Dental implants are becoming more and more popular these days and are preferred to dentures by more and more people. They are long-lasting, feel like natural teeth and look very good. The only downside of them is their price, since a dental implant can cost all the way from 3000$ to ten thousand dollars. Modern technology allows for 3D X-rays that increase the accuracy and the efficiency of the dental implantation operation.
If you don’t know yet a dental implant consists of two parts – the invisible root part, the titanium screw (there is a reason why titanium is used), and the visible crown part – the one that actually makes your teeth look beautiful. Standard implants measure 4 – 6 mm wide and 5 – 15 mm long. A U.S. dime is 1.35 mm thick. If you want to replace your whole row of teeth with dental implants – it is possible, but might be a little bit too expensive. It is up to you to decide if your oral health is worth that price, though.
The procedure in-depth
So how is the dental implant actually implanted. Well, it is surgical operation that requires a titanium drill to be literally drilled into the bone beneath the tooth. After that a certain amount of time is required for your new fake root to dental, or bond. This time is often measured in months, usually two to six months. And after that the dental crown, either temporary or permanent, is placed on the top of the fake root, thanks to the fact that the design of the titanium screw allows for the top abutment that protrudes all the way above the gum and the bone to put the crown onto.
So, basically, the first step of the operation is careful planning. In this stage a CBCT can be applied to look at the picture of the bone structure – how much bone do you have and how strong it is. This is also the step where you gather more information about the necessity of the procedure. Of course, since this type of dental operation is very profitable, asking the dentist who is very biased towards dental implants is not recommended. Ask someone who does not use dental implants as a way to solve your problems.
Then the bone area without teeth is drilled, keeping all the necessary ideas in mind – not to overheat the bone (liquid substances are used to cool the area), not to drill too fast (regulated speed of drilling), not to touch the crucial nerve areas and etc. As you can see, if you do a CBCT scan beforehand it will significantly help the process.
The recuperation period is all the way from two to six months, depending on many variables, including the experience of the dentist and the structure of your bone. The titanium material allows for better osseointegration than other metal alloys. Of course, one can put the dental crown sooner, but that might result in the movement of the dental implant which still hasn’t osseointegrated properly, which basically means the failure of the operation. Subsequent operation might require as many as 18 months of recuperation period.
