What are dental implants?
Dental implants are usually titanium implants that are placed directly into the jawbone which then hold a crown over the top. You might have heard this called a ‘screw’ colloquially. This is because the portion that goes into the jaw often has threads like a screw. This gives it extra surface area to integrate into the bone, contributing to it’s success.
Implants fill in any gaps and give you a replacement tooth to eat and smile with. For many people, the implant gives them their confidence and increased self esteem after having had dentures for many years. It feels natural and you take care of it like any other tooth.
How are they placed?
Implants can be placed in one stage or in two stages. Usually after a tooth is extracted, we wait for the bone and gum to heal. The implant is placed in a minor surgery, much like having the tooth extracted. Patients often say that they pressure of having an implant placed is less that extracting the tooth. We then leave the the implant for 3 months to allow the implant to bond to the bone. This bone bonding is called integration and directly affects the success rate.
After the implant has integrated, we take an impression to start making a crown for the tooth. Altogether, most implants are placed over 3 sessions, in the space of about 3 months. After the crown is placed, you can expect to eat and smile as normal.
How long can I expect them to last for?
Implant technology is only getting better and better. The implants of today have specialised coatings and shapes to help them withstand the oral environment. We also have better planning ability to know if the site we’d like to place the implant is appropriate. Several studies that look at the long term (1, 2) success of implants have an 85-98% success rate over 5-20 years. There are many factors that affect their success rate.
What affects their success rate?
There are many things that can affect the success rate of implants:
- Amount of bone present for the implant to sit in. The longer since the tooth has been extracted, the less bone present for us to place and implant.
- Medical conditions such as diabetes, osteoporosis, inflammatory conditions can negatively affect the implant.
- Smoking may affect integration of the implant in early stages.
- How well you clean the implant at home will determine how successful it is.
It is important to note that all these risks to implants are able to be managed by you and your dentist. Come in for a implant consult with Dr Lisa and have a chat about what we can do for you.
