A dental implant is a replacement of the root of a tooth. It is usually made of titanium or titanium alloy. Various useful attachments can then be selected for placement on implants. These include crowns for a single tooth replacement, bridges to replace a few missing teeth or even a full set of teeth in one or both jaws. Implants may also be used to attach removable dentures to improve stability.
The implant’s titanium root is usually shaped like a screw. Once it is placed into the jaw bone it fuses with the bone over a period of several months and the bone becomes strong. This is the process termed Osseointegration. There are often limits on how much the implant can be loaded until this osseointegration bond is strong enough to support the artificial tooth/teeth, so there is often a period where a temporary solution is required.
Implants offer significant advantages over many traditional forms of dental rehabilitation:
There is a wealth of scientific evidence and clinical experience spanning over 40 years to support recommending implants as patient friendly, biologically compatible devices.
Implants are very well tolerated and once integrated in the body, they can be expected to be a lifelong prospect. Infrequently implants can fail due to infection. A strict surgical protocol and post-operative hygiene program is therefore required. Like natural teeth, implants can also fail due to “gum disease” and so they need lifelong monitoring and professional cleaning where indicated. There are also certain medical conditions and medications which predispose to failure. These include uncontrolled diabetes, the Biphosphonate drugs (eg. Fosamax™), and habits like smoking.
We offer two options with your surgery:
Local anaesthetic – An injection in the mouth (to make the area numb) is sufficient for single implant procedures for some people.
Intravenous Sedation (in combination with local anaesthetic) – A sedative medication is used in combination with a local anaesthetic. The patient is relaxed but conscious throughout the procedure and most patients report post procedural amnesia (forgetfulness) of the surgery itself and sometimes they even believe they have slept through it.
Placement of the implant fixture (screw) requires a hole to be drilled exactly where the implant is wanted. The angle depth and height are critical for a successful outcome. The placement is made with a strict sterile surgical protocol. If the appearances are important, because of the position, then temporary replacement for a gap is usually pre-arranged so that appearance is maintained or improved following surgery.
Because of bone loss following tooth removal or because of periodontal disease associated with the teeth that have been removed, bone grafts are used very commonly in the placement of implants. The bone is usually collected from the drill hole that is made for the implant to go into. Often no extra surgery is therefore required. On occasion, there is still not enough bone and a further amount may need to be collected. We may also employ commercially available bone grafts that are processed from human cadaver bone in reputed tissue banks. Any such products we use are always MEDSAFE registered and locally sourced from distributors. We also use a dissolving membrane derived from the collagen of cows as an adjunct to the use of bone graft. This is occasionally used to cover a bone graft to protect it from exposure to the mouth. These animal derived products are not associated with immune responses (i.e. that have the potential to produce a rejection response).
Rest at home on the day after surgery and take the medication as prescribed. Do not drink alcohol while taking antibiotics or pain relieving drugs after surgery. Restrict your diet to soft foods, drink plenty of water. If bleeding occurs this can usually be controlled by application of pressure with a piece of gauze or a clean handkerchief. The next day commence with the recommended mouthwash, which may be either warm salt water or Savacol.
This new process involves CT (computerised tomography) planning using 3-D computer based reconstruction of your jaws. These computer reconstructions firstly enable us to more accurately predetermine the positions of the implant(s) and help us design your artificial teeth or bridge. Secondly, the CT data can be used to fabricate a 3-D surgical guide which is a very precise guide for the surgeon to position the dental implants and ensure accurate subsequent connection to the prosthetic teeth. Thirdly, the final teeth may even be made in advance, in some cases, using this new system. Guided surgery is typically used for cases involving implant treatment for a full arch (i.e. no remaining teeth) or for multiple dental implants within a dental arch.
If you would like to arrange your initial consultation or you wish to understand more about dental implants please contact us at our Mount Maunganui or Te Puke practice.