Dental implants - that's how it works

Beaten out a front tooth, lost teeth or are your teeth so broken or bad that they can not be repaired or kept? Your teeth are important for self-confidence and your self-esteem. A dental implant can be the solution that makes you dare to smile again.

Lost teeth not only affect your appearance, it can also impair your chewing ability and in the long run lead to new dental problems. There can be many different reasons why you are missing teeth. Maybe you have fallen and knocked out a front tooth, lost teeth or your teeth are in such poor condition that they can not be saved. When can they be replaced with new teeth. A dental implant means that the root of the lost tooth is replaced by a titanium screw that is attached to the jawbone and fitted with an artificial tooth crown. The jawbone then grows on the surface of the implant and in most cases dental implants remain for life.

At Aqua Dental's clinics in Stockholm and Gothenburg, some of Sweden's foremost experts work on implant treatments. They have extensive experience, cutting-edge expertise or are specialists and have access to the latest technology. This is the main guarantee for a good end result. 

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Dental implants - From A to Z.

Before you can insert an implant, you must see a dentist for a consultation and examination. Then x-ray both the upper and lower jaw to see that you are a suitable candidate for a dental implant. Also, the dentist talks to you about your expectations and you go through what is possible to achieve with your individual conditions.

For the treatment to be successful, it is important that you are healthy throughout the mouth, ie healthy (any) remaining teeth, mucous membranes, healthy gums and jawbones. So, a thorough examination of your oral health is done.

You must not have any infections in the mouth. What can take extra time is if you have to fill in the roots, treat a tooth loss disease or wait for healing of an infection, says specialist dentist Jan Ekenbäck, quality manager at Aqua Dental. You may (if you smoke) also have time to stop smoking, because we know that smoking worsens the prognosis!

The implant is attached to the jawbone.

Once the examination and any pre-treatments have been done, it is time to attach the implant itself to the jawbone. They will act as an artificial root for your new teeth. The implants are attached during a surgical procedure. The usual procedure is to give an effective local anesthetic and then the dentist folds away the thin gums and thus reaches the jawbone. Holes are drilled in which titanium screws are attached. How many implants are attached depends on the size of the procedure and how many teeth are to be replaced. If all the teeth in an upper jaw are to be replaced, six titanium screws may be needed for the result to be stable, but of course individual teeth can also be replaced.

Because there are, among other things, softer bones and different load conditions in the upper jaw, more implants are required there than in the lower jaw, where the bone is more compact (harder). In the lower jaw, four implants are usually enough. The screw made of titanium will grow into the bone. The jawbone grows into the implant's macro- and microstructures, says Jan Ekenbäck.

After the procedure, in most cases you have to wait for the dental implants to grow together with the jawbone. This process takes different lengths of time depending on where the implants are placed and the quality (hardness) of the jawbone. It is usually 2-3 months. If it has been necessary to increase the bone volume (bone aggregation) in any way, the healing time may need to be extended up to six months or more.

During this healing period, you will receive removable dentures to fill in the tooth gaps if necessary.

Sometimes it is necessary not to let the implants protrude through the gums at the first operation. In these cases, a so-called distance operation is needed, where you make a small hole above the implant under local anesthesia and put on an extension. The dentist wants to see where the gums end up, so there will be nice connections on the dental reconstructions to the gums. Other reasons may be to get a place with a temporary replacement or because the bone is built up or has a quality that makes it take longer for the implant to heal in. In general, it can be said that the higher the requirements for aesthetics or the more extensive the pre-treatments are, the longer the treatments take. Unfortunately, we can not speed up the biological healing processes. 

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New smile with implant

When the implants are considered to be healed, the dentist impresses on the situation in the mouth. A model of what the teeth will look like is developed by the dental technician and the dentist tests the teeth in the mouth. When you are satisfied with the appearance (after some change and re-examination), your new teeth are made in the material you have chosen in consultation with your dentist. - Bring a photo of how you looked before, and you have a picture to compare with when you try the look of your new teeth. I also think you should bring a taste advice, it is a huge decision that can be difficult to make yourself, says Jan Ekenbäck.

Then a tooth skeleton is made of cobalt-chromium, titanium or Zirconia and on it porcelain is burned to the desired tooth color and shape. It can be cheapened by using plastic teeth, which also has other advantages. - I usually recommend that you use porcelain fired on metal skeletons in cobalt-chromium, especially in the upper jaw, which is exposed to unfavorable loads when biting. It is the strongest construction there is, says Jan Ekenbäck.

When you are satisfied

When the dentist and you are happy with the construction, you can attach the new teeth, which have either ceramic or plastic on the visible tooth surface. If an individual tooth is to be replaced, the crown is screwed directly onto the implant or cemented at a distance. If there are several teeth in a row that need to be replaced, a bridge is made instead, which is usually screwed onto the implants. - When your new teeth are in place, you can start living as usual again. Making a bridge takes about five visits for it to be good. A single tooth 2-3 visits. But the number of visits is of course individual, says Jan Ekenbäck.

Jan Ekenbäck recommends that you immediately after a treatment have completed a visit to the dental hygienist. - Then you get advice on how to take care of the implants in the best way and keep them clean so that no bacteria get a foothold. Implants require about the same care as your own teeth to stay healthy - you must keep them clean, says Jan Ekenbäck.

Save money with quality and experience

A dental implant is a major procedure but at the same time, it is an effective way to replace lost teeth in the long run. Some of Sweden's foremost experts on implants work with us at Aqua Dental. Experience and cutting-edge competence provide the main guarantee for a good result. Choosing quality and experience usually saves you money in the long run.