Dental implants are one of the most common dental solutions in the dental health industry today, with a good number of patients preferring it as a solution for tooth loss. A dental implant requires surgical procedures to install. However, identifying the most effective procedure is a task often left to the restorative dentist.
Why should you choose to have a dental implant installed? Dental implant surgeries not only help replace lost teeth, but also repair other jawbone deformities and injuries.
As you will learn from this article, understanding various surgical procedures involved in the installation of dental implants helps calm the patients down throughout the process of correcting their dental problems.
Jawbone Augmentation
Bone augmentation is the artificial replication of bone growth using surgical procedures. Jawbone augmentation surgery is prescribed by a cosmetic dentist when installing your dental implants Rochester hills, especially if your bone volume is insufficient.
Insufficient bone volume is a term which explains insufficiency of bone in the position meant to hold the dental implant. Bone volume insufficiency occurs as a result of losing parts of your jawbone with your tooth, or due to low bone growth.
The dentist will surgically install bone grafts on the jawbone through small incisions on the gum. Synthetic bones normally acts as bone graft, although the bone graft is sometimes harvested from the patient.
Once the graft is properly positioned, the jawbone will be allowed to heal and fuse together with the graft. The result of the jawbone augmentation procedure is an increment in bone volume and density. The patient will now have a sufficient amount of jawbone to support the dental implant properly.
Immediate Implant Loading
Ordinarily, a patient should be able to receive a dental implant on the same day they visit the dentist. Once the tests show sufficient bone mass, density, and volume, the restorative dentist will prepare the patient for surgery by administering an anesthesia and cleaning the surface of the gums. The dentist will then drill a hole the jawbone and instill the dental implant.
The implant has a screw head on the top which allows for the installation of a temporary crown and abutment, keeping the dental implant covered until the gums heal and fuse.
Once the patient has fully recovered, a permanent abutment and crown will be installed and polished, giving the patient a brand-new tooth.
All Arch Replacement (All-on-4)
A patient who has lost multiple teeth on the same jaw and arch will not require an individual dental implant for all the teeth. Instead, an all arch replacement procedure will be performed to replace all the teeth at once.
Drilling successive holes along the jaw will weaken the jawbone, making it prone to breaking when the patient bites on a hard substance. Therefore, the dentist will drill four holes in the jawbone. Two holes will be drilled on each end of the jawbone, while the remaining two holes will be drilled at the center of the jawbone. The dentures will be mounted on the implants and disinfected.
The all arch replacement procedure is more invasive on the gums because the dentures require tissue cover for a complete finish once the bone and the gums heal. The tissue cover prevents the teeth from hanging over the gums.
Sinus Lifts and Mini Dental Implants
A sinus lift procedure is performed on a patient to increase the amount of bone in the upper jaw. Losing molars and premolars weakens the jawbone at the edges, and results in bone mass reduction.
Bone grafts are surgically inserted to raise and slightly extend the jawbone. The extended bone mass aims at offering a stable anchor for the dental implant.
On the other hands, mini dental implants are the minute dental implants installed to act as a substitute for sinus lifts. The mini implants require less bone grafting and healing time.
Conclusion
Dental implant installation procedures are designed to address different conditions associated with teeth loss. The dentist will have to evaluate the bone mass, volume, and density before installing a dental implant. The technology advancements in the dental field will continue to stimulate developments of advanced procedures of installing dental implants in the future.