Dental Implants in Argentina

Dental implants have functional and aesthetic purposes. Generally, they are used for:

Replace removable dentures for fixed permanent teeth.
Replace missing teeth without the need of trimming natural teeth, restoring our ability to chew and smile with total comfort.
Serve as support to place removable dentures that move and feel uncomfortable, to make prostheses that feel comfortable, allowing the patient to eat and improve aesthetics.
Stop bone resorption.

Procedure

First Trip:

1. The dentist will examine the patient, evaluate the mobility of remaining natural teeth and health of gums, and all the factors that the dentist considers that can influence the treatment in the future.

2. Dental X-rays are required. X-rays may have different degrees of complexity, but in our clinic we have digital x-rays, which avoids the development process, plaques, and liquids, and makes a more accurate diagnosis possible. In some cases, more complex x-rays are ordered, if the case calls for it.

3. Laboratory Analysis: they should be required in every surgery, even though dental implants are less traumatic for the patient than a tooth extraction or a piercing.

4. Every patient is thoroughly examined so that the placement of implants and prosthetic restoration is as predictable as possible.

5. Surgical placement of the implants into the exposed jawbone.

6. If stitches were used they have to be removed, but lately in our specialized center we have been using the minimally invasive procedure in most cases, eliminating the need for scalpel and sutures.

Second Trip:

Three months after the surgery and once the process of osseointegration has been completed, the implants are uncovered, placing the transepithelial and transmucosal implants that connects them with the gum. However, with the new techniques we use, this second surgery is no longer necessary in most cases, since the new implants we place have the transmucosal abutment attached to them. In this way, we will move on to the next stage avoiding the surgery.

On the day the implants are uncovered, in most cases, impressions are taken for the permanent teeth and other temporary ones are made as well. In the course of about three appointments, the last measurements are taken and the final prostheses are inserted.

What are the advantages of Dental Implants?

Implants can replace the loss of a natural tooth, without the need of trimming the neighbor teeth to place a bridge.
In many cases, implants can be placed to support a fixed bridge and avoid in this way, removable dentures. Since bridges are fixed, they do not lead to gum irritation nor the pain caused by partial or complete, removable dentures.
One of the advantages of dental implants consists in avoiding the overload of the remaining teeth increasing the number of pillars; in this way, not only our prostheses but also our teeth will suffer from less overload and their lives will be longer.
If you have lost all your teeth you can stop being toothless, significantly improving your quality of life.
In some cases, a removable prosthesis supported by implants is preferable to a fixed prosthesis, in order to maintain a proper hygiene or to improve aesthetics in cases of high bone resorption.

Is it a painful treatment?

It depends on who performs it and the type of treatment used. In the past, it was usual that every treatment with implants entailed a surgery; this is not the case today, in our clinic we use state-of-the-art implants, with special characteristics, that avoid these invasive surgeries and their uncomfortable postoperatives.

Do dental implants last a lifetime?

Nowadays, it is difficult to say that a treatment is for a lifetime in medicine, specially being the teeth a tool that we use many times every day. 25-year studies have shown that the results of this procedure remain stable with the passing of time.

Can an implant be rejected?

The osseointegration concept is opposite to that of rejection. In this way, we can affirm that rejection, using the technique and materials we described above, does not exist. The lose of one of the implants placed might occur due to infections, premature overloading of the implants, and other less frequent causes. This is the reason why these treatments should be performed by a qualified specialist capable of controlling all the parameters.

What happens if an implant fails?

Dental implants today have shown a success rate above 95% and it is a procedure that continues to improve. In any case, most of the prostheses are attached to several implants and the failure of one of them would not change the outcome of the treatment.