subject: The Road to a New Set of Teeth [print this page] Dental implants are usually thought of as one of dentistry's newest breakthroughs. The concept of dental implants goes back to the Phoenicians, who embedded seashells in their jaw bones to replace lost teeth. From the facts that archaeology brought about those implants about the shells having plaques, we can say they worked because this tells us that they stayed in the users' mouths for quite some time. Until recently, the most widely used choice for natural teeth replacements are the dentures, except for the seashell history.
Finally, a Swedish orthopedic surgeon invented titanium alloys being used as direct bonds to the bone tissue. Later on, it was figured out that the greatest purpose of this procedure was the replacement of missing teeth.
The totally toothless individuals were initially the intended recipients of the dental implant procedures as an attempt to answer the problem on difficult denture fitting, says the president of the Des Moines County dental society. You can now replace one tooth at a time. He continued by saying the patients do seem very content. It also works well with stabilizing poorly fitting dentures.
Patients receive comfort and confidence in chewing and speaking with dentures, from the implants. There are several forms that a dental implant can take, and they are small metal fixtures, he said. Holes are going to be set into the jaw bone where the titanium fixtures will be attached, and it is fundamental that specialized drills are used for this delicate procedure. For about three to four months, the implant will stay embedded under the skin of the mouth. The patient may continue to wear dentures within that time frame, for most cases. As long as proper diet and oral hygiene are kept, the initial stage of healing will be carried through easily. After this phase, the implant is opened and the next phase of the implant, the visible part, is attached to the embedded fixtures. You can create a stable bridge for multiple implants or even provide stabilizers using one completed implant.
The general dentist tells so if the patient needs dental implants. A patient's medical and anatomical conditions will be assessed by the operating surgeon before he can be called a viable candidate. On top of these all, the patient should demonstrate the ability and likelihood of caring for the implants properly. Implants are about the same with original teeth when it comes to daily care needs. Trauma is not really the highest cause of tooth loss incidence but neglect. Dental care steps such as brushing, flossing and rinsing with the prescribed mouthwash, are the roles reserved to the patient and thus he has to be an active participant.
Although people have differences, they all heal at the same pace. In fact, some patients are denied of having implants because they general health, ability to care for their teeth and the state of his bone density did not meet the eligibility demands. About two or three follow ups will be needed on the first year that your implant is attached about one to two follow ups on the years following that.
Current dentures are fixed for the common patient. If it is an implant that the patient considers, then once you start planning on it, you should be planning on an implant and as you construct, have implants in mind. The price will be somewhere between $600 and $750 per implant, highly dependent on the type. Private dental insurance companies will cover the whole cost but only a few of them.
It is the option to pick for patients who had considerably high bone loss. And it's much easier than the alternative of a bone transplant. Teeth are what the mouth and the jaws are supposed to accommodate, and not dentures, so even if the dentures remain to be looking good, one should still visit the dentist regularly to check the bone density.
