Dental Implants

Titanium posts are placed in the bone to serve as the replacement for the root portion of a missing natural tooth. In addition to holding crowns, implants can be used to support partial dentures and "overlay" dentures, where the appliance is supported by implants but removable.

What are Dental Implants?

For almost a hundred years dentistry has tried, with limited success, to find a way to replace missing teeth with artificial teeth that attach to the jawbone. Over thirty-five years ago the technique was perfected, and now hundreds of thousands of patients have dental implants placed each year.

Implants are titanium posts that are placed in the bone to serve as the replacement for the root portion of a missing natural tooth. The implant is biocompatible with human tissue, and in four decades of use there have been no known foreign body reactions.

After allowing time for the jawbone to bond to the surface of the implant (osseointegration), a post is attached to the implant. This post exits the gum and a crown or other restoration is placed on the post. The final restoration is similar to a crown on a natural tooth, and is not removable. It feels and functions as a normal tooth. This ability to add a tooth where it is needed has changed the way dentistry is practiced.

Dental Implants Diagrams

In addition to holding crowns, implants can be used to support partial dentures and "overlay" dentures, where the appliance is supported by implants but can be removed.

There are many benefits to using dental implants. When teeth are lost, ongoing shrinkage of the jawbone occurs, which can cause the face to look older. This shrinkage can also make adequate fit of a partial or full denture difficult. Placing implants can slow or stop this process. Dental implants look, feel, and function like natural teeth, and offer a tremendous improvement in comfort, speech, eating, and convenience over conventional partial and full dentures.

Implant Replacement for Single Teeth

While a single tooth can be replaced with a removable appliance, the looks, function, and convenience of a "permanent" replacement are far superior. In the past this could only be accomplished with a bridge, where the teeth on either side of the missing tooth are crowned, with the replacement tooth connected to the crowns.

This is an excellent restoraton, but many people would prefer not to have to "prepare", or cut down, the adjacent teeth. Today, implants have become so predictable they are often recommended in place of a bridge to replace single missing teeth.

The advantages of implants over bridges include:

• It is not necessary to drill down the adjacent natural teeth to make crowns.
• The teeth remain separate, making cleaning (flossing) easier.
• If a bridge fails, the entire bridge must be removed.
• Implants are stand-alone.
• Implants cannot decay, the main reason for bridge failure.

Implant Replacement for Multiple Teeth

Implants can be used to support multiple teeth, or bridges. They are very useful when the natural teeth are not strong enough to support a bridge, or when there are no teeth available to which a bridge can be connected. In these cases, implants offer the only solution for a permanent restoration, and an alternative to a removable appliance.

Implant Supported Partial and Full Dentures

Conventional full dentures, particularly lower dentures, are often loose, and offer only marginal chewing ability. This may also be true of partial dentures that have only a few teeth supporting them. Implants are the solution, and offer remarkable support for removable appliances. In fact, implants were originally developed primarily to help the millions of people with ill-functioning dentures.

The advantages of an implant supported removable appliance include:

• More secure retention and fit of appliance, improving function and comfort
• Less stress on any remaining natural teeth holding the appliance
• Reduction or elimination of bone shrinkage where implants placed

Home - Procedures - Dental Implants - Overview