The best way to restore missing teeth – Dental Implants What are dental implants? Dental implants are not like planting a seed to grow teeth like a crop, but a kind of prosthesis made by surgically implanting a titanium metal implant (artificial tooth root) into the jawbone, and after a period of time, when the implant is firmly bonded to the jawbone, a crown is installed on its upper end. Oral implant technology was first advocated and practiced by Professor Branemark of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden in the 1960s, and after decades of joint efforts of many scholars from multiple disciplines, an interdisciplinary technique for restoring missing teeth was formed. The development and application of dental implant technology has provided a more scientific, rational and perfect restoration method for missing teeth. Dental implants are natural, beautiful and functional, and have become the first choice for tooth loss restoration in developed countries. The impact of missing teeth on health There are two sets of teeth in a person’s life: milk teeth and permanent teeth, and missing permanent teeth cannot be regenerated. Missing teeth will cause many adverse effects: ① The gap caused by missing teeth will affect the chewing function, and the teeth adjacent to the gap will continuously tilt and move in the direction of the gap, while the opposing teeth will elongate towards the gap, resulting in misaligned occlusion, which can lead to the occurrence of temporomandibular joint disorder. In addition, the gap can form food embedment and increase the risk of dental caries and gingivitis. ②Once a tooth is lost, the bone around it is degraded, and the longer the tooth is missing, the more severe the bone resorption is. As time lengthens, severe bone resorption not only affects the patient’s quality of life, but also increases the difficulty of dental restoration. ③ Missing teeth can make a person look older. Therefore, tooth loss should be restored as early as possible, which is good for maintaining oral health, delaying the process of bone resorption, preventing the movement and decay of adjacent teeth, and increasing the patient’s self-confidence in social activities. Traditional restorative methods Traditional denture restoration includes movable and fixed restorations. The movable denture is fixed to the adjacent teeth and mucosa by hooks and brackets, which has a wide range of application, less abrasion of dental tissues, easy repair and lower cost. However, the disadvantages are poor stability, low chewing efficiency, large size, foreign body sensation, easy to cause nausea and affect pronunciation. In addition, movable dentures need to be taken off and cleaned every meal, and improper use can cause damage to abutment teeth and mucosal tissue, caries, periodontitis, alveolar bone resorption and temporomandibular joint disorders and other adverse consequences. Fixed denture is to use the adjacent teeth as piers, like a bridge to repair missing teeth, which can better restore the patient’s oral function and aesthetics, and is more comfortable. The disadvantage is that the amount of the abutment teeth as the “bridge” tissue is removed, often need to be inactivated, and at the same time, because the edge of the denture crown and the abutment teeth are difficult to achieve absolute fit, easy to occur secondary caries, and lead to the failure of the entire bridge. Advantages of Dental Implants Dental implant technology has been called the fourth revolution in dentistry since 1840. It avoids the defects of traditional restorations such as instability, wear of adjacent teeth and weakness in chewing. The implant made of medical grade titanium can be directly implanted in the alveolar bone and can be firmly integrated with the alveolar bone in just a few weeks. It is clinically proven that it can completely replace single, multiple missing teeth or even the whole mouth, and is known as the “third” tooth of human beings after milk teeth and permanent teeth, with the following outstanding advantages: 1. Better than other traditional dentures. 2, no tooth grinding: rely on artificial roots for restoration, no need to cut and grind the next healthy teeth, there is no harm to neighboring teeth. 3.Good retention: without the use of traditional denture rings or braces, the artificial tooth root is closely integrated with the alveolar bone and rooted in the mouth like real teeth, with strong retention and stability. 4.Aesthetics: The crown can be made according to the face shape and the shape and color of other teeth of the patient to achieve overall coordination and beauty. 5. Comfortable and convenient: No abutments and rings necessary for removable dentures, no foreign body sensation, very comfortable and convenient, and conducive to maintaining oral cleanliness and hygiene. 6. Simple operation: Dental implant surgery is a small alveolar surgery, similar to tooth extraction, using local anesthesia, with little trauma, you can eat after surgery, almost painless. The implant placement procedure can be completed in a few minutes. Due to the use of biomaterials that are highly compatible with the human body, dental implants do not have any adverse side effects on the human body. In case of implant failure, the implant can be removed and the implant can be restored after the bone has healed or by other methods. Although the cost of dental implant treatment is high, dental implants are the first choice for dental restoration for patients with certain financial conditions, given the improvement in aesthetics, the restoration of chewing function, and the resulting increase in overall self-confidence of the patient. Dental implants have a wide range of indications and can be used in almost all cases of missing teeth, but the patient must meet the following conditions: 1. 2. Sufficient bone volume (including height and width) at the missing tooth site, insufficient bone volume needs to be increased by some other methods before implant restoration. 3, no serious periodontitis, periodontal disease and other oral disorders. 4. The gap between the upper and lower teeth should not be less than 0.5 cm when biting. Patients with severe diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, coagulation disorders, mental disorders, osteoporosis, bone metabolic diseases and those who are undergoing radiation treatment to the jaw and neck are not suitable for implant surgery. The dental implant process requires a specially trained and experienced dentist to complete the treatment process as follows: 1) Initial consultation: preparation of information for consultation ① Clinical examination, medical history, understanding of the general situation and medical history of the patient. (2) X-ray surface tomography, oral CT examination if necessary, jaw bone equivalent assessment, implant length prediction, etc. ③ Take occlusal records and check the occlusal relationship. ④ Study the model for oral implant design. 2. Consultation: Oral surgery, prosthodontics, periodontics and orthodontics will discuss together ① Indications for oral implantation of the patient. ② Oral implant site. ③ Oral implant restoration method. ④ The number and size of implants. ⑤ Whether special treatment is needed, such as bone grafting, maxillary sinus lift, etc. (6) Detailed introduction of the oral implant treatment plan to the patient. (7) Explain to the patient the possible complications during the oral implant treatment and any temporary changes in the treatment plan. (viii) Provide the patient with information on costs. ⑨ Take photos of the patient’s frontal and lateral views and the preoperative surgical area. 3. Perform the appropriate dental, periodontal and orthodontic treatment according to the consultation opinion. 4.Implementation of implant surgery and placement of artificial tooth roots. 5.Denture restoration will be performed after 6 weeks, and if necessary, second-stage surgery will be performed. 6. Maintain oral hygiene, regular maintenance and review of dental implants. Maintenance of dental implants Dental implant post-operative care is very important, otherwise the wound infection can lead to the failure of the implant surgery. In addition, dental implants are not your original teeth, so you should pay attention to daily maintenance in order to ensure the service life of dental implants. The following issues should be noted after the completion of implant treatment: 1. The patient should eat a liquid or semi-liquid diet on the day of surgery. 2. Brush the teeth to avoid the surgical area within one week to avoid stimulating the wound. 3. Observe the condition of the dental implant and the trauma surface at any time within two weeks, and contact the doctor in time if any abnormality is found. 4. Do not eat foods that are too hard and tough for 3 months to avoid excessive force on the dental implant. 5.Maintain good oral hygiene and effective oral cleaning on time: rinse with mouthwash several times a day; use soft bristle toothbrush to brush teeth after three meals; do not use toothpicks to pick teeth, and use dental floss to remove food residues in between teeth; scaling regularly, recommended once every six months to once a year. 6.Regularly review, find caries, gingivitis, periodontitis, malocclusion and peri-implantitis and other problems should be dealt with in time. 7.Avoid accidental bruises, and contact the doctor immediately once they occur. 8.Actively prevent and control systemic diseases. After more than 40 years of development, oral implant technology has formed a complete theoretical system, which is widely used in the restoration of single tooth, multi-tooth and full mouth tooth loss, with a success rate of more than 97%. In addition, implant technology has been extended to orthodontic support, intermaxillary fixation, and even the fixation of oral and maxillofacial and extremity pseudo-restorations. Currently, in developed countries, dental implants are considered as the first choice for restoration of missing teeth.