Implant insertion procedure

In order to decide if implants are the right solution for you, you need to consult your dentist, specialist in oral surgery and/or prosthetics. Your dentist will carefully examine your teeth and gums and evaluate bone density and mass. Maybe you will need to have an orthopan X-ray or a CBCT scan (3D orthopan), in order to make sure that the bone structure is adequate and to establish where exactly the implant should be placed. Your orthodontist will decide on the best way to place the implants, in order to ensure the best prosthetic results.

Based on the state of your oral tissue, oral hygiene and personal habits, as well as your readiness to follow further instructions, your dentist will advise you on the most appropriate therapy plan. The patients with inadequate bone structure need to undergo bone restoration, and maybe small- diameter implants, the so-called mini implants, will be used in their case. 

Depending on your situation, we shall explain to you how much the overall process will take, how many times you will have to come to the dental studio and what you can expect after each procedure.

It is virtually impossible to make a difference between implant crowns and other teeth, due to the structural and functional connection between implants and the bone itself. The insertion of implants, in order to restore a missing tooth, can be done at any age after puberty, when bone growth is over. The insertion of implants at a precisely defined place is followed by the osseointegration period. Osseointegration is a process of implant solidification, when the implant and the jaw bone knit together, after which the procedure is completed by placing the crown.  

When dentists say “implant”, they usually only mean the titanium screw inserted into the jaw. However, this screw also holds the crown abutment, and finally - a crown or a bridge. And now, let us review the entire procedure, from beginning to end: 

1. Implant insertion is planned based on an orthopan X-ray, or, better still, a CBCT scan. At this stage, professional experience and detailed knowledge of anatomy and jaw bone structure are of utmost importance, in order to avoid any injuries of the nerve or the sinus. 
2. The patient receives a local anaesthetic in the area where an implant is going to be placed. 
3. At that particular spot a small incision on the gingiva is made, after which the gingiva is lifted in order to have access to the jaw bone into which an implant is to be inserted. 
4. Using special instruments (borers), we prepare the bone and the bed for implant insertion. The bed is slowly widened by borers, whose diameter is gradually getting bigger. Thus we make sufficient space for the titanium screw (implant), which should replace the tooth root. 
5. The implant is rotated by hand, and after that tightened by a special instrument in order to ensure necessary stability.
6. The lifted gingiva is returned to its place and stitched in several places. 
7. After a couple of months, the implant and the bone knit together, and the gingival tissue which spills over the implant is removed, in order to have access to the implant and to take an impression for a dental crown. 
8. A special part (abutment), which holds the crown, is rotated inside the implant.
9. At almost each appointment the crown is tried in together with the abutment, to make sure that it perfectly fits into the existing teeth alignment. 
10. The finished and glazed crown is placed (by being cemented or rotated) on the abutment, which is already fixed to the implant, marking the end of the procedure.