Dental implant is a titanium cylinder (pin) placed inside the bone, below the gum and which has the function of playing the same role as the root of the tooth. The dentist places the new tooth on top of the implant.

What are the indications for dental implants?
Dental implants are indicated in cases where the patient has already lost a tooth or that tooth is not in a position to be recovered and needs to be extracted.It is very common for patients to go to the office with aesthetically ugly teeth. or damaged wanting to extract them to make dental implants. It is very important that you know that there are many other more suitable methods to recover dental aesthetics and even to recover a tooth that has problems (crowns, dental contact lenses, among others) than the extraction and placement of implants.

What are the contraindications for dental implants?
Those who are considering having dental implants placed need to be in good general health. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure or any chronic disease, but you have medical supervision, take your medication regularly, the procedure can be performed.
In more specific cases, it is normal for the dentist to contact the doctor and together they will evaluate the best way to make the placement of dental implants possible.

The dental implant is only contraindicated in two cases:

1. Children and young people who have not completed their bone growth cycle, as the implants, after osseointegration, no longer change position, not accompanying the growth of the face, and the teeth and face will move forward and the implant will remain behind. Even so, there are currently some clinical proposals for this situation, but I still think they need more studies
2. A lot of attention is also needed in patients who use drugs from the bisphosphonate class, which are drugs used in Paget's disease, malignant neoplasms and some cases of osteoporosis. This medication inhibits bone remodeling, and although it does not there is a consensus in the literature, it has been associated with bone necrosis, with a very difficult solution, if it occurs.

How is a dental implant placed?
Currently there are basically two ways to perform surgery to place dental implants, the first of which allows us to choose 2 types of procedure after placing the implants and the second, more sophisticated way, allows us something more modern.

What is traditional dental implant surgery like?

The traditional way of placing an implant is that in which the patient undergoes a computed tomography scan, the surgery is planned on the computer before performing it in the mouth, so that the professional knows in advance all the good and bad things that could happen at the time of the surgery and how to solve the problems evaluated, if they occur. After that, an incision is made with the scalpel, to have a view of the bone area where the implants are to be installed. Then they are placed and sutures are made to join one edge of the gum to the other again.
After this process, it takes three to four months for the upper region and about two months for the lower region before the permanent teeth can be placed.
However, there is another method called immediate loading, in which you have the implants in the morning and in the afternoon, put in the temporary teeth and go home with a beautiful mouth. Of course, you will have to be careful with your bite so that you don't force the newly placed implants. But not all patients can receive the immediate load. For this procedure to be carried out, you need to have bone in a good amount of height and width and this bone must have good quality, also visualized through tomography.

Will I run out of teeth while I wait for the implants to integrate into the bone?
No, this is a very common concern in patients who have lost or will lose teeth. There are temporary jobs that will stay in your mouth while you wait for the implants to integrate with the bone, these jobs are very aesthetic and already serve as a basis for how your permanent teeth will look, that is, you will never leave the office without very beautiful teeth, despite temporary ones.

What is guided dental implant surgery?
Guided surgery is the placement of implants fullyplanned on the computer. This project is sent to a company that, through 3D printers, makes a precise surgical guide so that we can place the implants in the exact position in which they were proposed in the surgery performed on the computer, without having to make incisions (cuts), because the implants are placed only through a small hole in the gum. As the surgeon already knows the exact position of each implant, this allows the teeth to be prepared even before the surgery and placed at the same time.
Before we even start the procedure, that is, she will already be in the office to be placed on the implants at the same time. We place implants and teeth at the same time.

What is the duration of the dental implant surgery?
The average time to place a dental implant varies from around an hour to an hour and a half and if the patient is going to have more than one, we can add 30 minutes for each additional implant.
In patients who will receive several dental implants, the surgery can be performed in a single session. or divided into more than one.
Another possibility that should always be evaluated in cases of extensive treatments or patients who fail to undergo treatment due to fear is surgery with sedation, performed with the help of a doctor anesthetist in the office itself or with the use of a hospital surgical center, where the patient enters in the morning and leaves the hospital at the end of the afternoon, with the implant performed.

What are the precautions before the dental implant procedure?
It is important that the patient has some precautions before the surgery. The first and most important thing is that he has no doubts about what will be done, why it will be done, what can be good and bad and what the professional will do in case of any failure. This means that the patient should not be ashamed to ask all his questions and, above all, that he understands the answers.
It is very normal that family members and friends of the patient who will undergo work with dental implants, ask several things, and I am very satisfied when I was clear enough for him to know how to explain what and how it will be done. I also like it when that most incredulous friend of the patient asks: What if it doesn't work?
It is important that the patient knows what will be done in case of failure, something that can happen in any type of surgery, despite the success rate of implants being around 98%.
It is also worth mentioning that the patient be sure to eat on the day of the surgery, a few hours in advance, as it is very common for the patient to think that he is going to have surgery and therefore fast.

What are the care after the dental implant?
The patient who has just undergone the placement of a dental implant must have a liquid and cold food in the first 12 hours and then can be a pasty food, returning to feed within the normal range possible for an operated mouth, after 24 hours.
The patient should sleep with the head more higher than the body and avoid spitting or swishing your mouth, as this makes clot formation more difficult and increases the risk of unnecessary bleeding. You can return to work the next day, but you should stay away for a few days if you work in the sun, have a job that requires physical exertion or need to talk a lot.
It is of fundamental importance that patients who have received dental implants have an established routine of oral hygiene and regular visits to the dentist. Patients who have lost their teeth to periodontal disease tend to have the same problem with implant placement and bone loss will continue to occur.

What problems can occur with dental implants?
In the initial phase, the integration of the implant with the bone may not occur. In these cases, the implant must be removed and another placed.
After the integration of the implant into the bone and placement of the teeth, periodontal problems, problems with the prosthesis, problems with the parts that join the implant to the tooth. These unforeseen events can be minimized with good execution by the professional in carrying out the work and good maintenance of oral hygiene by the patient, as well as being aware that regular visits to the dentist after the end of the treatment are fundamental for the maintenance of the work.

Who is the professional indicated to perform dental implants?
Since its regulation as a specialty in Dentistry, implantologists are the professionals trained to perform this procedure, but periodontists and buccomaxillo also have technical and scientific knowledge for this purpose.

Do dental implants reject?
No, there is no rejection of implants by the body. The implants are made of titanium and this material is inert to the bone. This means that the organism does not realize that something has been placed in the bone and therefore tries to close the perforation made by the drill for the implant placement. When the bone fills this hole, it locks the implant and this is what we call osseointegration. Implant loss may occur due to problems in the surgery, in the postoperative period, due to the quality of the bone, but not due to rejection.

Are imported dental implants better than national ones?
There are great domestic implants and great imported ones. All implants are made of titanium and all companies are evaluated and receive a marketing license, which guarantees the quality of all. The big difference between implants is afterwards, when teeth are placed. Here at the clinic we use implant systems that offer more component options (fitting between the prosthetic crown and the implant), which facilitates prosthetic work and provides solutions when the implant is poorly positioned.

What is the success rate of dental implants?
The success rate is 95%, that is, in every 100 we may have problems in five. Even in those who have problems, the surgery can be redone. Only patients who smoke or make constant use of alcohol have these averages reduced to approximately 85% of success and 15% of failure.

Is it possible to have implants and teeth on the same day?
Yes, but not everyone can have implants and teeth on the same day. Incidentally, it is still the minority of people who can. For this, the patient must have sufficient quantity and quality of bone. When there is bone in the lower region it is usually possible, as the jaw bone is harder (less porous). The maxilla, on the other hand, is a more porous bone and therefore implant fixation is more difficult. So for the placement of immediate implants it is necessary to evaluate the amount of bone, the number of implants and the teeth that will be implanted. In conventional implants, people wait around 3 months for the crowns to be placed.