Teeth are well known to be an important part of our organism. Even Cervantes has said with the words of his famous Don Quijote “A tooth is worth more than a diamond”.
Prosthesis have come a far way from the wooden teeth that George Washington used through to the later plastics and resins used. One of the later problems was fixing the prosthesis onto the teeth surrounding them. This meant ruining other teeth to have the new tooth put in place. Now, after 50 years of experiments by thousands of professionals, universities and clinics there is a new way to place Prosthesis, the Dental Implants.
A dental implant is a titanium root which is placed in the jawbone through a simple operation. The titanium root is coated with a layer of special proteins that produce and seal to bone. This means that the titanium is quickly integrated into your jawbone. It created such a tight fixture, that it will not move.
The operation is so very simple that extracting a tooth causes more damage to the jaw that placing an implant. This means that it requires very little effort from your organism to catch onto the implant.
I have been told that if I have very little bone in my jaw, I cannot get an implant.
This is not true. It is slightly more complicated placing an implant when little bone is available; however, there are various techniques for stimulation bone growth. It does extend the time it takes to finish the treatment for placing the implant, but eventually the implant will be fixed properly into the jaw.
There is no age limit for implants. Actually, the majority of people getting implants are of older age, as they usually have more teeth missing. Many people even choose to get all implants instead of dentures.
Is it necessary to get general anesthetics?
No, it is not. In 99% of the cases local anesthetics will do.
Basically you need to be reasonably healthy. Not being a heavy smoker also helps. If you do suffer from an illness, you can discuss this with your dentist, as there are alternative protocols for placing implants when a person suffers from an illness, but it is possible.
Dental implants are the best option currently available for the replacement of lost teeth. I hope the near future will bring us solutions with stem cells that will have us grow our teeth back naturally. Until then, implants are the best solution.
Do you need an implant? Come to Clínica Implantología Oral Dr. Briones for a free diagnostic.