What are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are prosthetic titanium fixtures that are placed into the jaw bone in order to retain a crown or partial denture.
They allow edentulous sites to be restored back into function without involving the patient’s adjacent natural teeth.
How do they work?
Since the Titanium surface of the implant is biocompatible with human bone, an individual’s bone cells physically grow around and into the titanium surface.
This allows the implant to act as the foundation of the restoration and provides a strong, stable retainer for the prosthetic crown.
Multiple implants can be placed in order to retain a bridge or permanently hold a denture in place.
When multiple implants are going to be placed, the dental surgeon will often utilize Cone-Beam CT imaging in order to generate a 3D image of the patient’s jaw(s).
This information lets the dentist strategically place implants in the most optimal positions allowing for the best functional and esthetic outcome of a patient’s case.
The CBCT data can then be used to generate a custom surgical guide that allows the surgeon to precisely place the implants in the jaw bone with less time and discomfort to the patient.
