Missing Some Teeth? Try Implants!

If you have a missing tooth or teeth, you have options for replacement. You can get a removable partial denture, but you have to put it in and take it out of the mouth to properly care for it. You also have a choice to have a fixed bridge made, that you don’t have to put in and take out, but it entails preparing crowns on the teeth that are on both sides of the space, and they will connect with the replacement tooth (pontic) in the middle. Bridges must be meticulously cared for, or they can quickly fall victim to decay at the gingival margin edges of the new crowns.

Besides also doing nothing about the space, you also have a fourth choice-- a dental implant-- that is fixed in the mouth, and you don’t have to sacrifice the neighboring teeth to make it work.

How many teeth need replacing, the condition and amount of the bone that will hold the implant, the oral hygiene level practiced, and the general health of the patient are all factors that help to determine implant success or failure. Children usually haven’t developed enough to routinely receive implants. 

Adults that having potential healing or immunological problems need to be realistic about whether an implant will “take” or not before they dive into getting them. For some patients, implants are just stucturally contraindicated.  And implants do have a failure rate (peri-implantitis). They are relatively expensive, so before you commit to that treatment, it is good to know your real chances that an implant will successfully serve you for many years.

The implant itself is usually a metallic cylinder which looks almost like the root of a tooth. It is made of surgical-quality titanium, with a roughened surface that can intimately bond with the bone around it. X-rays and a CT scan may be taken and a guide may be constructed to help place the implant in the most optimum position—away from important neurovascular bundles. 

After numbing the implant area of the mouth really well, the hole in the bone that will support the implant root is prepared. An implant of proper width and length is then inserted, and bone graft material may be placed around the implant to insure that enough bone is present, so it will securely attach to the jaws. 

Then the gums are sutured over the implant, which is then left alone, not participating in the bite, for about four months to “osseo-integrate” and bond directly to the adjacent bone. Later, it is uncovered.  An abutment and a crown are made to go on top.  Now it’s ready to use and enjoy!

Implant-supported full dentures are now possible for superior retention and looks.

So, In many ways, dental implants may give people a second chance for a better smile!

May you have many…the best money can buy, beautifully bionic, stronger than kryptonite… smiles!