Dental Implants Guide/FAQ

1. HOW TO KNOW THAT I AM FIT ENOUGH TO HAVE DENTAL IMPLANT TREATMENT?

If a person is healthy enough to undergo the treatment necessary for fixed bridge work or routine tooth extractions, the same person can undergo dental implant procedures.

2. HOW LONG WILL THE IMPLANTS LAST?

If properly executed by dental implant surgeon and if properly maintained by the patient( good home care and checkup visits) , the results should last for a lifetime. We know that dental problems mostly stem from improper home care or lack of treatment when needed, the same holds true for implants. With proper care and routine dental check-ups they should last a lifetime.

3. WHAT SPECIAL AFTER CARE NEEDED AFTER DENTAL IMPLANTS?

Presume that dental implants are natural teeth and treat them that way. Return for regular check-ups. Brush and floss. Avoid using tooth paste.Do brushing twice a day with soft tooth brush( without tooth paste) .Do gently massage of the gums with your finger.Gargle your mouth with regular water after each meals

4. IS THE DENTAL IMPLANT PLACEMENT PAINFULL?

Dental implants are placed under adequate local anaesthesia.There won’t be any pain during the procedure.You will given adequate antibiotics and analgesics after the procedure.There won’t be any much post operative discomfort.You have to take the medicine for 2-3 days.

5. IS THE DENTAL INJECTION/ANESTHETIC INJECTION IS PAINFUL?

No.We take adequate care in administering the local anaesthetic to our patients.We use computer controlled local anaesthetic system( called WAND-STA), So you won’t feel any pain during the infection process.

6. HOW LONG DOES THE WHOLE IMPLANT PROCESS TAKE? WILL I BE WITHOUT TEETH FOR A LONG TIME?

If single teeth needs replacement or multiple teeth needs replacement after implant placement,provisional teeth can be fixed within 24 hours.If it is full mouth rehabilitation 4-6 days from start to finish.

7. IS IT POSSIBLE TO PLACE DENTAL IMPLANT IN THE SAME VISIT AS THE TEETH ARE EXTRACTED?

Yes , it is possible.And it is the preferred method also.

Placing the implant in the same visit helps preserve both width and height of the bone and may prevent the need for placing bone grafts as bone naturally shrinks back after teeth are extracted. During the first year after teeth have been removed, as much as as 40% of jaw bone width can be lost. If it is possible to place the implant in the same visit as the teeth are extracted, this can save at least three months of healing time compared to waiting for an extraction site to heal before the implants are placed.

And in the single visit ,both extraction and implant placement are completed.

In single anesthesia , both procedure are done.No need for multiple injections and multiple surgeries.

8. ONE OF MY FRONT TOOTH HAS BEEN ROOT CANAL TREATED  MANY YEARS BACK. NOW IT HAS BEEN FRACTURED. CAN IT BE REPLACED WITH AN IMPLANT IMMEDIATELY?

Yes , it can be extracted and replaced with new implant and fixed crown immediately.Actually this is better and predictable solution ,than trying to save the fracture root canal treated tooth by post and build ups.

Since the root canal treated becomes weaker and brittle , the risk of fracture is always there for them.

9.MY MOLARS HAS BEEN TREATED BY ROOT CANAL AND CROWNS LONG BACK.NOW THEY ARE GIVING PAIN.MY ROOT CANAL SPECIALIST ADVISES RE-ROOT CANAL TREATMENT.WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?

In our opinion, re root canal treatment has very low success and prognosis.Apart from that it involved multiple long visits to dental office and new crowns.This involved additional expenses and time, with break from your working place.Ultimately even this also fail in few months/years.

Hence our opinion ,it is better extract root canal treated tooth (if it symptomatic or if there are signs of infection,problem in X-ray) and replace with dental implants and fixed teeth.In long run, replacing with dental implants is much more simpler, economical and time saving and predictable than complicated, unpredictable re root canal treatments.

10. MY UPPER FULL DENTURE IS LOOSE AND MOVING AND I HAVE SEVERE GAG REFLEX. I ALSO CAN’T TASTE OR FEEL THE TEMPERATURE OR TEXTURE OF FOOD. CAN FIXED TEETH WITH IMPLANTS HELP ME TO OVERCOME THESE PROBLEMS?

Certainly yes, upper dentures cover the roof of the mouth and go back to soft palate to get support and “seal” so that they stay in place. Unfortunately, this result is covering up the palate.This leads to taste problems, speech problems and gag reflex and loose dentures.By using implants to anchor or support an upper prosthesis, the roof of the mouth can be left uncovered so one wont gag, and can feel the texture, temperature and taste of food and beverages much better.

 11.I AM WEARING A FULL DENTURE BOTH FOR THE UPPER AND LOWER JAW. THE UPPER DENTURE IS QUITE STABLE. BUT THE LOWER DENTURE IS VERY MUCH LOOSE, CAN THIS PROBLEM BE SOLVED BY IMPLANT TREATMENT?

Absolutely, your situation is a common one. The full lower denture is the most  predictably unstable prosthesis fabricated in dental practice. During chewing, the average lower bone moves five times more than an upper denture. The person with advanced bone loss has additional problems of poor muscle coordination, speech difficulty, and inability to keep the denture in place, all of which adversely influence a normal lifestyle. Dental implants provide solution to all these problems. Even in cases where a lot of bone loss has occurred, there still is a good chance .

12. I AM A DENTURE WEARER FOR MANY YEARS. RECENTLY THEY HAVE BECOME LOOSE AND I STARTED USING DENTURE ADHESIVES. I DON’T LIKE THE BAD TASTE OF ADHESIVES IN MY MOUTH. CAN DENTAL IMPLANT SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?

Certainly yes, Dental implants can eliminate the use of adhesives. A common complaint is to constantly add adhesives to secure dentures, especially after drinking a cup of coffee or eating a meal. This can really be a nuisance while eating out at a restaurant and having to excuse you from the table to go to the restroom because your dentures won’t stay in .Laughing, sneezing and coughing can also cause trouble for people who depend on adhesives to hold their teeth in place.Getting fixed teeth on implants will give solution to these problems.

13. I HAVE HAD DENTURE FOR MORE THEN 8 YEARS. AND MY LOWER DENTURES BECAME FLOATERS. MY DENTIST TELLS THAT I HAVE LOST LOT OF BONE IN MY LOWER JAW AND I AM NOT SUITABLE FOR DENTAL IMPLANTS? IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR ME?

This situation of severe bone loss in lower jaw is very difficult to treat by conventional implant methods.Where as this can be successfully and safely treated by basal implant methods.with laser advancement in basal implant(multi unit basal implant) a retrievable and safe solution can be given.

14.I HAVE LOST MY UPPER BACK TEETH ON ONE SIDE AND HAVE NOT REPLACED FOR MANY YEARS BECAUSE OF MY BUSY WORK SCHEDULE. MY DENTIST TELLS THAT MY MAXILLARY SINUSES HAS COME DOWN AND I HAD TO UNDERGO SINUS LIFTS WITH BONE GRAFTS WITH WAITING PERIOD OF 6 TO 8 MONTHS. CAN I GET FIXED TEETH WITH IMPLANTS WITHOUT SINUS LIFTS?

This  phenomena  occurs in a large majority of people who have had their upper back teeth missing for a long time .  any one of the following advanced technique can be used to give fixed teeth to your upper jaw.

  1. All on 4/6 dental implant
  2. All on 8 Multi unit basal implant (Swiss-IHDE)
  3. Quad zygoma (two zygoma implants on each side)
  4. All on 4 plus(2 zygoma plus 2 crestal implant in front)

15. NOTE REGARDING AESTHETIC RESULTS IN SINGLE FRONT TOOTH/MULTIPLE FRONT TEETH CASES:

  • Provided the patients possess a large amount of bone (vertical and horizontal bone supply), a good aesthetic result can be reached with any method.
  • If the patient has only a very low supply of bone (so little that conventional treatment is impossible, not advisable, or only a viable option with extensive, risky bone augmentation procedures), the basal implant method can still offer successful treatment in immediate loading.

16.HOW LONG WILL THE IMPLANT SURGICAL PROCEDURE WILL  TAKE FOR A WHOLE JAW?

The surgical procedure can take anywhere between half an hour and 90 minutes, depending on what implants are needed where and how many. Add to that a short time is needed to take impression of the implants ,so that the laboratory will  start the fabrication of the bridge.

17.HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO BE WITHOUT TEETH?

You do not have to be without teeth at all, since a fixed will be fixed in 3-5  days if your situation is full mouth rehabilitation . If it is missing single or few front teeth, the teeth can be fabricated in 2 days and fixed right away.This restoration will be stable and often better than your removable denture.

18.WHAT MATERIAL ARE DENTAL IMPLANTS  MADE OF?

All commercially available dental implant are made of titanium alloy(T16A14v) which is bio compatible and highly resistance to fracture

19.WILL I BE OPERATED IN GENERAL ANESTHESIA?

General anesthesia is generally not necessary. However, if you yourself prefer sedation, this is possible in cooperation with an anesthesiologist.

20.WHAT WILL THE TREATMENT COST?
That will of course depend on the extent of the procedure and the number of implants.