Do you have severely damaged or decayed teeth? Are they making it hard to carry out regular day-to-day activities such as speaking, biting, or chewing? Are you looking for an effective and fast dental treatment to restore your smile? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then teeth in a day or immediate load dental implants may be the best dental treatment for you.
Immediate load dental implants are often referred to as teeth in a day because they allow for the placement of dental implants and a dental prosthetic in a single procedure. This means that you won’t have any gaps in your mouth while you wait for the placement of your prosthetic. This procedure has many benefits including the need for only a single procedure, faster recovery time, and better treatment outcomes.
The immediate load implant technique was originally developed by Schulte and Heimke in 1976. Back then, it was called immediate implants. Since their initial introduction into the world of dentistry, dentists have been researching how to better implement this technique. Currently, this technique has proven to work just as well as the two stage implantation process, but with a shorter treatment and recovery time.
This type of dental implant works well for individuals who have teeth that are missing, as well as teeth that are severely damaged or decayed. However, to be an ideal candidate for teeth in a day, the individual must also have adequate bone mass in the affected area to support a dental implant. If the individual does not have adequate bone mass, then a bone graft may be required prior to the placement of implants. In cases with missing teeth, the teeth usually cannot have been missing for longer than six months.
This is because bone reabsorption occurs approximately six months after a tooth is lost. Bone reabsorption is a process in which calcium becomes reabsorbed in the body. It occurs as a result of a lack of stimulation in the tooth’s socket. Once this process starts, the amount of bone mass will gradually decrease. Over time, this will actually cause the bone structure to change shape. Additionally, if there is not adequate bone mass present, the dental implant will have no bone to fuse with to hold it in place.
In cases with severely damaged or decayed teeth, the teeth will need to be extracted prior to the implant placement. Most often, teeth are extracted using a simple extraction technique wherein a special elevator tool is used to lift the tooth out of the socket. In some cases, however, a surgical extraction may need to be performed. During a surgical extraction, the tooth is broken down into pieces and each piece is removed one at a time.
Once there is an empty socket in the mouth, whether from a missing tooth or an extracted tooth, the dental implant can then be placed. In some cases, the tooth extraction and dental implant placement procedure can be carried out during a single office visit, while in other cases, there may be two different appointments.
To place a dental implant, our dentists will make a tiny incision in your gums to access the jawbone. Then, they will clean out the socket to rid it of bacteria and begin shaping it to accommodate an implant. After the socket has been prepared, the titanium screw portion of the dental implant will be screwed into the jawbone. The abutment, or connector piece will be attached as will the dental prosthetic.
Depending on the number of damaged, decayed, or missing teeth, as well as the overall treatment goals, there are different kinds of dental prosthetics that may be used. For restoring a single tooth, a dental crown is generally used. While dental crowns usually act as caps over natural teeth, with a dental implant they act as caps over the abutment piece.
For multiple missing teeth an implant supported bridge or denture is often used. A dental bridge is held in place by two dental implants and spans over a gap left by multiple missing teeth. An implant supported denture works to restore an entire top or bottom arch of teeth. To place implant supported dentures, usually about 4-6 dental implants are used.
As long as the implant was initially stable during placement, research has shown there is no difference is treatment success rates when compared to a two-stage placement approach. However, treatment success of immediate load implants is strongly dependant upon patient compliance. There are four main things that can harm immediate load implants: smoking, lack of hygiene, parafunction, and overloading.
Smoking has a range of health concerns, but smoking after an implant procedure can slow down the recovery process. Additionally, it is not hygienic. A lack of hygiene or failure to take prescribed antibiotics can lead to implant failure or even infection. It is important to follow any post-operative instructions regarding hygiene. Generally these will consist of salt water rinses, twice daily brushing, and daily flossing.
Parafunction is the word used to describe behaviors that are not considered “normal” for a particular structure, in this case, teeth. For example, things like chewing pens, biting nails, and using your teeth to open packages or bottles. Incorrectly using your teeth for these types of activities is highly detrimental to your natural teeth, but can also cause your implants to fail.
Despite being referred to as “immediate load dental implants”, overloading is a very real possible complication. The phrase “immediate load” refers to the immediate loading of the dental prosthetic, not the immediate ability to bear force. For this reason, there will be a need for a temporary diet of soft foods following the procedure. It is important to minimize the amount of force exerted on the implants until they have had adequate time to heal and fuse with the surrounding bone structure. If too much force is exerted on the implants too soon, this can unfortunately cause the procedure to fail.
To learn more about your teeth in a day options or to make an appointment, call our office to schedule a consultation with Palm Beach’s Top Dentists, Drs. Lerner and Lemongello.