Dental implant

Why does tooth loss occur?

The teeth are lost through periodontal disease (periodontitis) in non-maintained, by decay, fractures or teeth irrestaurables, among others.

What is a dental implant?

Dental implants are fixtures, as artificial roots, created to replace missing teeth or lost for any reason; they are able to integrate and live in a healthy and completely natural way with the rest of the oral.

After the placement of the implant into the jaw and once they are osseointegrated, they will give support to the new artificial teeth that will be attached to them. Each implant, as already mentioned, acts as an artificial root on which to place the crown or dental prosthesis and it can be distinguished, like the natural tooth:

1. Implant fixation or dental implant (the portion that lies under the gum)
2. Transepithelial abutments (portion of the fixation that emerges in the mouth)
3. Crown or prosthesis (covering the abutment and is noticeable in the mouth)

Which are the advantages of a dental implant?

The loss of a natural tooth can be restored using a dental implant and there is no need to use or carve adjacent healthy teeth. However this will be unavoidable if you choose the placement of a bridge supported on the teeth.
On the implant a single or independent crown will be adapted, which can be cemented or attached to the implant by a small invisible screw.

Carving incisors for a bridge

process to place dental implant

The placement of dental implants can be divided into 3 phases:

• The phase of dental implant placement (surgical procedure where the implant is placed into the bone and have to wait to facilitate the integration process).
• The placement phase of the temporary abutment (if a crown is needed while tissues heal) or a final abutment (on which the final crown will be placed).
• The time we need, since the placement of the implant to the placement of the crown will run from he moment in which the surgery starts to 6-12 months if there has been a regeneration (if there is enough stability and aesthetics is committed). Therefore, each case must be previously valued by the specialist to plan a convenient treatment for each patient.

After the placement of the implant, all patients must visit their dentist to check the implants at least once a year. If the patient is a risk patient (smoker, periodontal, poor oral hygiene) he should visit the dentist with more frequency so there is no risk of infection or loss.

Is there a risk of rejection?

No, when there is an osseointegration failure is not because the organism has refused the implant, but because there has been a problem of quantity or quality of bone. When there is an implant loss, it can be replaced by another and generally it works without problems.

The success rate of implants is 98-99%, making it one of the most predictable treatments in the world of medicine; although we must be careful with factors such as snuff and plaque.

If I have periodontal disease, can I have dental implants?

Periodontal patients are the patients in which more implants are placed. For this reason, it is necessary that the periodontal disease is treated and controlled and that the patient has a proper level of hygiene.

If implants are placed in a patient with untreated periodontal disease, there is a risk that the bacteria that cause the destruction of the bone around the teeth are transferred to the implants leading to a peri-implantitis. In this case, periodontal patients with implants must attend their dentists more frequently than patients with periodontal implants.

Is the treatment painful?

No, they are always performed under local anesthesia and sometimes with sedation or general anesthesia.

For most patients is enough to apply local anesthesia to avoid any slight pain, but if it is necessary, the dental implant team can make the patient feel better with the help of medication or by applying techniques of conscious sedation.

If for any reason, your case needs to be treated under general anesthesia, the dental implant team will proceed with the collaboration of specialists in anesthesia and resuscitation in a hospital setting.

Some videos about dental implants: