Implants

What is a dental implant?

A dental implant is a small titanium cylinder that is used to replace a tooth that was lost. Its alternative is a bridge, which requires drilling of the adjacent teeth to replace the missing tooth. An artificial crown is soon made to fit the implant and functions as a normal tooth. If many teeth are missing, multiple implants can eliminate the need for dentures.
Masticatory function, speech and quality of life are significantly improved with implant treatment compared to treatment with complete dentures.

How long will the treatment last?

There are two phases: the first phase is the surgical phase in which the implant is placed into the bone for 2 months to allow for healing. Temporary teeth are used in the meantime, mainly for aesthetic reasons. This process is called “immediate loading” of the implants. The second phase is the short process of the actual crown fabrication. Therefore, the implant replaces the root of the tooth, while the crown replaces that part of the tooth, which shows in the mouth.
In most cases, the treatment with dental implants can be completed in just a week (3 dental visits).
In any case, the protocol of our clinic is never leave the patient without teeth. Furthermore, even the temporary teeth are always fixed and still.
In almost all cases, patients feel comfortable after implant placement, because atraumatic surgical techniques are used and complicated grafting procedures are avoided.

How long will the implant last?

With advances in the science of implant dentistry, you can now expect that most implants will function indefinitely. However, like any dental restoration, the teeth may wear or break and need to be repaired or replaced.
Oral hygiene instructions are given to the patient after implant treatment is completed. The use of the interdental brush and the floss influences the prognosis of the implant treatment.
Furthermore, the re-evaluation of the implants every year is mandatory to prevent complications.

Which is the best material for the tooth fabrication?

The use of biocompatible materials (titanium and zirconia) contributes to the best fit on the tooth-implant interface, which is one of the most important factors for the long term success of the treatment.
More specifically, zirconia is the material of choice for the crown fabrication because of its excellent biocompatibility with the surrounding tissues (gums and bone) and the perfect esthetics.
Furthermore, when compared to the porcelain, it is very hard material and withstands more (“breaks less”) the masticatory forces during eating and bruxism (nocturnal tooth clenching and grinding).
In most cases, we prefer to fabricate prostheses made out entirely of zirconia (no porcelain at all) by using CAD-CAM technology. In doing so the design and manufacture of the restoration is completed 100% digitally.

What are the benefits of Zygomatic implants?

When maxillary bone volume is inadequate, the placement of regular implants is impossible.
The conventional way to resolve this problem is the use of bone grafts, which complicates the treatment increasing the time, the cost and the surgical complications (pain, swelling, infection of the graft material, inability to place fixed temporary teeth etc)
The zygomatic implants are special implants that are longer than the regular and they anchor into the zygomatic bone (cheek bone) rather than the maxilla (upper jaw). Therefore, they are not influenced from the volume of maxillary bone and graft is not needed.
Within 24 hours from the placement of the zygomatic implants, fixed temporary teeth are attached to them rigidly, and patients with atrophic upper jaw who have lost their teeth they now can laugh again.

What is the “all on 4” protocol?

Usually six implants are ideally needed to replace all the teeth of one arch (12-14 teeth).

For some cases 4 implants are enough to support all the teeth of the upper or the lower arch. This is called the “all on four” concept and is well documented in the dental literature.
The main advantage of this method is that simplifies the treatment plan reducing the possibility of using bone graft and it minimizes the time and the cost of the operation.

Cases

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