The Secret to Success with Dental Implants

The Secret to Success with Dental Implants

Dental implant surgery has a high rate of success, but there are rare cases when problems may occur. By trusting your care to a skilled dental implant dentist such as Dr. Terry Song at Access Dental Care in Reno, you are more likely to avoid potential failures with dental implants. Serving Reno, Sparks, and neighboring areas in Nevada, Dr. Terry Song has extensive experience with dental implants.

Comfortable and Reliable Long-term Tooth Replacement

Dental implants are regarded as the most comfortable, convenient, and reliable long-term tooth replacement option in modern dentistry. Dental implants have been studied and tested extensively since they were first introduced to modern dentistry in the 1980s. Although they have a solid track record with about 95% of patients reporting success and comfort lasting for a minimum of 10 years, there are occasional complications that do arise and present obstacles to a successful procedure. Luckily, most early failures can be treated effectively and efficiently to ensure a successful dental implant treatment.

Getting Ready for Dental Implants

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Strategic planning and careful execution on the part of your dental implant dentist is of key importance. Dr. Song will note your medical history and take an x-ray of your mouth, then perform a full oral examination to determine factors such as the location of vital nerves and blood vessels, the condition of your jawbone, and how many implants are needed to restore full, normal chewing function, as well as their positions, and the biting forces that they will be up against. Dr. Song will also ask if you take any medications and/or supplements, because you may have to suspend taking certain types of medications prior to undergoing dental implant surgery. If it is determined that your bone is not dense or strong enough to support dental implants, Dr. Song may perform a bone graft or bone augmentation treatment. Once the bone heals from this treatment, you may be eligible for dental implants.

Steps to a Successful Dental Implant Surgery

The dental implant procedure is a multi-step process. The first step involves attaching the actual implant, a small post made of titanium and similar to a screw, directly into the jawbone within the gum. Titanium, the metal from which most dental implants are made, has many uses in the medical field due to its unique capacity to living bone growth on its surface, a process known as “osseointegration.” This titanium implant provides a solid support for crowns, prostheses, and bridgework that may be mounted onto it above the gum line. Once the implant has fused with the bone tissue, an abutment is placed onto the implant, and onto this will be mounted a porcelain or ceramic crown in the shape of a natural tooth. The mounting of a crown onto an implant is known as “loading” the implant.

Health Factors that May Hinder Healing

Some health conditions may affect bone quality and hinder the process of osseointegration. Certain conditions such as diabetes, autoimmune deficiencies, as well as degenerative conditions such as osteoporosis, may increase the risk for implant failure. Smokers also face a greater risk of implant failure because smoking seriously hinders the process of healing in the oral cavity. Luckily, some of these conditions may be treated, or procedures such as a bone graft performed, to increase the likelihood of success with dental implants and reduce the risk of implant failure.

Occasionally in some cases, a titanium implant may not successfully fuse with the living bone tissue, as a result of infection or inflammation in the treatment site. In other patients, the implant may fail to fuse with the bone tissue because of a thin fibrous capsule that the body produces to encase the implant and prevent the integration process, though no clinical explanation is available for this. In these unusual cases, repeating the procedure, possibly using a larger size implant, may prove effective after the site has had a chance to heal from the original intent.

Loading “Same Day” Dental Implants

The process of getting dental implants is typically a long process, as it takes time for the body to properly undergo osseointegration, and for gum and bone tissue to heal properly after each procedure. All underlying bone tissue must be fully healed in order for an implant to withstand even the gentlest biting force, or it may become vulnerable to movement impact. With this in mind, dentists will not typically “load” new implants too soon after inserting them so as not to interfere with the process of osseointegration, as utmost care must be observed in order to avoid stressing the implant site during the process of osseointegration.

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Nonetheless, in some cases, a provisional or “same day” crown may be loaded onto a new implant immediately on the same day for cosmetic reasons; however the height of this temporary crown is shorter than your other teeth, to keep the implant from touching its opposite tooth in the other jaw and creating a biting force that may impact the new implant. A permanent crown with the length of your natural teeth will be mounted in place of the temporary one after osseointegration has taken place successfully and all bone tissue is fully healed.

Immediate loading may be possible for patients who are replacing an entire row of teeth without stressing the implant site in cases where a full set of replacement teeth are joined together as a single unit and attached to a solid arch. In these cases, the “arch” or dental prosthesis converts the teeth into a rigid, stable unit and thus supports and stabilizes each individual tooth, protecting them from stress and motion impact.

Dr. Song is happy to answer any of your questions about dental implants, and to examine and treat any problems you may be having with any existing implants. If you are looking for a dentist near Reno, please contact Access Dental Care.