Let’s understand: dental implants, bridges and crowns

Dental implants, bridges and crowns: what is what for?

If you remain without teeth for a long time (six months or more), changes in the oral cavity will become inevitable. The remaining teeth will gradually begin to shift to cover the free space. This will negatively affect the bite and will lead to the fact that prosthetics will become impossible in the future due to a change in the position of the teeth. Then you will have to depulp and file your own teeth to install crowns, or undergo orthodontic treatment.

Therefore, shortly after the loss of a tooth or teeth, you need to think about their restoration. You can, for example, choose dentures, removable or fixed. Removable dentures are the most budget-friendly option (in particular, at the Sirius clinic we make butterfly dentures that fit over the gums like a saddle and hide the absence of a tooth), but their disadvantage is that a person cannot always psychologically adapt to wearing a plastic structure in their mouth and sometimes stops doing so, wearing a denture only for taking pictures and chatting with friends. Needless to say, such behavior does not stop changes in the oral cavity.

A crown is a non-removable dental prosthesis that remains in the mouth all the time. The indication for installing a crown is the destruction of more than half of the tooth, that is, it does not replace the removed tooth. In this case, a bridge will be suitable. It replaces the crown part of the tooth and is fixed on the crowns that are worn on neighboring teeth. Installing a bridge requires preparation (depulpation and preparation) of the teeth nearby. However, the weak point of fixed dentures remains the place of contact of the crown with the gums, because the bridge-like prosthesis does not look like your own tooth.

A dental implant is the most effective compensation for a missing tooth (teeth). This is a titanium rod that is installed in the bone as a replacement for the tooth root, an abutment is put on it, and in a few months, when the implant takes root, a crown. All work is carried out directly on the area of ​​​​the missing tooth. True, the cost of implantation is higher than the price of prosthetics with a bridge, but at the moment it is the most reliable and high-quality way to restore the dentition. When it comes to implanting front teeth, aesthetics are extremely important. Modern methods of dental implantation, together with mucogingival surgery, are able to recreate the effect of a tooth that has erupted from under the gums.

To install an implant, do you need surgery?

If you need to restore several teeth, a complex operation to install an implant in the socket of a recently removed tooth, or bone grafting due to a lack of your own bone tissue, then, as a rule, surgery under anesthesia is really necessary. In this case, the patient must pass a preoperative package of tests, undergo the necessary examinations and visit an anesthesiologist’s consultation. The Sirius clinic has the material and technical base to perform operations of any complexity, and all anesthesiologists have experience working specifically in dentistry. But when it comes to implantation in a clean socket, such an intervention is possible under local anesthesia or sedation. So in each specific case, the patient makes a decision on how exactly the implantation should take place after the initial consultation with the doctor. We remind you that you should not drink alcohol before the operation, as this affects the effect of anesthesia. It is better to postpone this until the swelling after dental implantation subsides.

Do I need a separate implant for each missing tooth?

With the help of dental implants, you can restore any number of teeth, from one to an entire dentition. But this is not always necessary: ​​for example, you can put a bridge prosthesis on an implant and thus cover one or more missing teeth. To completely restore the dentition on the upper jaw, it is enough to install eight implants, and on the lower – six. For elderly patients, there is an offer «all on 4», when we install four implants and make removable or fixed dentures that will be held on them.

Who is suitable for dental implants?

The Sirius Clinic Dental Implant Center has already installed over 3,000 implants, and there are almost no contraindications for us. We restore teeth in patients who have overcome cancer and are no longer at risk, people with diabetes, smokers, and women in menopause. Despite the fact that such cases are considered difficult, we achieve excellent results.

Implants are not installed in people with a sharp decrease in immunity (for example, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or those suffering from HIV in the acute phase), because due to the loss of regenerative abilities, the implant has no chance of taking root. Another contraindication to dental implantation is pregnancy (from the first to the fifth month, it is possible at later stages).

Why is implantation expensive?

Implantation is a long and expensive process, but the undoubted advantage of our clinic is that the price is known to the patient from the beginning of treatment and will not change until completion. The cost of treatment includes the following stages of tooth implantation:

• initial consultation of an implantologist, CT scan and preparation of a treatment plan;
• if necessary, additional preparation of the oral cavity (extraction of teeth with appropriate indications, treatment of caries, pulpitis and periodontitis);
• installation of an implant of the selected model and a gum former. We have types of implants of different price categories: budget INNO, B&B of the middle class and premium models STRAUMANN and NOBEL;
• in half a year or nine months (after performing a sinus lift) – prosthetics with a permanent crown.

When preparing the estimate, the purchase price of the implant with components from an official seller, the cost of the instruments (depreciation) used during the operation, anesthesia and the doctor’s work are taken into account.

What to do if there is no money for implants?

If a person does not have money for implants right now, it is important to take measures to prevent a change in the position of the teeth. For example, you can buy a budget immediate butterfly prosthesis and wear it, or in the case of the absence of more teeth – a clasp removable prosthesis. This will save space for implant placement, and when the opportunity arises, restoring the teeth will be much easier and faster.

How long do dental implants last?

Properly installed implants should last a person their entire life. We provide a 10-year warranty on STRAUMANN, NOBEL and B&B Dental implants, but subject to an annual preventive examination and professional hygiene in our clinic. After all, an implant is an engineering design that requires regular maintenance. When choosing an implant, it is worth considering that more expensive models have more representative offices around the world, and wherever fate throws you, you will be able to find a specialist who will help with implant maintenance.