Implantation

An other important prerequisite of the long-term success of an implantation is perfect dental hygiene (coat-, plaque- and scale-free teeth, no gum diseases) and a check-up in every 6 months.

The implant may supplement for a missing tooth and may serve as a support for dental prostheses, in which case it is possible to make a fixed restoration (bridge) instead of a removable prosthesis.
It may notably improve the ability to chew at edentulous jaw sites, even if the number of implants is not sufficient for preparing a bridge prosthesis, but a couple of implants anchor the denture, in a similar way as a snap fastener. Especially in case of the full lower denture - which almost always moves - can the implantation of even two implants have a very favourable outcome.

Implants may be placed immediately after the extraction of the tooth (so-called immediate post-extraction implant placement) and to jaw sites where the tooth has been missing for a longer time. After the extraction the appointment for the implantation can be settled and in the meantime a temporary prosthesis may be used.
Implants are drilled in the jaw with local anaesthetics (no pain is felt) and in the simplest of cases the procedure may be performed in thirty minutes. The inconvenience after the operation is not more unpleasant than the feeling after a tooth extraction (or it may be even less).
In more complicated cases – depending on how long the operation lasted, etc. – the usual post-surgical state can be expected (bloated face, sensitivity, etc.). See: ‘Information on Surgeries’.
In order for the implant to perfectly settle in the bone in case of the upper denture a 6-month period, in case of the lower denture a 4-month period is needed (two-phase implantation method). This is followed by the placement of the ‘superstructure’, which can either be a crown, a bridge or a ‘snap fastener’ holding a prosthesis. For the 6-month period of the healing a temporary prosthesis is to be used.
In some cases the superstructure can be placed upon the implant at the time of the implantation (or it may be fixed to the body of the implant) so-called one-phase implantation method.

The material of the superstructure (the head part) is titanium but where aesthetic aspects have to be taken into consideration it is possible to apply metal-free crowns on top of the metal-free (zirconium) head parts.
The life-expectancy of the implants is many decades but it is necessary to have proper dental hygiene and to appear at check-ups once in every 6 months. The implants will not be rejected by the body as they are made of titanium and nobody has been known so far to be allergic to it. The most common reason for losing an implant is an inflammation around it because of improper hygiene, therefore it is important to undergo regular check-ups.

We apply two types of implantation systems at our dental surgery:

• DenTi (one of the most commonly used devices, developed in Hungary, manufactured by the German Meissinger company. It has been in use in Hungary for more than 25 years).
• Astra Tech (Swedish system), one of the best implantation systems – if not the best – in the world.

Both systems can be applied with maximum security. Some types of missing teeth problems can be better treated with the Astra system.

Procedures applied at our dental surgery:

• surgical planning in 3D on the basis of a CT scan,
• immediate post-extraction tooth placement (one- or two-phase implantation),
• delayed post-extraction implant placement (one- or two-phase implantation),
• bone graft procedure (bone augmentation) (materials commonly used are: Bio-Oss bone graft substitute, BioGide membrane (Geistlich Biomaterials, Switzerland), Frios titanium web (Dentsply-Friadent, Germany),
• filling of the base of the maxillary sinus with a bone graft substitute (performed at the same time of the implantation or at a different appointment),
• augmentation of the jawbones with a bonet substitute,
• aesthetic correction of the gums with surgery.