Implants

When you have lost a single tooth, a dental implant is usually the most stable tooth replacement option to restore the bite and appearance and provide physical and psychological comfort.

The Single Implant
When you lose a single tooth, this can be replaced with a denture, bridge, or a single implant. Dentures do result in plaque and food debris retention and are not a healthy single tooth replacement option. A bridge is a sensible option when you are not suited to dental implants. The shortfall of a bridge is that the bite force of two teeth is put onto one tooth, and this will inevitably reduce the tooth’s life expectancy.

The most common request for implants is replacement of a single tooth which has been lost because of gum disease or mechanical breakdown of a previous filling or crown. It is wise to restore gaps with single implants as this:

• Restores the continuity of the jaw and this preserves the bite
• There is less of a tendency for other teeth to start moving which causes food packing and gum disease
• Unpredictable tooth movement due to unrestored spaces can cause a poor bite, which can also result in jaw trouble, and breakage of other filled teeth or crowns

The single implant restores your self-esteem, and chewing, and avoids the use of tedious and unsightly dentures. Together with a hygiene maintenance programme, restoring that gap will your oral health and enjoy your wonderful smile again.

The real benefit of replacing a single tooth gap with an implant is the fact that the implant will carry its own load and when it fails will not take another root with it. Other benefits include:

• The implant is made of solid titanium which is very strong. It is unlikely for this to break with normal bite forces.
• The implant will carry its own load and will not be connected to an adjacent tooth
• Our ceramic technicians are excellent at making the outside porcelain look very natural and life-like and with careful colour matching and design, the average person. will not be able to distinguish between an implant tooth and a natural tooth.

There are some considerations when planning a single tooth implant:

• A bone graft may be required to ensure that the implant is completely covered by bone to minimise the chances of future peri-implantitis (inflammation of the tissues surrounding a dental implant)
• When you possess a significant deficit of bone it is very challenging to mask this and prevent the implant crown from looking long. This is particularly problematic if you possess a ‘high smile line’ such that all the tissues of your gum show during normal speech. Our implant surgeon will discuss this and assess the possibility of reducing the visual impact. Whereas use of bone grafts can help to re-establish jawbone width, they cannot successfully re-establish lost height of bone.
• The implant surgery will result in some (usually minimal) gum recession around the adjacent teeth, and this must be planned for
• Although the components are made of very robust materials, the crown (top part) is held in place by a screw, and over a few years this screw can lose its tightness. As a result, the whole crown will come loose. If there is no damage to the various components it is possible to screw the crown back on.
• Although it is possible to manufacture the crown with outstanding aesthetics, the combination of some recessed gum, bone loss causing a tall crown, and a high smile line which reveals all adjacent gum anatomy, sometimes makes the matching of an upper central incisor extremely difficult. When the combination of factors makes it impossible to mask in a very high smile, we would design the implant crown with a ‘root effect’ neck to make this blend into other teeth which have their necks revealed. Alternatively, we would place a ‘pink porcelain’ neck to make the tooth part resemble adjacent gum and not look so long by itself.

You should arrange a consultation with our expert implant surgeon who will look at your individual case and will advise on the best way to achieve an optimal outcome.

When you have lost several teeth, the most natural fixed tooth replacement option to avoid dentures is a dental implant bridge.

The Implant Bridge
Have you have lost multiple teeth? If you are wearing a denture, does this chafe and cause discomfort to the gums. The tooth space can be restored with a better new denture, or an implant supported bridge. It is no longer considered to be acceptable practice to make a tooth supported bridge larger and larger.  Generally, a single tooth space is replaced with a bridge which is held on an adjacent tooth. When you have lost two or more teeth in one area of the mouth, this needs to be restored with:

1. An acrylic (plastic) denture or
2. A chrome denture or
3. An implant supported bridge

Plastic dentures can last several years but the acrylic is porous and will hold bacteria and the denture retains by flexing into the undercuts of teeth. These dentures may cause damage to the gums if worn for too long. We therefore generally use them as a temporary tooth replacement.

A chrome denture is carefully constructed to minimise damage to teeth and can be used as a long-term solution. Compared with an implant bridge, they will move slightly in function, and need to be removed to give your gums a rest. They are resistant to bacterial penetration. These dentures can be a suitable alternative solution to an implant bridge.

A ‘Single Cantilever’ Implant Bridge
This bridge uses only ONE implant to hold two teeth. This solution is suitable if you have only two missing spaces which are next to each other. The tooth that is directly connected to the implant needs to be the same size or bigger than the ‘suspended’ tooth. The single cantilever bridge is not suitable for replacing two large tooth spaces such as two molars adjacent to each other. These really do require two separate implants, where the missing space is too large for a ‘single cantilever’ bridge:

A single-cantilever bridge is a relatively cost-effective implant tooth replacement option as it only requires the placement of a single implant.

A Fixed-Fixed Implant Bridge
Have you been considering dental implant treatment to restore a whole lost segment of dentition? Have you been wearing a denture, or suffered the loss of esteem and chewing comfort by not wearing anything at all? Well, you do not need to suffer in silence. Dental implants are a superb and predictable way to recreate and restore lost segments of dentition, by means of a dental implant bridge.

Dental Implant bridges offer several benefits:

• Improved chewing ability by using fixed teeth
• Restoration of your smile and self esteem
• No unsightly, rocking dentures which rub and irritate, and cause loss of taste sensation
• Preserving the mechanical health of the bite which may offer protection against jaw joint deterioration