Are you candidate for implants?

When are implants necessary

Dental implants are the best solution for many different conditions, ranging from one or several missing teeth to complete loss of teeth in a jaw. In this procedure implants are being introduced into the jaw bone, and they serve as roots which will carry future dental crowns.

The artificial tooth is a common name for three parts of such a tooth: the screw that is inserted into bone, an abutment that connects the screw with the crown, and the dental crown itself. There are less dental screws than there are crowns, as 4-6 screws in one jaw are sufficiently strong to carry all dental crowns in that jaw.

These days, implant insertion is a routine operation that is successful in more than 96% of cases. Even if all the teeth are missing, the procedure is quick. It is done in two phases with a three months break, during which a patient is given temporary dentures, so the procedure itself will not influence the patient’s life in any way.

The number of natural teeth needed for a dental bridge is same as the number of screws needed for an implants based bridge. Usually, crowns anchored on implants are physically separated from crowns on other teeth, but in some cases it is possible to connect implants and natural teeth in the same bridge.

So, implants are one solution for partial tooth loss, dental bridge being the other, but implants are better solutions in several cases:

• In case there are not enough natural teeth to support the porcelain bridges which will replace the missing teeth;
• If the teeth in jaw are healthy and strong, so applying bridge over them would damage them without need;
• If the teeth which are supposed to carry the bridge are not strong enough to endure the stress, mostly when Periodontitis is present;
• When the distance between teeth which carry the bridge is too great – four or more teeth.

As a solution for total toothlessness, the complete implant treatment is again one option, while the other is denture anchored to dental implants. The difference between two techniques is explained in sections “Complete implant treatment” and “Dentures anchored on implants”.