The dental implant is a substitute for the root of a missing tooth and has the role of support on which a dental crown will be cemented/screwed. Implantology is a prosthetic discipline with a surgical component and is the most modern and effective solution for the treatment of edentulousness. It is an excellent choice, given the superior success rate of other treatment methods.
But let’s get acquainted with more details about what an implant means, first, the materials: the implants are made of titanium, a biocompatible, osseointegrable material that does not cause adverse reactions in biological structures. It is a material successfully used for over 50 years in orthopedics and dentistry.
Treatment in implantology comprises two stages: surgical treatment and prosthetic treatment.
Surgical treatment begins with the examination of a specialist, consisting of clinical and radiological examination, and in some cases paraclinical examinations.
Radiological examination (consisting of a panoramic radiograph and/or a computed tomography examination) is required for each patient to determine both the type of implant and the need for other surgical procedures related to bone volume, in case of advanced resorption.
The actual surgical treatment consists in inserting the implant, and if necessary, bone or gingival tissue will be added. This stage can be followed by immediate (0-7 days) or late temporary prosthesis (for optimal aesthetic results). In the case of laborious surgeries, we can reduce the surgical stress. The prosthetic treatment consists in mounting the prosthetic works (crowns, bridges) on the inserted implants. It is immediate (0-7 days) or late (4-6 months) and after the final healing of the implants, the final prosthesis is performed. When the volume and bone density allow us, the immediate temporary prosthesis is made 0-7 days after the implant is inserted by cementing or screwing the temporary crowns and bridges.
Immediate temporary prosthesis improves the appearance by remodeling the gingival tissue, being used especially in the aesthetic area – i.e. the visible areas. The final prosthetic treatment is done after 4-6 months, during which the bone integration of the implant is performed.
However, we would like to clarify from the beginning that we do not consider the implant to be the only correct method of treatment, while we would consider that dental bridges are a wrong method of treatment. Not. For 3500 years, dental bridges have worked, with advantages and disadvantages. It’s just that the dental implant is an alternative that eliminates the disadvantages of bridges.
What are the advantages of dental implant in the treatment of edentulousness?
First, the replacement of a missing tooth is done by a single cemented/screwed crown on the implant, without sacrificing the integrity of neighboring teeth by grinding them for bridges. Then, from an aesthetic point of view, the works on implants look identical to natural teeth. One of the most important roles of dental implants is to stop bone resorption in the area where it is inserted (an alternative for maintaining bone volume being the bone tissue graft). By replacing a missing tooth with a dental implant, the migration of neighboring or antagonistic teeth is prevented.
When the implant is used to stabilize total prostheses by implants (overprosthesis), the chewing capacity is increased, giving the patient extra comfort. And the complete reconstitution with the help of fixed works on implants of a totally edentulous patient is a palpable reality for those who want to give up total prostheses.
