Cosmetic Dentistry

Dental Implants

There are two parts to every tooth. The crown and the root. The crown is the visible part and the root is the unseen part which anchors the tooth in your jawbone, providing stable support for your crown. When an entire tooth is lost – crown and root - shrinkage of the jawbone may occur making the face look older. Dental implants can stop this process.

There are many ways to replace tooth crowns, but only dental implants can replace the entire tooth including both crown and root. Dental implants look, feel and function like your own natural teeth. 

Replacing missing teeth with 3D implants

For thousands of years we have had to suffer tooth loss; be it from tooth decay or gum disease. Tooth loss indicated reduced masticatory function and ingenious ways were found to replace these missing teeth.

From 700 B.C humans have used teeth made out of wood, ivory, gold tipped ivory and even human teeth. There were many accounts of scavengers scouring the battlefields of the Napoleonic wars pulling teeth from the dead soldiers to sell on.
In fact George Washington wore dentures made from the choicest Walrus, Hippopotamus and Elephant ivory.

In the twentieth century we used rubber, acrylic or cobalt chrome alloy bases with acrylic or porcelain teeth. Dentures were retained in the mouth with the use of clasps, wires, suction or just denture fixative.

Dentures were removable, but unsightly and with the advancement of dental porcelains we started providing fixed metal/porcelain bridges. The disadvantages were however that adjacent teeth were unnecessarily trimmed down.



About 40 years ago Professor Branemark introduced titanium alloy dental implants that were surgically placed and integrated into bon sockets to replace missing teeth.

 

The advantages were that they looked natural as the crowns emerged from below the gum margin and did not involve trimming the adjacent teeth. The main disadvantage was however that the gum had to be cut open to assess the bone shape and to place the implants. Dentists only had a 2D view of the bone shape from x-rays.
Cat scans allowed us to view the jaw in 3D but still surgeons liked to open up the gum and expose the bone; it was a bloody affair.

Below is an example of how an implant was placed surgically by cutting the gum.

Case study: 18 year old female with congenitally missing upper left incisor, just having completed Invisalign to straighten her teeth. She was going abroad and wanted this tooth space restored.



Raising a gum flap is very traumatic and can lead to bone loss, swelling and excessive bleeding.