Dental Implants
Queen Street Dental offers complete treatment planning for dental implants from extraction of teeth to surgical placement of dental implants and placement of crowns/bridges/dentures. By doing everything in-house, we can offer some of the most competitive prices on dental implants in South Australia.
What are dental implants?
Dental implants are the most realistic replacement of teeth available today. It consists of 2 components; the implant itself (much like a screw), and the prosthesis that attaches on top (can be a crown, bridge or denture). Their use in dentistry has grown significantly over the past few decades due to advances in technology and understanding. Dental implants are now often the ideal choice of replacing missing teeth with very high success rates and longevity.
How can I benefit from dental implants?
Dental implants can be used to replace missing teeth, whether it’s one tooth or a whole arch. Its main advantages are:
- Fixed solution to replacing teeth
- Very aesthetic and natural looking
- Very strong/rigid for chewing
- Very long lasting if well maintained (>10 years)
- Does not affect or involve other natural teeth
- High success rates for most individuals (approx. 95%)
- Can help dramatically increase retention of existing dentures
How is it done?
Dental implants are done in 2 stages:
- Implant is surgically placed into the jaw bone. This can be done under local anaesthesia. A healing period of 3 months is usually required in this initial stage for the bone to bind to the implant (osseointegration)
2. After a healing period of approximately 3 months, prostheses such as crowns or bridges or dentures can be made and attached to the implant(s)
What are the risks?
There are risks involved in placing and maintaining dental implants
- Careful planning is needed to ensure there is enough room in the jaw bone for an implant without interfering with other teeth, nerves, sinuses or other vital structures. This usually involves obtaining x-rays before the procedure
- Implants may fail to integrate with the jaw bone and may result in infection
- Individuals with certain health conditions and smokers may not be suitable for dental implants or risk higher failure rates
- Even after integration of the implant, long term maintenance is still required (just like natural teeth) to prevent/stop bone disease around the implant (peri-implantitis)
Immediate Dental Implants
Sometimes a broken or infected tooth (especially front teeth that are visible when smiling) can be extracted and replaced with a dental implant + temporary crown straight away without the need to go toothless for up to 3 months. These situations are ideal for replacing teeth in aesthetic regions especially in cases of dental trauma. Below is a case of immediate dental implant placement due to a broken front tooth
After 3-6 months of healing with a temporary crown or denture, the final crown is made and inserted onto the integrated implant.
Range of Treatment Options
Implants are versatile and can offer a range of options from replacing a single tooth to multiple teeth.
When many teeth require extraction due to fracture, decay or infection, implants can provide a fixed solution in lieu of removable dentures. Multiple teeth can be restored with few implants.
In the case above, 6 teeth were restored on 3 implants.
Implant retained bridges are a strong, fixed and long term solution to a new smile!