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Replacing missing teeth – Singles or multiples
Dental implants – a simple procedure that can boost your confidence and improve your looks.
With Nobel Biocare Implants missing teeth can easily and quickly be replaced. Implants look and work like your original teeth. When you lose a tooth your jawbone can shrink (this is referred to as ‘bone loss’) – making you look older. Along with your bone shrinking your gums also recede. Your opposing teeth (teeth next to and on top or bottom) are also affected. Dental implants help prevent this.
Implants are man-made replacements for the tooth roots that have been lost or removed. They behave like real roots – even bonding naturally with the jawbone. Implants are stable and secure, so you can comfortably eat all your favourite foods.
A new ceramic tooth is fixed on top of the implant to complete the restoration, this is called a crown.
Dental implants are long lasting. A solution for life!
The step by step procedure
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Beforehand – The dentist does an examination and takes x-rays. |
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Placing the implant – A local anaesthetic is administered. Several drilling steps are followed and the implant is then placed into the bone. It is a short and virtually pain-free procedure. |
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Completing the implant procedure – A cover screw is placed, this seals of the implant. The gum is then stitched up with absorbable sutures. This is referred to as a two-stage procedure, as at a later stage the implant will have to be exposed again in order to take an impression and finalise the implant with a crown. Alternatively, a healing abutment is placed; this is a one-stage procedure as the gum will not have to be cut open again. |
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What happens in the interim – The implant will take a few months to bond naturally (a process called “osseointegration”) with the jawbone.
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Preparing for the final crown – Once the bonding to the bone has taken place, the implant is “exposed” (meaning being made visible) and an impression coping is placed, connecting to the implant. An impression is then taken. The impression coping is then removed and the healing abutment replaced in the mouth. A shade guide is used to confirm the colouring of your teeth in order to make sure that the crown colour matches your natural teeth. |
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The crown manufacturing process – The impression taken by your dentist is then sent to a Dental Laboratory. Where your crown is made. |
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The final stage: The fitting of your crown – The healing abutment is removed. A custom post or abutment is then fitted to the implant (which has been made by the Dental Laboratory). The abutment and the crown are then torqued down, if the dentist has decided on a screw-retained restoration. If the solution is a cement retained crown the abutment will be torqued down and the crown then cemented over the abutment. Torquing ensures that the crown will not loosen. |
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Multiple teeth missing – Should there be more than one implant placed, the above steps are followed. However, your final restoration may be a bridge. |
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All teeth missing – Should you be totally edentulous (all your teeth missing), and you are wearing a denture. Implants are definitely also a solution. Implants are placed as in the above steps. But instead of crowns being placed, ball abutments (small adapters that enable you to “click” your denture in and out),are placed on the implants. These ball abutments enable you to have a removable denture, but with far more stability. At last there is not need to worry about a slipping, sliding or clicking denture. Eating will also be a far easier experience! |
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