Dental Implants Have Become the Popular Choice

The popularity that dental implants have gained can be attributed to their massive success in replacing missing teeth. Teeth that are missing, have been knocked out or have suffered structural damage from cavities can be replaced with implants.

Implants offer a number of advantages over dentures because they are more stable, are long lasting and do not interfere with healthy teeth like dental bridges. Most of the time, you will find yourself being referred to an orthodontist or oral surgeon by your regular dentist since dental surgery is involved. Here is all you need to know about implants.

Procedure for dental implants

On your first consultation, the practitioner will take X-ray photos of the affected area. This is to determine if the jawbone has enough bone tissue to support an implant.

Bone grafting can be done to increase tissue density and some resting time is allowed for it to heal. When a tooth has been missing for a number of years, the jawbone tissue that previously held it in place disintegrates and becomes weak requiring grafting.

After the grafting, the dentist operates on the jawbone and inserts the metal root which is left to fuse with the bone for stability. An abutment is later added and is the part onto which the prosthetic crown is fixed. The whole procedure can take a number of months and between 2 and 5 dentist appointments.

Single tooth implant

Dental implants can be used to support a single crown or multiple implants like the all-on-four and all-on-six implants. For single tooth implant, the prosthetic crown is fixed directly above the implant.

This type of implant replaces the natural tooth in both function and aesthetics since the natural root is replaced by the implant.

A dental implant prepares a denture that looks like adjacent teeth after doing some imaging or using a biting mould. Depending on the complexity, the abutment and the crown can be added in one visit.

All on Four implants

In this procedure, four implants are added to support a number of implants. All implants are fixed at the front and spaced accordingly to fasten fixed or removable dentures.

All-on-four is performed for extensive reconstruction work to replace several missing teeth. Multiple implants cannot be added if the gums and jaws are not in good health. Depending on the location of the missing teeth, general oral health and the situation of remaining teeth, an all-on-four might not be sufficient.

All on Six implants

All-on-six implants and its sister the all-on-eight are used when all-on-four is not suitable. In all-on-six, four implants are fixed straight at the front, and two implants (one on each side) are fixed at an angle with the root protruding further back.

All-on-eight is used to restore teeth in both jaws with two implants in the front and two inclined implants for both jaws. Both procedures can support multiple teeth, and the option depends on the specific situation although you can’t go wrong with any of them.

Operation time won’t be affected since all three procedures take 2-3 hours and the healing time is also largely similar across the board.