Dental tooth implants are at the forefront of innovation in dentistry.
Even though they have been used for almost 40 years, people are beginning to find out about implants the last few years. Dental tooth implants are a safe and rather perfect solution against bridges and dentures.
Before you had to “eat” away two perfectly healthy teeth in order to make a bridge and close the gap of a missing tooth. Now all you do is fill it with a dental implant. The implantation procedure takes approximately 25 minutes, there is no pain whatsoever, and the price is similar to that of a bridge with two root canal therapies.
Detailed information about modern dental implants
Lately we hear a lot about dental implants. For some time it was another fashion wave. Everybody wanted to have one and brag about having an dental tooth implant in their mouth.
Well that is one side of the story, but what really is a dental implant, when should it be used and what exactly are its purposes?
Bone integrated dental implants are cylindrical particles made from pure titanium. They are placed inside the jaw bone or the maxilla bone, and on these dental implants afterwards the dentists base their prosthesis (crowns, bridges or dentures).
Dental implants come in several widths and lengths. But that is not what should really interest you. For the patient it doesn’t really matter how long or wide the dental implants are. No, patients do not want dental implants, they want teeth! Here we are trying to make things clearer to you, so the patient can understand what dental implants are and when they can be used for the patient’s benefit.
Dental implants are not a new treatment. Dental implant practice goes back to the seventies and today the dental implant technology has been significantly improved in order to ensure good results, meaning that today almost 99.7% of the dental implants done on patients are accepted.
You see, at first the most difficult issue in implantation was whether they will be accepted by the patient’s organism since we are talking about a foreign object (implant).
Today this issue is a thing of the past…
Dental implant technology has improved so much over the years that they can be used almost on every patient.
The indications for using a bone integrated implant are:
1. After the extraction of a tooth. We could use a more conventional method, for example a bridge, but why waste two perfectly healthy teeth? We can achieve the same – if not better – result with a dental implant and save the patient time, money and of course his neighboring teeth.
2. When several teeth are missing. Once again the patient does not have to do with a bridge preparation; several dental implants can do the work here.
3. When the patient already has a partial or full denture. Dental implants can give to such patients bridges and permanent fixation or improve the existing dentures giving them better (if not full) stability and functionality.
Now, prior to the implantation of these dental implants, each situation must be thoroughly examined with a proper clinical and laboratory examination, panoramic x-rays and sometimes even a computer scanning tomography (CT).
The dentist that will perform the implantation operation – a dentist that is fully experienced and specialized on dental implants treatments – will take all this information under consideration in order to plan the case properly.
All this is very good, the planning the preparation and everything, but there are certain limitations.
Even though today we have at our disposal many ways to compromise conditions that in the past were limiting implantation such as bone crafting materials, special membranes etc, there are still some cases that cannot be treated with a dental implant. Unfortunately not everyone can have a dental implant therapy.
Bad oral health, non controlled diabetes, drug addiction, bruxism (teeth grinding) are still contradictions in implantation.
What is really interesting is that many people avoid dental implants because they are really scared of the procedure. People believe that an implantation of a dental implant will cause them a lot of pain, discomfort and psychological stress.
The thing is that implantation is not such a complicated procedure. It has the same consequences of a simple extraction, it is done with simple local anesthesia and most importantly, there is no pain during the procedure.
After the implantation, all dental implants are normally covered under the gums. The patient is always given advice and indications for the first hours after the operation.
The dental implants need some time to heal and become one with the bone. But sometimes if the conditions are right the dental implants can take prosthesis from the moment they are implanted. That depends on the case.
Otherwise the dental implants are uncovered in due time (3 to 6 months) and then given a prosthesis. In the meantime when the implants are not yet used, the patient uses a temporary prosthesis.
The final restoration is always made from porcelain. Today, the best esthetic result comes from the use of zirconium based porcelain crowns and bridges. The result is truly remarkable. But beside that point as soon as the prosthesis is in place that is where the patient is actually controlling the situation.
Most of the outcome depends on the oral hygiene of the patient.
Oral hygiene is always the most significant factor in order to achieve a good long lasting result.
Of course oral hygiene is not the only factor. The dental technician must make a prosthesis that meets all the indications of such a treatment. The crowns and bridges must be impeccable.
These restorations can then either be cemented or screwed on the dental implants. As stated above implants must maintain perfect hygiene.
That is why the patient must treat the spaces between dental implants with special small soft brushes and of course maintain a perfect oral hygiene.
The point is that today, technology has given us the ability to actually avoid any dentures and non permanent prosthesis. All these are a thing of the past.
The crowns and bridges that are made on dental implants are now a work of art.
No one can tell the difference between natural teeth and dental tooth implants any more, if they are done properly that is.
One popular idea is to have your implants done before, after or during your holidays in Greece or the Greek islands.
If you have any questions on dental tooth implants please contact one of our listed dental tooth implant professionals in Greece.