached to the implant with a female component housed within the denture. A minimum of two implants are required in the lower jaw and often four implants in the upper jaw to ensure the success of overdentures.
Implants are biologically conservative. That is, they can be placed so that they function totally independently of the remaining teeth. People will often lose a tooth due to a traumatic incident. If one were to consider conventional bridgework to replace this missing tooth, then the surrounding sound teeth would need to be prepared and shaped, thus exposing these teeth to potential nerve damage. The beauty of the dental implant is that it can be placed and it does not involve or damage the surrounding sound teeth.
What is involved in getting a Dental Implant?
Click for information about:
- Conservative to the remaining teeth