Dental Implantation

Dental implantation is a surgical process of the jaw bone to support a crown, bridge, denture, and facial prosthesis. The basis of modern dental implantations is called osseointegration, it is the direct structural and functional connection between living bone and the surface of a load-bearing implant. Osteointegrated implants have been used to treat various condition ranging from edentulism to head and neck reconstruction. Dental implants are used to facilitate retention of auricular mandibular, maxillary, nasal, and orbital implants, and for bone-anchored hearing aids. The implant fixture is first placed so as to osseointegrate, and then a dental prosthesis is added. A variable amount of healing time is required for osseointegration before a crown, denture, or abutment is placed which will hold a dental prosthesis. Conventional implant practice dictates a delay between tooth extraction and implant placement, dividing the treatment into two differenced steps.

The success or failure of implants depends on the overall health of the patient and also drugs which interfere with bone metabolism, have adverse effect on the osseointegration. The position of implants is determined by the angle of adjoining teeth. The prerequisites for long-term success of osseointegrated dental implants are healthy bone and gingiva. Since both can atrophy after tooth extraction, preprosthesis procedures such as sinus lifts or gingival grafts are sometimes required to recreate bone and gingiva. The final prosthetic can be either fixed or removable. In each case, an abutment is attached to the implant fixture. Where the prosthetic is fixed, the crown, bridge, or denture is fixed to the abutment either with lag screws or with dental cement. Where the prosthesis is removable, a corresponding adapter is placed in the prosthetic so that the two pieces can be secured together.