Oral implant is a new clinical discipline developed in the middle of the 20th century, its development and maturity not only brings gospel to patients with missing teeth, but also is considered to be the most remarkable progress made by oral science in the 20th century.
In the early 80’s, a hot trend was formed in Europe and the United States, and in China, the research phase started in the late 80’s. In the early 90’s, the clinical application was promoted nationwide, and after more than 40 years of development, oral implantation has become a conventional treatment method in dental clinical medicine. Because of the realistic and beautiful form of artificial dental implants, comfortable feeling and good chewing function, it is also called oral implant is the third set of teeth for human beings after milk teeth and permanent teeth. It is reported that there are hundreds of dentists specializing in oral implants in major cities in China, and the number of dental implants is increasing year by year, with a 10-year success rate of about 95%, which is no different from foreign countries. Clinical studies show that more than 90% of dental implants can be safely used for 15 years.
1. What is a dental implant?
Dental implant is a restoration method in which a titanium screw (generally called implant) is placed in the alveolar bone and then a prosthesis is made on the implant. The implant in the alveolar bone is equivalent to our natural tooth roots, and because it can grow closely with the alveolar bone, it can steadily support the dentures that are exposed outside the gums.
2. What is the difference between dental implants and traditional veneers?
The traditional method of restoring tooth loss has a history of more than 100 years, i.e. fixed denture and removable denture restoration, which is commonly known as “setting dead teeth” and “setting live teeth”. The former is more efficient in mastication, but it requires the removal of part of the structure of the adjacent healthy teeth to complete the restoration, and is not suitable in cases where the adjacent teeth are not in good condition or are missing. The latter, i.e., the movable denture, relies on retaining rings and abutments, and patients have obvious discomfort and poor chewing performance, especially in edentulous jaws with severe alveolar ridge resorption, and the removable denture is even worse after restoration, and affects aesthetics and pronunciation. Oral implant restorations overcome the shortcomings of traditional restorations, without grinding healthy teeth and without retaining rings and abutments, patients can wear them comfortably and beautifully, with good chewing performance, especially for edentulous patients with severe alveolar ridge resorption and patients with missing posterior free end teeth, which provides the possibility of fixed restorations.
3. What are the advantages of dental implants?
1) Closest to the appearance of natural teeth
2) Helps prevent alveolar bone resorption
3) No need to wear the normal teeth around the missing teeth
4) Chewing efficiency is substantially improved compared to traditional dentures
5)Good retention, more stable and secure than traditional dentures
6)For some patients, it helps to restore facial appearance
7) Small or even no abutment, no foreign body sensation, little impact on pronunciation
4) How long can dental implants be used?
Long-term clinical research and experience have proven that many dental implants are actually stronger than real teeth and can restore 100% of the chewing efficiency compared to movable dentures. As long as they are well maintained, the success rate after 10 years is still above 95%, and the artificial implants can last even longer than real teeth.
5. What is the treatment procedure of implant treatment?
The first step is the design of the implant plan: through the study and examination of your dental model and x-rays, the implantologist will design the implant plan according to your personal conditions.
The implant is surgically placed in the alveolar bone. Under normal alveolar bone conditions, it takes 2-3 months for the implant to firmly bond with the alveolar bone. Once the osseointegration is obtained, dentures can be installed on them.
6. What are the risk factors of implant treatment?
Severe systemic diseases, serious cardiovascular diseases that cannot tolerate surgery should be listed as contraindications to implant treatment.
Those who are addicted to smoking and alcohol, the long-term effect of implant restoration is poor and must be repeatedly explained before surgery, and patients are advised to quit smoking.
Severe bone defects can be considered as a contraindication to implant surgery when refusing various bone augmentation procedures.
Those who have not yet controlled periodontal disease or very poor oral hygiene must undergo periodontal system treatment to control periodontal disease and infection before considering implant restoration.
7.Does it hurt during the implant surgery?
Most implant surgeries are performed under local anesthesia. Modern anesthesia technology and good post-operative care can minimize the patient’s discomfort, basically the discomfort of implant placement surgery is less than tooth extraction.
8. How long does the entire implant restoration procedure take from the day of surgery?
It depends on the method and size of the surgery and the type of implant, usually it takes 3-6 months, if bone grafting is needed, the procedure can be longer.
9. Some frequently asked questions.
1) What are the age requirements? There is no upper age limit for implant treatment. As long as the physical condition allows and the healing ability is normal, implant surgery is feasible. Usually, patients with missing teeth younger than 18 years old are not suitable for implantation because their physical development is not yet complete.
2) Does it affect my work after the surgery? As with other dental treatments, there will be swelling and slight pain, but most of them do not affect work.
10. Is implant restoration expensive?
Compared to traditional restorations, the cost is higher. For example, if a single tooth is missing, the cost of dental implants is roughly equivalent to two pairs of porcelain bridges according to foreign standards, while the cost in China is lower. Additional costs will be incurred for those who need bone grafting for alveolar bone loss.
11. What if it fails?
Dental implants do not have any adverse side effects on the human body due to the use of biomaterials that are extremely compatible with the human body. Even if the osseointegration of the implant fails, the implant can be reimplanted after the wound has healed or replaced by a common denture.
12. Can patients with missing teeth also have dental implants?
Patients who have been missing all their teeth for a long time have a reduced height due to the shrinkage and resorption of the dental bed. The most distressing problem for patients is that the dentures are unstable, especially the lower jaw denture, which falls off when they open their mouths. If artificial dental implant technology is used, several implants can be placed according to the jaw bone condition, which can solve the stability problem of denture more satisfactorily and restore and improve the chewing function
13. How can the patient ensure that he/she gets a good treatment with artificial dental implants?
To ensure a good treatment of artificial dental implants, patients need to pay attention to the following three aspects.
(1) As a patient should correctly choose the hospital and specialist for treatment, first of all, choose a regular hospital with strong technical force; the physician who carries out the artificial dental implant technology must be formally trained.
(2) Patients should understand the knowledge and precautions about dental implants from the physician, know what kind of effect can be obtained when dental implants are used for their specific tooth loss situation, and cooperate well with the physician.
(3) Patients should ask their doctors whether the dental implants they are using are in accordance with international standards or are licensed by the national legal authorities. In China, in addition to the production license from the State Administration of Medicine, regular dental implants must be technically examined and approved for clinical use by the Ministry of Health. Patients are protecting their legal rights by asking their physicians about the dental implant products they are using.