Cosmetic Dental Implants
Why should I consider dental implants?
Because You Want A Normal Quality of Life
Because You Want to Have a Great Smile
Because You Want to Eat Comfortably and Enjoy Tasting Food
Because You Want to Prevent Facial Aging Lines
Because the Benefits Are Fantastic
A Brief History of Dental Implants
Archeological researchers reported on the use of dental implants in the early Mediterranean civilizations. The concept is old, but the new metal 'titanium' has made all the difference.
The dental implants of the 1960 - 1985 period were made from stainless steel , but unfortunately, these implants did not last many years. When they failed they so severely damaged the jawbone that even a denture would not fit well.
The international dental community has spent many years researching and developing the practical application for the process called "osseointegration." The bone sees the titanium implant as a mimic of bone and literally grows onto it as though it were host bone. Imagine a broken bone with the two halves healing back together as one: the titanium implant heals with your bone in this fashion and is incorporated as a part of your body.
- Smile rejuvenation: avoid humiliation and being self-conscious when you smile because you are missing teeth
- Preserve and protect your facial features from the appearance of premature aging because of the collapse of your mouth, lips and jawbone
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Preserve good speech function
- Avoid the shifting of your remaining teeth after an extraction that will lead to bone damage and additional tooth loss in the future
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Aid digestion processes by the normal chewing of
food before swallowing
- Enjoy the pleasure of eating by chewing regular foods and tasting the flavors of food: a denture moves as you chew, and it blocks your taste buds
- Avoid the embarrassment of not being able to eat in public because you are in pain eating firm foods and uncomfortable with moving dentures
- Avoid the soreness that accompanies moving dentures
- Protect your jawbone from shrinking away under moving dentures
- Avoid the costs of remaking dentures and partial dentures every few years as your bone shrinks under them leading to loosening teeth, denture movement , chronic soreness and the progressive loss of your jawbone
Risks:
- An implant may not bond with the bone. If so, it can be removed, the bone grafted and, in almost all cases, a replacement implant inserted
- Theoretically, a post-surgical infection might occur, but our patients are protected with antibiotics after surgery. It is extremely rare to develop any type of post surgical issue.
Representative Cases of Implant Restorations
The left central incisor, lost when a youngster, was replaced with an implant supporting a single crown
The upper right first molar (six year molar) failed after root canal and was replaced with an implant supporting a single crown
The four small lower incisors lost bone, were removed and then replaced by two implants supporting four crowns
A lower right segment with a fractured tooth root to be removed and two missing teeth received three implants supporting three crowns
A diabetic - smoker - drinker had neglected his teeth and all teeth were hopeless. Upper and lower full arch porcelain crowns were placed on eight implants in each arch. The upper arch
A patient chewing on "sugarless" candies developed root decay under a full upper bridge. The upper right section was cut out, the decayed root of the cuspid or 'eye tooth' was removed, and three (3) implants were placed to reconstruct the segment.
A periodontal patient lost most of the bone supporting the upper right lateral incisor (the small tooth right of the right central tooth). Over time, this tooth rotated and drifted downward out of position. The left central incisor had failed with a bone infection and both teeth were removed with bone regeneration grafting provided. The left central incisor was replaced with a single tooth implant. The right three tooth segment - central incisor, lateral incisor and cuspid - was restored with a three tooth cemented bridge.
This patient had severe tooth abrasion with wear of all the edges leading to an over closed facial appearance. The bite was 'rejuvenated' by re-creating a proper tooth length with lower front implants supporting the small four incisors. Note the facial lines show an improved more youthful appearance just with rebuilding the teeth.
Staged Implant Reconstruction: Never Wearing a Denture or Removable Temporary Appliance
The restorative dentists working with me plan patient implant treatment to utilize any functional teeth to support a cemented temporary tooth replacement during the implant treatment period. In many of these rehabilitation cases, those teeth are hopeless and will be later removed with additional implants placed into those positions before the reconstruction is completed. The cases below show an upper right posterior segment and two full upper arches reconstructed on implants. They NEVER wore a removable partial or full denture during the treatment period.
This patient had a failed root canal tooth with a root tip infection that was temporarily treated and used to support a segment temporary bridge as bone grafts and implants were provided. That root canal tooth was later removed and another implant inserted into that space before the segment was completed.
The following ladies have the upper bridges supported on implants. Initially, selected hopeless teeth were used to support a temporarily cemented bridge during the first bone regeneration and implant stage. When those implants were ready to use, the temporary bridge was transferred onto the implants, the hopeless teeth were removed and the final implants placed. Once the last implants were ready to use, the final porcelain bridge was placed on all the implants.
This second case suffered from root decay undermining her original porcelain bridge leaving only decayed root stubs. For this patient, we were able to utilize a few roots to support a temporarily cemented fixed bridge during her treatment while extractions, bone grafting and implants were provided.
