Dental Implants - which ones are the best?

I would like to get a couple of dental implants. I know there are several kinds.


What kinds do U know about and the advantages %26amp; disadavantages of each.


And if you have implants, how do they feel and what sorts of problems can occur with them?


The advantages are obvious, but I'd really like to know the disadvantages or problems one can have with them.

Dental Implants - which ones are the best?
Hi there.





Anyone in the dental profession who places implants will know that it really isn't the type of implant that you use, but more so the technique and also the treatment planning of the procedure and the timing of the entire procedure until the day you have a crown placed on the implant.





If you are fit and healthy and are a suitable candidate for an implant and the implant is placed without complications then a 95% success rate is expected. It depends on your general health, the types of medication that you may be taking, the site of which the implant is being place, your oral hygiene, the quantity and quality of bone and the nature of your occlusion, your gumline and many other factors.





With respect to how an implant feels inside the mouth? Most of my patients who have worn dentures for years and who finally decided to have an implant view it as the closest thing to having a natural tooth. Once the implant osseointegrates with your bone, it really is a part of your body to say the least.





With respect to disadvantages, they are rare as I mentioned above the success rate is awfully high. But IF you do not look after the implant you can experience





a) peri-mucositis; which is like gingitivitis around the gums of your natural tooth, this is reversible with improved oral hygiene.





b) peri-implantitis; this is like periodontitis around the implant, here there is bone loss and you may require bone grafts of many things after having the implant cleaned out!





c) over-loading and thus development of a layer of granulation tissue surrounding the implant; this is due mostly to high biting forces placed on the fixture too soon before osseointegration has completed and is dependent on the area in your mouth of which the implant is destined and also whether primary stability was obtained in the insertion stage of surgery. Good treatment planning will prevent this from happening. This has nothing to do with oral hygiene.





d) Rejection of the implant as your body may be intrinsically allergic to the titanium. Very rare. You'll probably see an alien first before you see this happen. This of course has nothing to do with oral hygiene.





These are the main problems that can occur with implants, other more rare complications could be; the crown losing its retention on the implant leading to a localised peri-implantitis... I cannot think of any other at the moment.





So in summary, go talk to your dentist/periodontist/oral maxillofacial surgeon/oral surgeon. These people will be able to tell you the advantages and disadvantages of the implant systems that they offer. From a personal stand point, I use implants with a threaded pattern, either titanium, or titanium coated with hydroxyapatite. I'd imagine by now most companies offer this configuration of implants. Maybe in the US, there are far more diverse configurations, I haven't done my research on what is available there so I cannot comment on it.





Anyway, I hope this helps.
Reply:Dr. T has made beautiful explanation. The internationally acclaimed brand of titanium dental implants are Nobel Biocare, Zimmer Center Pulse, ITI Straumann. It is simply a matter of implantology training that a dentist has received on one particular brand/system that he is more comfortable doing it. The implants have a success rate of almost 98%. All you have to do is to take care avoiding to eat hard items in the initial months. Once the healing is complete, this artificial tooth is claimed to be eight times stronger than the original tooth. The price of $950 for implant and $350 for crown is quite attractive.