The Tribune

By Dr Ricardo

Crawford

WHAT are dental implants?

A dental implant is an artificial tooth root used to replace a missing tooth or teeth, either with crowns, bridges, dentures or any combination thereof.

Who is suitable for a dental implant?

Anyone who is over the age of 18 and is in relatively good health is suitable for a dental implant.

What are some of the contraindications to having dental implants placed?

Some of the contraindications to having dental implants placed are:

• Insufficient height and width of bone

• Medications containing bisphosphonates

• Uncontrolled diabetes or hypertension

• Smoking

• Some blood disorders

In order to have an implant placed there has to be sufficient height and width of bone to accommodate the dental implant. This is inclusive of taking into consideration certain anatomical landmarks, such as the inferior alveolar nerve, the mental nerve and maxillary sinus.

Patients need to be in relatively good health for the placement of dental implants. This is because, during the healing process (the time after the placement of the implant), there needs to be adequate blood flow to the surgical site for proper integration into the bone. Some medications or physiological diseases may prevent this.

The introduction of dental implants into the world of dentistry has been revolutionary. No longer does a patient have to worry about wearing loose or ill fitting dentures.

Dentures can be supported by the placement of implants.

Placing dental implants replaces the need to cut down several teeth in order to replace one or two missing teeth. This process is done in order to accommodate the placement of a dental fixed bridge.

The challenge with placing a bridge is that, if anything goes wrong with any of the supporting teeth under the bridge, the bridge becomes compromised.