Dental Implants

Dental Implants are a very popular and fast growing treatment option for replacing missing teeth. The technological advances made by the implant industry are nothing short of revolutionary. Patients have more choices today than they ever did in the past. For this we are thankful to the leading teaching institutions and manufacturers. Tooth loss leads to loss of supporting jaw bone. It is important for the patients to know so that they can make early informed decisions about selecting dental implants for the restoration and rehabilitation of their dentition.

Sustenance of life has a great deal to do with our ability to chew the foods we need.  Enjoyment of life has a great deal to do with the consumption of foods we like. I have treated very few patients in my career who had little liking for food. Implants offer a predictable and time tested way of replacing lost and missing teeth with great functional replacement. Implant recipients report satisfactory and above results for a great majority of cases.

It must be remembered that we doctors merely pave the way. Nature does the healing. Biologic processes can not be guaranteed. That being said, we know that dental implants have a success rate in the high ninety percentages. Implants can be used to replace one , several or most functional teeth. I am careful to say all teeth as a patient missing all 32 teeth does not need 32 implants. A lot fewer implants can replace the needed chewing surfaces for the upper and lower jaws. When a dental implant is placed there is a healing period. This varies with the area and the bone quality.

Once an implant has healed or integrated with the bone a connecting structure is attathched to it. This is called an abutment or a post. The crown goes over this post.  Implants can be left covered by the gum to heal or have a healing cap placed coming out of the gum at the time of the surgery.  In most cases we prefer the latter approach.  Cases which require bone grafts and regenerative membranes are left submerged under the gum for four to six months. Again, cases are patient specific.

Single tooth replacement is the most frequent use of implants in our practice.  The patients range across age groups with a great majority being young to middle aged. Single tooth replacement by implants is today the procedure of choice for many practices in our society. The greatest advantage is that we do not have to reduce/cut adjacent teeth to make a three unit bridge which has been the way to deal with the problem in the past. Saving healthy tooth structure is today’s primary goal for the modern practitioner. We very rarely do a three unit natural tooth supported bridge. As of today I can not recall the last time our practice did one. The cost of a single tooth replacement with an implant is similar to that of a three unit bridge.

Multiple tooth replacement is a world wide growth sector. Patients are happy to have teeth which mimic nature, function better than dentures and stay stable over a long period of time.  The principles of implamt placement and restoration are similar to those employed for single tooth replacement. Often fewer implants can be placed than the number of teeth being provided to the patient.

The human jaw bones have different bone density in along their bodies. The upper jaw has softer bone than the lower. The areas further back in the upper jaw are softer. The lower jaw has harder bone and the front parts are stronger bone than the back. With these general parameters there is individual variance among human beings. If the implants have great initial stability they can recieve teeth earlier. In some cases teeth can be placed immediately as soon as the implants are placed. In most instances these are interim prosthesis.

The cost of these cases are patient specific. We encourage you to contact us and obtain one on one knowledge pertinent to your individual case.