Minimally Invasive Extractions and Dental Implants

With the continuous development of science and technology, “minimally invasive surgery”, a new achievement in the field of medicine, has penetrated into most disciplines of medicine. In recent years, the concept of minimally invasive surgery has been introduced into the field of oral healthcare, and minimally invasive tooth extraction has emerged, with a series of improved instruments applied to clinical practice, which greatly reduces the pain of patients. Tooth extraction is one of the oldest and most common procedures in oral healthcare. Traditional tooth extraction instruments often require hammering to assist force due to material and design limitations. This method causes a great deal of psychological stress and pain to the patient, and inevitably creates a sense of “extraction fear”. More importantly, traditional extraction methods and instruments do not take into account how to protect the bone tissue around the affected tooth. In order to extract a strong root, the dentist will inevitably damage the periodontal tissues during the extraction process, and often the patient has to sacrifice a large portion of the healthy bone around the affected tooth in order to extract the remaining root in the socket. Excessive extraction trauma will seriously affect the patient’s future missing teeth restoration results, and even lead to the impossibility of dentures. The so-called minimally invasive extraction refers to the use of special minimally invasive extraction instruments, gently inserted around the tooth to be extracted, about two-thirds of the length of the periodontal ligament, thus lifting the resistance to dislocation of the tooth root, so that the affected tooth from the socket outward dislocated gently. It not only avoids the irritation caused by knocking in the traditional extraction method, but also minimizes the damage to the periodontal bone of the affected tooth; it is conducive to the healing of the extraction wound, maintains the height and width of the alveolar bone, and reduces the patient’s sense of pain and fear. In recent years, immediate implantation after minimally invasive tooth extraction has been more and more widely used in clinical practice. Immediate implantation refers to the placement of an artificial tooth root in the alveolar socket immediately after the extraction of the affected tooth. Typically, patients undergo a three-month healing period after a conventional extraction before receiving a dental implant. In contrast, minimally invasive extractions greatly reduce the waiting time for patients with missing teeth by allowing an implant to be placed at the same time as the tooth is extracted. If the implant is initially stabilized, the patient can even go home the same day with a completed denture, which is a very satisfying restoration. However, immediate implant placement requires that the affected tooth be extracted with minimal trauma and that the bone wall of the extraction socket remains intact, which is very important to ensure the success of the implant. Minimally invasive extractions offer these advantages and thus provide a reliable guarantee for immediate dental implants.