Dental Implants

Implants are suitable for most people over the age of 18 years of age. 

You can have implants if you:

• Are missing one or more teeth
• Have failing teeth, crowns or bridgework
• Suffer from loose or uncomfortable dentures

Why can't under 18's have implants?

Your body continues to grow up until your early twenties. This means the bones & gum tissue are still maturing. 

As they mature they change shape. If you have an implant placed too early it will be in the wrong position by the time growth is finished.

An implant doesn't move in the bone, it is anchored. The bone can continue to grow around it, and your natural teeth will move with this bone.

The implant will perhaps become too far forward and the implant will look short. Your top jaw in particular grows downwards and rotates. This unfortunately seems to happen more with women than men and can continue on through middle age.

People with long thin faces are more susceptible, but as you get older the rate and amount of growth is slowed. 

Waiting on growth of the bone and until the gums are fully mature makes an implanta much more predictable solution to a missing tooth.

If you have lost all of your teeth, we can still use dental implants to replace them. Sometimes this is by using a denture on implants which can be removed for cleaning by your dentist. Missing teeth are secured by implants which attach onto your new teeth. We can place these early after tooth extraction if you have enough bone and healthy gum tissue.

Many people associate age with being the prime criteria for dental implants, when in reality the main concern is a patients good health and whether they have sufficient bone in their jaw to place the implant. 

In this respect a person of 85 who is healthy could be more suited to dental implants than a 40 year old who is a heavy smoker or a 60 year old suffering from uncontrolled diabetes.

In the past, the only choice of tooth replacement was removable dentures which were often associated with discomfort and did not function well. Although modern dentures have come on in leaps and bounds, they still don't address the problem of bone loss which occurs when teeth are missing. This results in the shape of the jaw gradually changing and is why what were once a snug fitting set of dentures become loose and start to move around, causing painful pressure points and often embarrassment to the wearer. 

Dental implants offer many benefits but what makes them stand out from other methods of tooth replacement is the fact that they can actually stimulate bone growth. This is because the titanium implants are inserted into the jaw bone and eventually fuse with the surrounding bone and soft tissue. Acting as a replacement tooth root, they provide a strong platform for a prosthetic crown, bridge or denture and stimulate the bone during chewing. Not only does this put a halt to bone loss, but it prevents the jaw from changing shape, and gives a more youthful appearance. We've placed dental implants in patients as old as 90 and have seen little difference in healing and recuperation than in younger patients. In fact, it has given them a totally new lease of life; improving their confidence, allowing them to eat a greater variety of foods, and even giving them back a social life. 

Dental implants are extremely versatile and cna be used to replace single or multiple teeth, or in cases where the patient has no teeth, they can be used to retain dentures and hold them securely in place. 

Bone recedes when tooth lose occurs. Just as soil erodes when trees and plants are removed.

We may recommend a bone graft to repair or help restore your jaw bone to a level and thickness to make it suitable for dental implants. 

Most bone grafts are completed to help restore your bone to its previous level before tooth loss and gum disease occurred.

Bone grafting may also be used to maintain bone structure after tooth extraction.

Restoring bone is important to make dental implant procedures as optimal as possible, giving the best result.

The jaw bone supports the muscles and overlying skin which also contribute to the outward facial appearance. Without the underlying bone, our faces can look prematurely aged.

Bone graft comes either from your own jaw bone or taken from a different area, or a bovine source.

Your own bone is a good source of additional bone, but it may require an additional surgical procedure and it may have to remove a significant volume of bone.

Bovine source is disease free, sterile and easy to use as it is prepacked in quantities suitable for dental use. It has excellent results and is very common.

Bone replacement material can take up to 6 – 9 months to integrate fully and become fully integrated with your body.

Once your body has had a chance to heal and remodel the graft. The dentist can now place dental implants and restore your smile.

When you loose upper back teeth, the bone that held your teeth in isn’t needed anymore and starts to resorb.

When it starts to resorb it loses width first and then height.

Above your upper teeth the nasal sinus is a bony cavity which has a membrane lining it. It occasionally can get infected and you can end up with sinusitis.

The lining of your sinus presses on the edge of the bone when you breathe in and out and expands and contracts.

The roots of your upper teeth keep this bone stable around the teeth.

If you loose your upper back teeth the sinus lining pressing on the bone causes it to pneumatise. This means the sinus gets bigger, and so the bone in the upper jaw gets thinner from the mouth area and the sinus.

A sinus lift is a small procedure which increases the volume, height and width of bone in your upper jaw.

A small hole is drilled into the bone in your upper jaw, and bone particles are packed into the sinus space below the lining and left to bond onto your natural bone. Depending on the anatomy of your upper jaw and how many teeth need replaced, sometimes you may be referred for a CT scan to enable us to work out how much natural bone is available.

A sinus lift usually takes around an hour to complete.

You may need antibiotics after the procedure to keep the bone from becoming infected.

If a CT Scan is required for any of our treatments we will refer you to a local specialist clinic for this to be completed. We do not have this facility at Moira Dental Care.

What is a CT Scan?

A 3 dimensional x-ray which creates a cross sectional picture of your bone in your jaw. A dental cone beam CT scanner uses x-rays to create a 3 dimensional Cross sectional picture of your bones in your jaw.

What happens when I have a CT Scan?

The neckline moves around your head in a circular motion, and like all x-ray pictures you need to remain still to get a sharp good image.

You are seated for the CT scan image.

You will be carefully positioned and asked to remove dentures, earrings and glasses.

The process takes a few minutes and once the scan is over you are free to go home.

Is there an alternative?

No. This is the only way we can assess the position, quality and quantity of the bone you have.

It will show any potential problems related to your teeth, and the major nerves and bone spaces in your jaw.

A dental CT scan uses considerably less x-ray than a medical CT scan.

A CT scan of your upper and lower jaw is the equivalent radiation dose of 12.30 days of normal background radiation.

The procedure is not painful, but you should mention to the person taking the scan if you are pregnant or have claustrophobia.

Once the scan is complete your dentist will receive the x-ray report usually within a couple of weeks. 

We can offer you dental sedation for your implant treatment.

Our aim at Moira Dental Care is to make your treatment as comfortable as possible. One of the ways we can help is to offer our patients dental sedation. Most patients develop their dental phobia due to a previous 'bad experience' at the dentist. For those patients sedation is one of the best options to allow the dentist to carry out treatment.

Intravenous Sedation (IV)

When a drug, usually of the anti-anxiety variety, is administered into the blood system during dental treatment. You remain conscious during IV sedation, you will also be able to understand and respond to requests from your dentist. However you may not remember much about what went on. IV sedation induces a state of deep relaxation. Patients having IV sedation are monitored through-out the entire procedure and safely discharged into the care of their escort. They must be monitored closely after their treatment by a responsible adult.