What Are Dental Implants?

Dental implants are basically titanium screws that are used as artificial roots and replace the missing teeth on the jawbone. These titanium screws restore the tooth loss in the area with the porcelain tooth by fusing to the jawbone.

How Is a Dental Implant Surgery Performed?

Duration of the surgery varies between 30 minutes and a couple hours based on the number of implants and the patient’s condition.

Dental implants are placed into the jawbone under local anesthesia. The gum is closed by suturing the relevant area. After about a week, sutures are removed and the tissue is allowed time to heal. Implants are expected to fuse into the jawbone (osseointegration) in 3 to 6 months after the surgical procedure.

After the implants integrate to the jawbone, a gingiva shaper is placed on the implants. Restoration is placed following several sessions of trials.

Will I Have Pain During And After the Dental Implant Surgery?

Dental implant surgery is performed under local anesthesia without any pain or discomfort. There may be mild pain and swelling after the procedure – complaints are similar to the ones felt after any tooth extraction. Your doctor will tell the medications you need to take and inform you about all details that require your attention, and the necessary precautions will be taken for you to have a easy healing process.

What Are The Advantages of Dental Implants?

• Dental implants prevent the need to downsize the neighboring teeth to fill the cavity.

• In case of many missing teeth, fixed bridges can be considered with the aid of implants instead of removable dentures.

• While the tooth to be attached to the implant is manufactured to replace all features of native tooth, the implant itself also functions as a root inside the bone and thus, loss of bone is prevented and its volume is protected over years.

• It also functions as a stabilizer for removable dentures, eliminates especially the difficulty of using total lower jaw dentures (total edentulous) and boosts the quality of life.

What Are Contraindications of Dental Implant?

• Oncology patients (patients with recent history of radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy)
• Patients with clotting/coagulation disorder
• Patients who use medications that disrupt synthesis and destruction of bones (remodeling)
• Patients with any endocrine disease, such as uncontrolled diabetes etc.
• Dental implants are not appropriate options for pregnant women.

Dental implants can be successfully applied to all patients of all age ranges, provided growth of jaw bone has completed (about age of 18 years) and overall health does not hinder the treatment.

Is There Any Cancer Risk of Dental Implants?

Dental implants are made of titanium. Titanium is compatible with the human body, a biocompatible metal that poses no risk of allergies and that does not contain toxic waste. Titanium has long been used not only in dentistry, but also in orthopedics.

What Happens When A Dental Implant Does Not Integrate Into The Bone?

According to recent scientific studies, success rate of osteintegration is above 95% in dental implants. Rarely, bone quality, heavy smoking, negative outcomes of surgery, and infections etc. may cause failure of osseointegration. In such cases, the failed implant is removed (and after waiting for a while if necessary) and a new implant is driven to the relevant area.

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