Dental Implants
The dental implant , is a sanitary product destined to be the artificial substitute of the root of a lost tooth. Usually it has a threaded shape and is made of biocompatible materials that do not produce a rejection reaction and allow its bonding to the bone. The surface of the implant can have different textures and coatings, usually used to increase its adhesion to bone (osseointegration if titanium and biointegration if it is a ceramic material).
When restoring missing teeth through implants , a greater amount of alveolar bone is retained because it is reabsorbed by not receiving any type of stimulation.
what is a dental implant?
A dental implant is an element designed to replace the missing root and keep the artificial tooth in place.
Dental implants mimic nature. They are designed to anchor firmly to the jaw and hold the tooth in place. An implant is a small piece made of titanium, titanium alloy or ceramic. The human body tolerates these materials in general. Titanium has also been shown to integrate well into human bone.
Placement of the dental implant:
The dental implant is inserted surgically with local anesthesia. Once the healing is completed, the artificial root acts as the base for the visible upper part of the tooth.
The dental implant can be used to replace an individual tooth, more than one tooth, or all teeth.
Types of Implants
Generally, two types of dental implants are considered mainly which are:
Subperioses (juxta-osseous)
Endo-osseous
Subperiosteal implants (juxta-osseous) :
These types of implants consist of a metal frame that is placed in the jawbone just below the gum tissue. Therefore, these have the shape of the edge of the bone so that they can be properly fixed.
Mainly, these types of dental implants are used for patients who can not use conventional dentures and who have a minimal bone height.
Endosteal implants : (osseointegrated or in the bone)
Nowadays this is the type of dental implant most commonly used. This type of implant is placed surgically in the maxillary bones or in the jaw bone. When the implant is ready and the osseointegration is completed, the prosthesis or crown is placed to give it the appearance of a tooth.
There are several forms of the endo-osseous implant:
Cylindrical
Screw (Threaded) Sheets
This type of implant is generally used as an alternative for patients with bridges or dentures that are removable.
Dental implant of titaniumImperature of implant with screw form (endo-osseo)
As mentioned this type of dental implant is possibly the most used by dentists today, the implant has literally screw shape as well as it is seen in the picture.
The screw-shaped implant is made of a biocompatible metal, which is titanium.
One of several advantages that includes this type of dental implant is the possibility of being placed in one or several teeth consecutively.
Also with the advances of dentistry, the surface of the implant is altered by means of Titanium Plasma Spray (TPS) which achieves a greater force in the implantation with the bone reason why it reduces the time of the osseointegration and the results are more effective , And they last much longer than other types of implants.
The other forms of endo-osseous implants are no longer widely used today. However, a brief explanation is given below.
Cylindrical implants
These implants are those that integrate with the bone in such a way that they have small perforations so that the bone can develop in its interior and thus to be firmly placed, for such implant is necessary the use of a scalpel. The process to perform this type of implant is usually somewhat slow because the bone must be integrated little by little, so today are not very used.
Laminated Dental Implants
These implants give us very good results when a central incisor is replaced in the level of the upper jaw, more than everything when the bone is quite wide and deep. Dentists do not recommend its use in case the loss of the tooth is total.
