The Basics of Dental Implants

"You only know what you had once you've lost it." This saying becomes especially clear when you lose one tooth, or even several — for whatever reason. In the visible, aesthetically important front-tooth region, this loss is felt especially deeply, and makes clear to the person affected just how much value healthy teeth hold in our lives: they shape our appearance and are essential to our presence and looks — in both our private and professional lives. A harmonious, attractive smile stands for health, competence, and trustworthiness. Numerous scientific studies from psychology confirm this. Teeth shape our visual appearance to a remarkable degree. They are an integral part of a well-groomed look. Osseointegration Implanting artificial tooth roots in the jaw is a modern method for compensating for this kind of loss. This healing process takes several months and is called osseointegration. Implants make it possible to restore gaps in the teeth without having to grind down healthy natural teeth, or remove existing intact dental prosthetics (crowns or bridges). For larger gaps or shortened rows of teeth, they can prevent the need for removable dentures, or can improve the fit of existing full dentures — whether in the upper or lower jaw. These artificial tooth roots are made of titanium and are placed into the jawbone through a surgical procedure under local anesthesia. Titanium is used because it is a biocompatible material — meaning the body does not reject it through inflammation. The implant's surface is modified through a patented process so that bone cells can attach to it especially well. Clinically, this shows up as ever-improving healing rates and makes the implantation even safer. After several weeks of healing, the dental prosthesis is then fabricated. Once the implant has been placed in the bone, healing time in the upper jaw is typically 10–12 weeks, and 8–10 weeks in the lower jaw. During this time you are provided with a temporary restoration. After that, the permanent prosthesis can be fabricated. For more extensive restorations, this involves an individual ultrasound jaw joint measurement. Fabricating the prosthesis in our in-house dental lab takes around 10–14 days.