Dental implants

Dental implants

What Is A Dental Implant?

Dental implants are used to replace missing teeth. Titanium roots are placed in the jaw to simulate your natural teeth and anchor your prosthetic tooth to bone.

Dental implants may be placed at the same time as tooth removal (immediate implant), or more commonly it is placed as a subsequent procedure after the tooth socket has healed.

Treatment is carried out in a team approach. The dental implants are carefully planned with cone beam CT scans to assess available bone in which they will be placed. A surgeon places the implant into bone, and a dentist or prosthodontist will fit the tooth ontop of the implant.

Osseointegration

This is the healing process where the bone knits to the titanium implant surface. This keeps the implant stable. This fusing process takes between two to six months.

Stage 1 vs. 2

Depending on a number of factors, you may be suitable for 1 or 2 stage implant treatment.

One stage surgery means that the implant is placed a healing abutment is put ontop of the implant to allow the gums to heal around it ready for prosthesis.

Two stage surgery means that the implant is placed and covered over with the gum so you don’t see anything sticking through the gums initially. At a later stage after osteointegration, the implant is uncovered and the healing abutment is placed.

All on 4

This is an option suitable for some patients who are edentulous or will be come edentulous to have a fixed option of teeth replacement. A number of factors need to be considered including bone and medical history.

Bone grafting

Sometimes there is insufficient bone for implants to be placed and bone grafting is required to enable this. Bone grafting can sometimes be done at tooth removal, at the time of implant placement, or as a separate procedure prior to implant placement. Additional bone procedure will be discussed with you if needed.