Advantages
of titanium dental implants with porcelain
crown
Titanium
and porcelain are the noblest and most
durable materials used today in cosmetic
dentistry. The texture of porcelain
crowns is the one that resembles most
the tooth's enamel and its wide variety
of shades allows for a perfect assimilation
of the implant by the adjacent teeth.
Today, the oldest implants of this kind
are 20 years old, so we may claim that,
if used correctly, they have a proven
durability of 20 years. The proven durability
of the implants will be longer as time
goes by and the implants remain whole
on their places. They are used for correcting
malocclusion when the problem is not
due to bone abnormalities. You will
not feel that you have something artificial
in your mouth. The implants will become
a part of your mouth; they will have
the same hardness and function of your
own healthy teeth. You will be able
to smile again self-confidently: you
will no longer be afraid lest your false
teeth move or come off when you smile
or speak. You will be able to bite and
chew firmly again, not only will you
enjoy more your meals but you will also
digest the food much better.
How
is a Dental Implant surgery performed?
First
stage
During
this first stage is when the titanium
implants are attached to the bone. If
the number of implants necessary is
less than 14, your will have to stay
in Buenos Aires for one week. If the
number is higher, you will have to stay
two weeks.The procedure is usually performed
under local anesthesia, but when the
number of implants is more than 5, intravenous
sedation is used.
The
first step
is to prepare the places in which the
implants will be attached. In some cases,
it is necessary to remove a tooth or
the remaining pieces of a tooth that
cannot be fixed in order to attach the
implant on the hole that the root of
the tooth leaves behind when it is removed.
The
hole is
filled with a bone filler to fix the
implant. If the tooth has been removed
recently, the same bone filler is used
for filling the hole where the implant
will be attached. But if the tooth has
been removed more than a year before,
the hole would have probably filled
by itself and, in that case, it will
be necessary to make a hole to attach
the implant. We should also add that
it is not a good idea to let too much
time go by before replacing a lost tooth,
since the bone's volume tends to diminish
as time goes by.
The
last step
of the first stage is to make a temporary
denture; you will have to wear it until
the definitive porcelain crowns are
ready to be placed, in a second trip.
The odontologist will make a custom-made
temporal denture according to your preferences
and needs. There are three options:
a) a removable dental prosthesis of
a flexible material, b) one or more
bridges with metal hooks or c) acrylic
crowns.
Second
stage, between 4 and 6 months later:
During
this stage, the porcelain crowns are
made and attached to the implants. You
will need to stay 3 weeks in order to
complete the treatment.The natural teeth
are whitened and the resulting shade
will be taken as reference to create
the shade of the porcelain crowns. Therefore,
if the teeth lose their whiteness, both
the natural teeth and the implants will
be of the same shade.
If
there are natural teeth that are broken
or slanted but firmly in place, they
may be used as anchors for attaching
porcelain crowns that will be just like
the ones attached to the titanium implants.
Each damaged tooth undergoes root canal
treatment and once the hole has been
made, a fiberglass post is anchored.
The
posts are made in a laboratory according
to each patient's need. This process
takes 3 days. Then the data is collected
and sent to the laboratory to make the
crowns. This process takes 8 days. Once
the crowns are ready, they are tried
on the patient's mouth to check that
they fit and, if everything is right,
they are cemented into place.
The
crowns will be placed in such a way
that all the teeth will look harmonious
and even, but natural. A 'too perfect'
row of teeth may look like 'piano keys',
and no one would like that. However,
a natural looking mouth is considered
a beautiful and healthy feature of the
face; the teeth do not need to be the
center of attention.
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