Dental implants What are the advantages of implants? Who is a candidate for dental implants? Who is not a candidate for the implant? Does Dental Implant hurt? Are implants always successful? How long will the treatment take? Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) How much does it cost? Dental implants have become an important part of modern dentistry, millions of people world wide have had a variety of implants. The basic structure of a dental implant consists of the implant fixture and the tooth "Prosthesis" implant. Implant: it is a metal fixture (usually a screw) that is inserted into the jaw bone to provide a base for supporting and attaching the prosthesis. It is made from commercial pure titanium and it can fuse strongly with the jaw bone (osseo integration). Firm anchorage in the bone and harmonious adaptation of the gum margin to the implant body will result in a solid foundation for a reliable long lasting dental situation. Prosthesis: A prosthesis is a false tooth or a set of false teeth attached to the implant fixture. A prosthesis may be a crown to replace a single missing tooth or a bridge to replace several missing teeth. In a dental arch with no teeth, a prosthesis covers almost the full dental arch. Some prostheses are fixed permanently onto implant fixtures with screws or cement. Other types of prosthesis can be taken out for daily cleaning, these are called over dentures. What are the advantages of implants? Improved chewing Biting forces are higher with implant supported dentures than a conventional denture. Improved Aesthetics Implants may provide the best Aesthetical outcome compared to other replacement options. Comfort The smaller area of tissue cover impinges less on tongue space leading to a greater level of comfort. Improve speech Implant prostheses are more stable and infringe less on tongue space thus influencing your speech pattern favourably. Preservation of the remaining jaw bone structure Conservation of the teeth. If a missing tooth or teeth are to be replaced with a fixed bridge, healthy tooth structure has to be sacrificed by grinding by adjacent teeth. This could lead to further complications. Better success rate. Implant retain prostheses have generally higher success rate and longevity than conventional fixed and removable dentures. Socio-Psychological Benefits An implant borne fixed prosthesis can improve your esteem as it comes closest to replicating missing teeth and avoids the needs for a removable prosthesis. Who is a candidate for dental implants? Anyone in reasonable health who wants to replace missing teeth can be a candidate. You must have enough bone in the area of the missing teeth to provide for the anchorage of the implant. Who is not a candidate for the implant? Not everyone can have an implant. Certain factors such as diabetes, bleeding disorders, severe chronic illness, certain medications as well as compromised physical and mental integrity. If too much jaw bone has been lost due to ageing and extraction of teeth, the implant will not be successful. Smoking can cause failure of the implant to integrate with the jaw bone. Smoking can significantly increase the risk of failure to improve the chances of success - do not smoke. Does Dental Implant hurt? Almost without exception, patients report that there was far less discomfort from the implant placement than when they had the tooth or teeth extracted. The actual procedure to surgically place a dental implant is a minor one and usually done under local anaesthesia or sedation and is generally not at all painful. Under sedation people are not aware of the procedure itself. When the anaesthesia wears off about three or four hours later, you may expect some discomfort. The level of discomfort is quite different from patient to patient, but most patients do not have significant problems. Usually only mild analgesics are needed for a day or two. Are implants always successful? Success depends very much on where the implants are placed in the jaw, and what they are used to support. The best position of implant is in the front portion of the lower jaw, where success rate can be close to 100%. In general implants have success rate of 90-98%. Occasionally dental implants fail to integrate with the bone or as some people say they are rejected. In most instances, the rejected implant will have to be removed and replaced with another one. How long will the treatment take? Your first step is to arrange a consultation where we can start working on your specific needs, important diagnostic information is collected, which may include photographs, X rays and models of your teeth. Once we have discussed your treatment needs, treatment may begin. The implant fixture will have to be inserted into the jaw bone first and left to integrate with the surrounding bone. After a healing period of two to three months it will become strong enough support a prosthesis. In recent years, however, there has been al lot of research indicating that implants can be loaded as soon as they are placed in the jaw bone. Each case has to be assessed on its merits, we advise what is the best for any particular situation. Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) One of the essential prerequisite for implant therapy is the presence of a healthy and adequate jaw bone to provide a solid foundation for the support of the implant, if the available bone is inadequate, it has to be regenerated either prior to or simultaneously with the placement of the implant otherwise alternative treatment options must be considered. Guided bone regeneration is a specialised procedure performed either several months prior to the placement of the dental implant, or simultaneously with the placement of the dental implant to produce either a wider ridge of bone or to fill a defect in the bone to make it easier to place the implant in an ideal position with a predictable outcome both aesthetically and functionally. It blocks fast growing gum tissue, allowing slower growing bones cells to fill in the defect. During GBR therapy regenerative barrier membranes (either resorbable or non resorbable) are surgically placed between the gum and the bone letting your natural bone tissue heal without interference. Sometimes bone grafting materials may have to be used with regenerative barrier membranes. Bone Grafting Material Human bone-autogenous bone graft (from the same human), this can be harvested from some oral sites in the lower or the upper jaw that has abundance of bone, it can be also be collected from bur shavings and a bone trap fitted into one of the suction hoses. Xenogenetic bone graft materials: Bovine derived bone mineral Coral Calcium carbonate How much does it cost? Fees vary depending on how many implants are required, design of the final prosthesis and the quantity and the quality of the available bone and gum tissue, The final prosthesis maybe an individual tooth, group of teeth (called a bridge), or a removable over denture. As you can see there are many different treatment options available involving dental implants. It is difficult to provide any recommendation without studying your requirements to help to determine whether you are a candidate for a treatment and ultimately which option fits within your budget. Implants are considered as an investment as the long term success is often superior to the discomfort and the repetitive temporary solutions that are available as an alternative. During our consultation process you will see how we can tailor a solution to fit within your budget and circumstances.