What are implants made of?

Dental implants are made of titanium with hydroxyapatite coating and additionally two different levels of micro etch around the collar of the implant known as the Laser Lok technology. This allows tissue adaptation and bone adaptation at the neck but more importantly it makes the tissue levels very stable minimizing bone loss and gum recession around the implant. These implants are 100% biocompatible as any other implants that we have placed in our bodies like hips, knees, shoulders. When the implant is put in, the coating on the implant allows the bone to integrate very well; literally becoming fused to the implant. This is called osteointegration. Connected to the implant is the abutment, the abutment is made out of one of several different types of materials. Abutments can be all ceramic, gold, gold and ceramic, or titanium. The Abutment is then covered by a crown. The crown is used to mimic the natural tooth. Crowns can be made from several different types of materials. It is going to be our goal to make the implant and the implant crown look as natural as possible. So depending on the type of abutment we choose we will then choose a type of crown that is going to appear the most natural. It could be a zirconium to porcelain crown, porcelain fused to metal crown, or an all ceramic crown.

When the implant is placed – it is placed to the level of the bone. Often times this can be done without even flapping the tissue leading to little or no post operative sensitivity. With our experiences, we have found that the post operative sensitivity from a dental implant is much much less than a dental extraction. Patients can usually go back to work either the same day or the next.

Patients that dental implants success rates are a little lower on would be patients that are diabetic or smoke. We found that the implants do not osteointegrate as well in these individuals. Our success rates are still around 90% in these patients. Oral hygiene is very important when it comes to dental implants. When the dental implant is not cleaned properly, we often find that infections can occur around the dental implants. If there are any other questions about dental implants, please feel free to get a consultation.



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