🦷 What are dental implants?
A dental implant is an artificial tooth “root” — most commonly made of titanium — that is surgically placed in the jawbone to support a replacement tooth, bridge, or denture. It looks, feels, and functions similarly to a natural tooth.
✔️ Benefits of dental implants
- Long-lasting (often for decades, and for many patients even lifelong)
- Natural look and feel
- Prevent bone loss in the jaw
- Do not affect adjacent teeth
- Improve chewing and speech
🧩 Parts of an implant
- Implant (implant post/screw) – placed in the bone
- Abutment – connecting element (connector)
- Crown – the visible artificial tooth
Why it matters:
- Each part plays a role in stability, aesthetics, and proper function
- Materials and precise fit are key to long-term success
🛠️ Implant procedure (step by step)
- Consultation and imaging (X-ray/CT scan)
- Implant placement in the jawbone
- Healing and osseointegration (the bone “bonds” with the implant; 3–6 months)
- Abutment placement
- Final crown placement
⏳ Recovery time
- Mild swelling for 1–3 days
- Most daily activities can be resumed after 24–48 hours
- Complete healing takes several months
❓ Who is a good candidate?
You are usually a good candidate if:
- You have healthy gums
- You have enough jawbone
- You do not smoke (or you are willing to quit)
- You are in good overall health
❗ Risks (rare, but possible)
- Infection
- Implant failure (1–5%)
- Nerve irritation
- Sinus issues (for implants in the upper jaw)
📄 Informational implant brochure (PDF)
🔹 1. Tooth-related oral surgery
- Tooth extraction
- Simple extraction
- Surgical extraction (impacted / retained teeth, e.g., wisdom teeth)
- Apicoectomy – root-end surgery to remove infected tissue after unsuccessful endodontic treatment.
- Pre-prosthetic surgery – bone reshaping or gum correction before fabrication / placement of dentures.
🔹 2. Dental implant surgery
- Implant placement – replacement of missing teeth with titanium or ceramic implants.
- Bone augmentation (bone graft)
- Sinus lift (sinus augmentation)
- Alveolar ridge augmentation
- Socket preservation (after tooth extraction)
- Soft tissue graft – gum graft for improved aesthetics or better implant support.
🔹 3. Jaw and bone surgery (orthognathic and reconstructive)
- Orthognathic surgery – correction of improper jaw relationship / bite (overbite, underbite, crossbite).
- Facial trauma surgery – management of fractures of the jaw, cheekbones, and orbital bones.
- TMJ surgery (temporomandibular joint)
- Arthrocentesis
- Arthroscopy
- Open joint surgery
- Joint reconstruction or replacement
- Cyst / tumor removal – treatment of benign or malignant changes in the jaw or soft tissues.
🔹 4. Oral pathology and infection treatment
- Abscess drainage – elimination of infection under the gums or within the bone.
- Biopsy – diagnosis of suspicious changes (lesions).
- Osteomyelitis treatment – surgical treatment and antibiotics for bone infection.
🔹 5. Aesthetic / functional oral surgery
- Aesthetic facial procedures
- Chin augmentation / correction (genioplasty)
- Lip or cheek augmentation
- Scar revision
- Reconstructive procedures – after trauma, congenital defects, or tumor removal.
🔹 6. Soft tissue surgery
- Frenectomy – removal / correction of a frenum (short lingual frenulum – “tongue-tie”, or upper lip – “lip-tie”).
- Gum surgery
- Clinical crown lengthening
- Removal of soft tissue lesions
🔹 7. Sedation and anesthesia
- Local anesthesia
- Conscious sedation
- Intravenous (IV) sedation
- General anesthesia