Dental Implants

A Dental Implant is a titanium cylinder that is placed gently into bone to replace a root of a tooth. The Implant itself is a single unit of a 3 unit system which holds a crown.The 3 parts to a Complete Dental Implant

1. Dental Implant
   
2. Abutment (or Post)
   
3. Dental Crown

An abutment is made from either titanium or ceramic material and is a small piece that connects to the tooth Implant and emerges into the oral cavity through the gum. Abutments have to be customised to the Implant position and their angulation can be altered to give a realistic tooth appearance. The crown is then anchored or cemented to the abutment.
A smaller number of Dental Implants can be used to permanently fix a Dental Bridge Prosthesis
Dental Implants can be also be used to securely support loose dentures. The Denture is removable.

Treatment Stages. Tooth Implant treatment can be considered to involve a minimum of 4 stages.

• The first stage involves diagnosis and determination of what is needed
• Secondly is the surgery which may involve one or two visits.
• The third stage is impressions and final fit of the ceramic crown, bridgework or denture.
• The final stage is follow up.

In certain circumstances surgery may also be followed by immediate placement of a crown or denture onto the Implants placed. This is applicable in cases where the bone is stable and is usually for patients who have had teeth removed within the last 6 months. Implants can be placed immediately after extraction – as long as the extracted teeth did not exhibit signs of acute infection. Most of these details will be available to you after your initial consultation and X-rays or a C.T. scan has been taken