Dental Implants
If you are missing one or more teeth and wish to replace them, dental implants are the first treatment choice. This innovative technique replaces the root of missing teeth with a titanium appliance that actually fuses to your bone and becomes part of your body. The single tooth or tooth replacement appliance is then screwed to the implant and acts in a manner similar to natural teeth.
Traditionally, missing teeth were replaced by fixed bridgework, where crowns on teeth adjacent to a space support an artificial tooth. This works very well for short spans such as one missing tooth. If more than one tooth is missing or if the missing teeth do not have sound teeth on either side, fixed bridgework becomes more complex. If the spans are too long or all the teeth are missing, removable appliances such as partial or full dentures were constructed to replace the teeth.
Anyone who has experienced partial dentures or complete dentures knows that there are all sorts of problems associated with these devices.
Over 30 years ago, an accidental discovery by Dr. Branemark in Sweden led to the modern dental implants. Dr. Branemark , an orthopedic surgeon, discovered that titanium screws used to hold bone plates in place were extremely difficult to remove. Study of this phenomenon revealed that the titanium had fused to the bone and become part of the bone. This process was called osteointegration. He postulated that osteointegration of titanium could be used to replace missing teeth.
Today, integration of titanium implants to replace missing tooth roots is a predictable conservative treatment that has become the treatment of choice and the standard of care for replacement of one or more missing teeth.
To place an implant, a small incision is made in the gums. Using a special water-cooled extremely slow speed drill, a hole is made in the bone and then as specially shaped titanium implant is screwed into the hole. The gum is closed and the implant is left to integrate. The fusion of bone to implant is completed in about 3 months. After integration, a tooth or fixed denture is attached to the implant with small screws that fit inside the top of the implant.
Surprisingly, the implant placement and subsequent restoration are not painful. The surgery to place the implant is very controlled. The whole point of the implant placement is to create as little damage to bone cells as possible; therefore this is gentle surgery that produces little inflammation and thus little pain. Once the implant has integrated, further work to attach the crown or denture creates no pain, as there are no nerves in the implant. Our patients who have had dental implants have reported that the initial extraction of the teeth created much more discomfort than the placement and restoration of their implants.
Today implant restorative dentistry has reached the point where we are able to immediately load dental implants in certain situations. For example, we now routinely place dental implants immediately following extraction of unhealthy lower teeth, and have a fixed implant supported denture in place within 2 days. We are also able to go from a complete lower denture to implant placement and fixed implant supported denture within two days.
While implant dentistry is becoming more common, less than ½ of dentists provide or prescribe this treatment. If you are thinking about tooth replacement, you should consider dental implants. For more information ask your dentist.
