Here are the common steps for placing the Dental Implant.

• The initial examination with the dentist/specialist to determine if you are a good candidate for placing an implant. The dentist will examine the patient and collect all the medical and dental history.
• If an implant is placed after a tooth extraction, bone grafting is needed for bone preservation in that particular location. After the bone grafting, a healing time is required for the graft to bond with the jawbone. Based on the location in the mouth, it could be between four and six months.
• X-rays of the jaw, especially where the missing tooth area is located, will be taken.
• A CAT scan of the mouth is required. This will help the dentist to determine the jawbone structure and bone density. The CAT scan also helps the dentist to locate the nerves and the sinuses. This will prevent nerve damage or breaking in the sinus during the implant placement surgery. It will allow finding the optimal place for the implant location, away from nerves and sinuses.
• An impression will be taken and/or an ITero scan of the mandibula or maxilla for the Surgical Guide fabrication. The surgical guide will help the dentist during surgery to place the implant/implants very precisely at the ideal location and in perfect alignment with the other teeth or other implants when multiple implants are placed.
• In case the CAT scan shows there is not enough bone in the jaw for placing an implant, there is the option for bone grafting.

The Surgical Process for Placing the Implant.

• We start with a small surgery/incision over the crest of the bone to remove the gingiva over the implant location. The flap (the edge of the tissue) is pushed aside to expose the bone. An alternative technique is to make a tissue punch of the gingiva using a designated tool. Most of the time tissue punch technique is based on the surgical guide. The size of the tissue punch is the size of the implant diameter.
• We place the surgical guide, and we will drill a pilot hole using the drill under copious irrigation. The irrigation with saline prevents bone necrosis or bone burning.
• Next step, we expand the pilot hole using a wider drill at low speed. It is very important to use cooling saline water to keep the bone temperature low. This will avoid bone damage by overheating.
• The implant screw is placed and screwed into the jawbone using a torque-controlled wrench. The implant will be placed using a precise torque number.
• The implant can be buried, the top of the implant is covered using a cover screw, and the tissue over it is completely closed. A second stage surgery (cut the gingiva on top of the buried implant) will be needed later when we will place the healing abutment. Another option is to use a healing abutment screwed on the top of the implant.
• When the implant is integrated into the jawbone, an abutment and a crown will be placed. First an impression will be taken using the impression coping. Based on that impression a custom abutment and a crown will be fabricated in the lab. When the final abutment is placed, the healing abutment will be removed, and the abutment screwed into the implant. The crown is placed on top of the abutment. Crown can be either cemented on top of the abutment or screwed in type
• The time required for the implant to be integrated is between four and six mounts and depends on the implant location in the mouth.

Do you need a dental implant? Call us today for a free consultation!