What is a Dental Implant?
Dental implants replace the roots of teeth and can be used to anchor a single crown or crowns, a bridge or a denture. Dental implants are usually screw shaped implants made from pure titanium. Titanium is used because of its almost unique property of fusing directly to bone a process called Osseointegration. Implants are typically 3-6mm diameter and some 7-18mm in length.
There are commonly three parts to what is described as an implant; the implant fixture itself which is inserted directly into bone, the abutment an interconnecting part crossing the gum and connecting the implant to the overlying crown or denture made from titanium, gold or ceramic.
Dental implants were first used to treat patients in their current form some forty years ago. Per Ingvar Brånemark a Swedish Professor discovered that the metal titanium fused (osseointegrated) directly to bone in studies of blood circulation.
The dental implant system and clinical techniques he developed became widely used from the early 1980’s. The Neoss system represents the current state of the art using the latest technologies, best production methods and finest materials from around the world. The system is in the true spirit of the principles advocated by Brånemark.
Advantages of Dental Implants
A dental implant may be placed at the same time a tooth is removed or many years after extraction. The position, colour and shape of teeth is determined by nature.
Implants and their crowns can often be placed in the ideal position (subject to the availability of suitable bone), closing spaces, matching natural teeth and creating the optimal aesthetics.
Under some circumstances and the subject of careful clinical assessment an implant can be placed and the overlying crown or denture placed immediately of very soon therafter. This offers immediate treatment.
However under some circumstances with poor bone quality for example it can be prudent to wait for healing and osseointegration to take place using a temporary crown or denture in the interim.
A skilled and experienced clinical professional will be able to assess the patient on their individual circumstances.
Natural teeth suffer from disease; tooth decay (caries) and gum disease (gingivitis or periodontitis). Implants do not suffer from these conditions.
They have the longest lifetime of implanted medical devices and current designs are having reported success rates in excess of forty years.
Longevity is dependent on individual clinical cases and a specialist will be able to advise on risk factors. Some implant components and prosthetics may require replacement due to wear and tear and mechanical factors but often this is simple mechanical replacement.
Safety
Dental implants are amongst the safest and most successful implantable medical device. Implant placement is an invasive technique but is usually minimally invasive and administered with a local anaesthetic.
The success of dental implants is typically in the upper 90’s%.
Those implants that fail may do so due to inadvertent loading or risk factors such as poor bone, smoking and surgical factors. Failure may happen without infection or the patient being aware and result in implant mobility. Successful replacement is commonly achievable.
There is very little published scientific evidence of allergy to titanium. The material demonstrates a high degree of biocompatibility.
Careful treatment planning is important as with any medical procedure and it is strongly recommended that patients consult experienced clinicians and specialists for advice and treatment.
Costs
Implant treatment is probably the most expensive form of dentistry. This is because in addition to the clinicians surgical and treatment costs there are laboratory costs as well as the cost of the implant components themselves. The upfront cost of dental implant treatment should be taken in context with a comparison with the replacement costs of traditional treatment like bridges and dentures over comparable periods of time. A specialist will be able to offer advice on individual circumstances.
