Tooth Implants are made to replace the lost natural teeth due to decay, infection, trauma and periodontal disease. It is an artificial replacement for natural teeth. It is designed in such a way to mimic roots of a natural tooth. Dental implants are made of titanium metal, the only kind of metal that is compatible to human body.

Before implants are placed and inserted into the bone of upper or lower jaw, your implant dentist will require a thorough diagnosis to see if you are a candidate to receive the implants to check if you have quality bone enough to hold the implants. Normally, this will include taking of panoramic x-ray, intraoral pictures, impression to make the cast and to some extent a CBCT Scan that is now popular with Dental Implantologist for being accurate and precise when it comes to diagnosis. Unfortunately, this CBCT (Cone Beam Computed Tomography) Dental Scan is not available in any dental clinic because of the high price of this machine.

A. Conventional Dental Implants

The treatment time for conventional type is around 3 to 6 months in 5 to 7 dental appointments with your implant dentist. This type of implant will attach to your bone in the process called Osseointegration. After the implants are totally integrated to your bone that is the only time your implant dentist can do the final prosthesis or the porcelain crown.

Some patients are even required to undergo bone grafting procedure if they do not have enough bone to support the implants. This will complicate the implant procedure and treatment time becomes longer. It can last even for more than a year.
Some patients have very low sinus for being edentulous (without teeth) for so many years. This will also complicate implants placement on the upper jaw and this might require bone grafting and sinus lifting procedures before implants can be placed.

One advantage of tooth implants compared to having removable dentures or porcelain crown or bridge is that it would prevent shrinkage of your bone after teeth have been extracted.

B. Mini dental Implants

This is the smaller type of tooth implants which is only 1.8mm to 3mm compared to 3.3mm to 5mm of conventional type.This is specifically made for patients whose ridge or bone have thinned because of being no teeth for a long period of time. Mini implants becomes an alternative dental treatment for patients who wants to have implants but cannot be accommodated by the conventional type.

One advantage of mini teeth implants is the shorter treatment time and practically no downtime. Mini dental implants can be placed in just one day with virtually no discomfort. It is just being screwed into your bone with no cutting of the gums and stiches to remove.

Some implant dentists will use mini dental implants to hold porcelain crown and bridges but some would discouraged this practice as this might cause  problem later on. Remember that there is no actual integration of implants into your bone unlike with the conventional dental implants thus there is the tendency for mini implants to get loose eventually.

One good use of mini dental implants is the stabilization of upper or lower complete dentures. Normally, four implants can be placed on upper or lower arch. This procedure can be done in 1 to 2 hours in one appointment with your implant dentist and presto you have a stable complete denture that you can use right away without discomfort.

My advice for patients who are thinking of having implants is to not wait too long and consult an implantologist  at once after you have undergone extraction. One to two months after tooth extraction is the ideal time to place an implants. Implants placement is rather an easy procedure so do not wait until your bones are all gone. You can save a lot of money, time and the inconvinience of having several surgical procedures if it can be done earlier.

One to five implants placement are usually done in the dental office set up but for more implants with bone grafting and sinus lifting procedures, my advice is to have it done inside the operating room under general anesthesia. 

Teeeh implants are now common procedure in any dental clinic. So what are you waiting for? Come and visit a dentist in your area for consultation or come and visit us here in the Philippines and have a great discount on your dental procedure.