Dental Implants

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When you lose a tooth it usually is best for your oral health to have it replaced. Missing teeth compromise your “bite” and decrease your ability to chew properly. Missing a tooth, or several teeth, can also increase the burden on your remaining teeth. Depending on the location in your mouth, a missing tooth can also have a very negative impact on your smile and appearance. Fortunately, missing a tooth is not a life-threatening process and you have time to consider what replacement option is best for you.

At your consultation appointment we will closely examine the area, explain all your replacement options, make recommendations, and most importantly, answer all your questions. It is extremely important to us that you are well informed and that you understand all your options.

What Are My Tooth Replacement Options?

If you are missing one or more teeth and choose to have them replaced, there are several treatment options available to you:

"Flipper"

A “flipper” is a removable plastic tooth device. It is fragile and is meant only to last for a short period of time. Flippers are usually only worn by patients on a temporary basis for esthetic purposes while they are waiting for more definitive and permanent treatment.

 

Cast Partial

A cast partial denture is also a removable device. It is precision cast in metal for increased strength and longer service. Wire clasps are commonly used to hold it in place. These wire clasps are frequently visible when you smile and unfortunately will also commonly damage the remaining supporting teeth.

 

Fixed Bridge

A fixed bridge is cemented into place using crowns or “caps” on the teeth adjacent to the open space for support. Crown placement usually requires removing or reducing the outer layer of the adjacent teeth. Fixed bridges have been made by dentists for their patients for decades. Unfortunately, bridges have many significant disadvantages:

• The average “lifetime” of a bridge is 12 years, meaning that most bridges will need to be replaced every 12 years. Frequently, replacing a bridge means making it longer because the original supporting teeth are no longer useful.
• Bridges are very difficult to clean under, which results in decay of the teeth supporting the bridge. Often, patients are not aware of the decay until it is too late.
• Teeth do not like to be “drilled (whittled) down”. A full 10% of teeth supporting a bridge will have to under go root canal treatment sometime in the future. Root canal treated teeth are prone to fracture, which further contributes to the early demise of a fixed bridge.

Full dentures or “plates” are the traditional solution for people who have lost all their teeth in one or both jaws. The success and fit of a full denture depends upon the patient’s jaw shape and size, their oral habits, and their adaptability. Some people adapt well to their dentures, while other patients are not able to adapt at all.

Dental Implants

Dental implants can be used to provide support for the replacement of one tooth or all the teeth. After years of research and clinical trials, we can now provide this option, in addition to the traditional treatments listed above. Implant supported teeth and dentures are often a wonderful option. Implant supported teeth and dentures can be made attractive, stable, and comfortable for many patients.

Are Dental Implants An Option For Me?

Dental implants are changing the way people live. They are designed to provide a foundation for replacement teeth which look, feel and function like natural teeth. The person who has lost teeth regains the ability to eat virtually anything they want and allows them to once again smile with confidence.

If you are considering dental implants, we will examine your mouth and oral structures thoroughly. We will review your dental and medical history to ensure that dental implants are appropriate for you. And we will evaluate your jawbones with sophisticated digital x-rays to determine if you are a good candidate for dental implants.

Exactly What Is A Dental Implant?

The best way to explain a dental implant is to compare it to a natural tooth. A natural tooth consists of a root and a crown. The part of the tooth you see and eat with is called the crown. Beneath the crown is the root. The root of the tooth anchors the tooth through the gum tissue to the jawbone. When you lose a tooth, you lose both the root and the crown. To replace a tooth, we first have to replace the root. A dental implant is essentially a new root. This specialized titanium root (implant) is fitted into a socket that we create in your jaw, replacing the lost root of your natural tooth.

Once an implant has been placed in the jaw, the bone around the implant will fuse, or integrate, to the implant. The process of integration typically takes from 2 to 4 months depending upon the quantity and quality of the jawbone. Once the implant has integrated (fused) to the jaw bone, a support post, called a final abutment, will be placed into the implant itself. The abutment actually protrudes up through the gum tissue and serves as a post to which a new crown can be cemented. If all your teeth are missing, a variety of treatment options are available to support and greatly increase the stability, strength, and retention of your dentures.

Dr. Muse has lectured both nationally and internationally on implant designs and techniques. He is constantly updating his knowledge through continuation courses so that he can provide the very best in dental implant therapy to his patients.

How Are Implants Placed?

The office procedure to place a dental implant usually takes about an hour for one implant and no more than two or three hours for multiple implants. The placement process consists of the following steps:

• For the patient’s comfort, we normally recommend IV sedation during the procedure. Once you are sedated, a local anesthetic is administered to numb the area where the implant is to be placed.
  Then an incision is made into the gum tissue and the gum tissue is reflected back to reveal the underlying bone.
• Using specialized instruments, a socket is then carefully created within the jaw bone.
• The titanium implant is then inserted into the socket within the jawbone.
• A healing abutment, or healing cap, is placed onto the implant after it is inserted into the bone. The gum tissue is then brought around the healing abutment and held in place with dissolvable sutures.
  Once the implant has integrated, an impression is made of the implant by the restorative dentist and a final abutment and crown is fabricated. The healing abutment is removed for the last time; the final abutment is placed into the implant, and the crown (tooth) is cemented to the final abutment.

Two to four months is typically the amount of time required for the implant to integrate to the jawbone. We will follow you closely during this time. Once we have determined that the implant has healed to your jaw, the final abutment and crown will be made by your restorative dentist.

Dental implant therapy can vary greatly from patient to patient. It certainly is not a “one size fits all” form of treatment. That is why clinical expertise and judgment are so critical to implant success. Dr. Muse has the clinical experience and academic background to assure that your implant restoration is highly successful. Dr. Muse will present and discuss with you in great detail all your treatment options, the individual steps along the way, and the expected outcome. We promise to work closely with your restorative dentist and most importantly, as a team; we will make sure that all your implant questions have been answered prior to proceeding with treatment.

What Does It Feel Like After An Implant Is Placed?

Modern instrumentation and anesthesia techniques allow us to place implants in a pain free fashion. Implants are typically placed under IV Sedation, which provides a safe, comfortable, pain-free and memory-free experience. Afterwards, recovering from implant surgery is very similar to recovering from having a tooth removed. Most patients take a combination of Motrin and a mild narcotic medication for the first 24 to 48 hours after their surgery. By the third to fifth day, the area is still sore, but usually the pain has subsided. The residual soreness is usually completely gone by the end of the second week. Almost all of our patients tell us that healing from dental implant placement is easier, and less bothersome, than healing from having a tooth removed.

Can I Have A Tooth Removed And An Implant Placed At The Same Time?

This technique works very well for single rooted anterior teeth. As long as there is no infection, and adequate bone, an anterior tooth (incisors and pre-molars) can usually be removed and an implant immediately placed in that socket. This is advantageous because the sooner the implant is placed in the bone, the sooner the process of integration begins, and the sooner the final crown can be placed on the implant.

Immediate implant placement into an extraction socket does not work well for larger, multi-rooted, posterior teeth. In this case, the tooth is removed and the socket is grafted in order to preserve the bone for future implant placement. The graft material turns into bone after 3 to 4 months, and then an implant can be placed.

What Is A Socket Graft?

Our jaw bones exist to hold the root of a tooth. Once a tooth is removed the bone in that area is no longer needed and the bone begins to atrophy, or “melt away”. If the plan is to eventually replace that missing tooth with an implant we want to preserve all the bone in that area that we can. By placing a graft material in the socket when the tooth is removed the bone is preserved and a future foundation is laid for implant placement. Lost bone can always be rebuilt, but reconstructing a deficit bony area is always more difficult, more time consuming, and more expensive than preserving the bone that you already have.

The graft material is not design to be a part of your body forever. The graft serves as a scaffold for your own bone cells (osteoblasts) to grow into. The graft is resorbed and your own bone is laid down in the area.

What Is The Graft Material Made Of?

There are many different types of graft materials. Some are synthetic (alloplasts), others come from different species (xenografts), while others come from the same species (allografts), such as cadaver bone. All of these graft materials are extremely safe and can be used in different situations to accomplish different goals. If we feel grafting is needed prior to your implant surgery, or in conjunction with your implant treatment we will discuss with you which type of grafting material we feel is best in your particular case.

Can I Have A Tooth (Crown) Placed On The Implant The Same Day As The Implant Is Placed In My Jaw?

Yes, placing an implant and securing a temporary tooth to it the same day is possible. This type of treatment is typically limited to the upper front teeth where esthetics is important. Although immediate tooth placement on the implant (immediate temporization) sounds “neat” and “flashy” it carriers certain risks that sometimes are not worth taking. If we think you are a candidate for immediate temporization of the implant we will review the nature of the treatment in great detail with and thoroughly discuss the pros and cons of such treatment.

I Have Heard About “Teeth in a Day”. What Does That Mean?

Teeth in a Day refers to the placement of multiple implants (usually 5 or more) either the upper or lower jaw bone and teeth are immediately connected to the implants. The patient therefore walks out of the office that day with implants in place and new teeth attached to them.

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To provide you with a better understanding of Dental Implants, we have provided the following multimedia presentation. Many common questions pertaining to Dental Implants are discussed.

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