Dental implants – Excellent choice for beautiful smile

Dental implant is a substitute for replacement for natural tooth lost due to dental caries, root fracture, loosening of teeth and other reasons and in many cases they are the best available substitute to your natural tooth. Dental implant can replace a single tooth, several teeth, provide retention to your denture or can completely replace your denture.

Dental implant are made of special bio compatible material, titanium similar to use in hip imlpant and other orthopaedic devices.

1. An implant has the same strong chewing force as that of natural tooth.
The strength of chewing with denture accounts for only 1/20 of natural teeth. In contrast, the implant has the strength of chewing as a natural tooth. Therefore you can chew hard food well.
2. Economical and semi-permanent option.
Implants have been in existence since more than 30 years and over the last 10 years success rate is over 95% with proper personal and professional care. This has also lowered down the cost of implants due to increased demand.
3. Feels and acts as a natural tooth.
Dental implants have excellent esthetics function, looks and feels like natural tooth.
4. Protects your neighbouring teeth.
With bridge, your healthy adjacent teeth requires trimming and shaping, thus affecting and weakening your healthy teeth and also it does not prevent gum disease and jaw bone loss. A dental implant is placed only in gap where the tooth is lost and adjacent teeth are left untouched.
5. Relief from discomfort for wearing dentures.
You can be relieved from the gum pain, discomfort and bad breath that are related to wearing dentures. Also with implant supported dentures there is no longer a need to use “glue” when denture is anchored to implant.
6. As comfortable as natural tooth.
You can eat & chew without pain or irritation with a dental implant just as your natural tooth.
7. No chance of cavity.
There is no chance of dental implant developing cavities because it is an artificial tooth.
8. Maintenance of healthy jaw bone and facial structures.
If you wear a denture or a bridge for long time, your jaw bone can deteriorate making future implant placement difficult. In contrast, dental implant makes the bone strong and prevents bone from being resorbed by body thus leading to improvement in external facial structures.
9. Chewing remains an enjoyable experience.
You can eat whatever you like and it feels and taste just like your natural teeth. Foods that were forbidden with denture and briges can be back in your diet.
10. Increased stability in full dentures.
In case of full denture, it can be fixed with implant supported denture.

	Implant	Bridge	Denture
Method	Bio compatible titanium screw inserted in jaw bone.	Adjacent teeth are cut and shaped, for supporting bridge.	Measurement of surrounding hard and soft tissue is taken.
Damage to teeth, gums and bone.	No damage	Damage to adjacent teeth as they are trimmed & bone loss in long time.	Bone loss in long time
Strength of chewing	Jawbone kept healthy. Strength similar to natural tooth.	Absence of root of teeth causes bone loss of adjacent teeth & decline in strength.	Difficult to eat tough and hard food.
Treatment period	3-6 months.	Short time period	Short time period
Life span	Semi permanent*	Must be replaced every 5-10 years.	Repaired and replaced every 3-4 years.
Cost	Economical despite high initial cost & considering life span.	Low initial cost.	Lowest but additional cost are incurred for replacement; uncomfortable to use as well.

Dental Implants

• Success rate
  What is the success rate?
  From 1975 to 2004, dental implants success ranged between 90% to 100% under proper personal and professional care.
• Treatment period
  How long is the treatment period?
  The treatment takes about one month from consultation to the first surgery for planned treatment and predictable outcomes. Tooth-in-an hour option is also available. In planned cases it takes around 6 months for complete bone healing to take place.
• Treatment cost
  Aren’t implants expensive compared to dentures?
  Although the initial cost is high, implants are semi-permanent; thus they are actually cheaper because no additional cost is incurred as in bridge work or dentures. Also the main benefit of implant placement is that your natural bone is preserved at implant site.
• Subject of treatment
  Can old patients go for implant surgery?
  Yes! Generally it is advisable to undergo implant surgery while they are still young because of the better bone quality & quantity. But if test proves that surgery is possible then age is not the barrier and can even be done in elderly patients.
• Implant material
  Does implant contain harmful heavy metal?
  No. Implants are made up of bio compatible titanium metal, the same as used in hip implant or any other orthopedic devices. They do not rust, corrode and are neither harmful to your body.
• Post-surgery effects
  What are post-surgery–effects, if any?
  After surgery, your face or gums feel stiff and sore. You might have discomfort for a couple of days but these symptoms will subside over time. If symptoms persists, however, see dentist immediately.
• Pain
  Does it hurt a lot?
  Not at all, since local anesthesia will be administered before surgery. In fact patients say "it’s less painful than having a tooth pulled".