Attempts to replace lost teeth with other teeth are probably just as old as the human race. In the last thirty years, a lost tooth / tooth root can be replaced with dental implants. Dental implants are made of titanium that are embedded in the jawbone in the place of a missing tooth. The dental implant has the role of replacing only the root of a tooth.
Why do You need a dental implant?
By installing implants in the place where you are missing a tooth, we protect your healthy neighboring teeth from grinding, because in order to fill the gap caused by the loss of teeth, it is necessary to grind two adjacent teeth to make a dental bridge. We keep your other teeth healthy, and an implant is always an aesthetically better solution. Also, with the loss of more teeth, comes a need for dentures, and everyone, who has ever worn dentures, will tell you what an uncomfortable solution that is. With the installation of implants, there is no need for dentures anymore. The exceptions are completely edentulous jaws for which there is very satisfactory implant-prosthetic solutions with great prosthesis stabilization.
Is the dental implant placement a painful procedure?
The placement of dental implants does not hurt. Not even during the procedure because it is performed with the use of a local anesthetic and special instruments that are used to reduce the discomfort as much as possible. The patient goes home the same day after the procedure and a cold compress should be kept to reduce the possible swelling.
What is the expire date of a dental implant?
Dental implants are a long-term solution. Traditional dental bridges supported by grounded teeth last between five and seven years, with proper care and over 10 years, but at some point they need to be replaced. Dental implants are a lifelong solution.
What happens after the placement of a dental implant?
Depending on the indications and wishes of the patient, after the implant placement and a certain period of osseointegration (the process of the implant merging with the bone) has gone by, the prosthetic phase follows: crowns or bridges on the implants or denture planning on the implants.
tHE PROCEDURE
The dental implant is surgically implanted in the bone under local anesthesia, so the procedure itself is done very quickly and completely painless. There are several steps to placing dental implants:
- STEP ONE extraction of the existing tooth and placement of the screw
- STEP TWO is a recovery period of 3 to 6 months during which the dental implant adheres to the bone - a process called osseointegration. During healing, if the implant has primary stability, a temporary crown can also be worn. After the surrounding bone tissue has fused with the implant and thus provided a stable root for the new tooth, a gingiva-former is placed on the implant to shape the gums for the tooth replacement.
- STEP THREE occurs one to two weeks later, after the gums have healed and formed, when a supra-structure is placed on the implant.
- STEP FOUR involves the placement of a ceramic crown, prosthesis or bridge, which gives the person an amazingly functional, but also, aesthetic solution.