When it comes to tooth replacement, generally, there are three options:

1) removable dental appliance (full denture or partial denture).

2) fixed dental bridge (cemented)

3) dental implant.

Deciding on which option to choose depends on many factors. Specifically, for dental implants, these factors include:

• location of missing tooth or teeth,
• quantity and quality of the jawbone where the dental implant is to be placed,
• health of the patient,
• cost,
• patient preference.

OptiSmile examines the area to be considered for a dental implant and makes a clinical assessment of whether that patient is a good candidate for the dental implant.

• Restoring dental aesthetics
• Restoring lost dental function:
  • Chewing
  • Speech
• Space maintenance and occlusal stability i.e. prevents tooth movement
• Orthodontic anchorage
• Convenience and comfort
• Bone preservation and prevention of weak/worn muscles after tooth loss

Dental implants have a huge cosmetic function, but there are many other reason why you’d likely want to consider this as an option instead of other dental procedures and these are as follows:

• They are the next best thing to healthy, natural teeth.  Strong and stable, a dental implant restores a lost tooth so that it looks, feels, fits and functions like a natural tooth. Other options can lead to bone deterioration, and may interfere with eating, smiling, speaking and other activities of everyday life.

• Dental implants are a long-term solution built to last. Traditional, tooth-supported dental bridges only last five to seven years, and with proper care often more than 10 years, but at some point they may need to be replaced. While dental implants may need periodic adjustments, they can last a long  when properly placed and cared for over time.

• Retain your natural face shape, and smile.  A face without teeth can sag and appear sunken and sad. Dental implants allow you to maintain the natural shape of your face and smile.

• Protect healthy bone. Leaving empty spaces in your mouth after losing one or more teeth can lead to additional health issues, such as the loss and deterioration of some of your jawbone. When it is not being used to support a natural tooth, the jawbone deteriorates, losing its strength and firmness.

Dental implants are the only dental restoration option that preserves and stimulates natural bone, actually helping to stimulate bone growth and prevent bone loss.

• Keep your teeth in your mouth – not in a cup. Dental implants allow you to keep your teeth where they belong – in your mouth. And no more worrying that your dentures might slip or fall out. Brush, floss and care for teeth that have been replaced using dental implants exactly the way you would natural teeth – in your mouth.

• Speak easy.  Adjusting to removable dentures can mean struggling to pronounce everyday words. Not so with dental implants, which function like natural teeth.

• Eat your favourite foods. Taste and enjoy the foods you love without hesitation. You can bite naturally, eat virtually anything you want and, unlike removable dentures that can feel uncomfortable, you can experience the full taste of the food you eat with dental implants, too.

• Cavities can’t occur in an implant-restored crown, or replacement tooth; however, you will need to visit your dentist as scheduled and clean and care for it and your gums and mouth every day, the same as you would if it were a natural tooth.

• Keep teeth in place – silently. Dentures may slip when you eat, talk, smile, laugh, kiss, yawn or cough, so that you have to “reposition” them back into place in the mouth. Dental implants are fixed in place and fuse naturally with your jawbone, meaning your replacement teeth won’t move, click or shift.

• Protect your healthy teeth. Placing a tooth-supported bridge requires grinding away the teeth on one or both sides of the missing tooth or teeth – thereby damaging healthy teeth to restore those that are missing. The modified healthy teeth are attached to, and support, the bridge.

Dental implants go in the jawbone, in the spot where your missing tooth root was, without impacting healthy teeth. They also help prevent healthy, adjacent teeth from shifting as they would if an empty space were left for an extended period of time.

• More predictable than other repair and restoration methods. Dental implant treatment has a track record of reliable, long-term successful outcomes and is often considered “more predictable” than other treatments to repair or replace missing teeth, including bridgework, removable appliances and retreatment of failing root canal (endodontic) therapy.

• Dental implants can be used to replace a single tooth, several teeth, or all of the teeth. The goal of teeth replacement is to restore function as well as aesthetics.

During the initial consultation process your OptiSmile dentist will evaluate the current condition of your teeth to see if implants are the best solution for you. If they are, they’ll proceed to take pictures or your mouth and a mould, if required, so that Digital Smile Design technology can be used to give you an idea of how your new implants will look. The CEREC/CAD  technology they use will also be instrumental in the creation of the implants once you are completely happy with how your new restored smile will look.

A dental implant is commonly made up of a titanium screw and a crown. A small-diameter hole is drilled where there is no tooth in order to guide the titanium screw that holds an implant in place. To avoid damaging important jaw and facial structures like the inferior alveolar nerve in the lower jaw.

After the initial pilot hole has been drilled into the appropriate jaw site, it is slowly widened to allow placement of the implant screw. Once it is in place, the surrounding gum tissue is secured over the implant and a protective cover screw placed on top to allow the area to heal and for osseointegration (the process of fusion between the dental implant and jawbone) to occur.

After up to six months of healing, OptiSmile will uncover the implant and attach an abutment (structure which holds the crown or tooth-like replacement) to the implant. In some instances, the abutment may be attached during the initial procedure. When the abutment is in place, we then create a temporary crown.

The temporary crown serves as a template around which the gum grows and shapes itself in a natural way. This process is then completed when the temporary crown is replaced with a permanent crown.

Dental implant recovery is dependent on a number of factors, one of them being the various procedures required to complete your treatment. Maintaining diligent oral hygiene habits is required to ensure proper fusing of the implant and bone structure.

Healing from the surgical procedure to place the dental implant(s) takes up to six months, while the fitting and seating of the crown(s) can take up to two months. But the timeframe depends on individual cases and treatments. Follow-up appointments are essential for monitoring your progress.

For several days after the surgery, your diet should be restricted to soft foods. If there are stitches present, they may need to be removed, however, self-dissolving stitches that do not require removal are typically used.

Failing to brush and floss is a leading cause of implant failure, and infection can also occur if the implant and surrounding areas are not properly cleaned. Smoking is also attributed to high failure and should be avoided following implant procedures.

A dental implant acts as a replacement for the root of a missing tooth. In turn, this “artificial tooth root” serves to hold a replacement tooth or bridge. Having a dental implant fused to the jawbone is the closest thing to mimicking a natural tooth because it stands on its own without affecting the nearby teeth and has great stability. “osseointegration.”

Dentures and bridges mounted to implants won’t slip or shift in your mouth. This secure fit helps the dentures and bridges as well as individual crowns placed over implants to feel more natural than conventional bridges or dentures.

For some people, ordinary bridges and dentures are simply not comfortable or even possible, due to sore spots, poor ridges or gagging. An advantage of implants is that no adjacent teeth need to be prepared or ground down to hold your new replacement tooth/teeth in place. To receive implants, you need to have healthy gums and adequate bone to support the implant. You must also commit to keeping these structures healthy. Meticulous oral hygiene and regular dental visits are critical to the long-term success of dental implants.

With decent care implants can last a very long time. This is dependent on the location of the implant and patient’s compliance with oral hygiene and dental visits. Because molars receive more stress and wear and tear, these implants typically do not last as long as implants located at the front of your mouth.