Three Dental Implants


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Placing three dental implants indicates that there are missing or loose teeth, gum degeneration or jaw resorption in three different areas. Whether three individual implants are needed will be agreed upon by you and your dentist during an implant consultation session. This consultation typically costs around £50-100 and usually includes X-rays, a CT scan, a radiology report and diagnostic examination. These tools are necessary in order to determine precisely the scale of the dental problem and hence its solution. Implants are designed to be comfortable and natural looking, hence after the procedure is complete, the three implants will be barely noticeable

Different kinds of dental implants

Some people with three dental implants will usually have a combination of different implants where necessary. As a matter of fact, placing three dental implants does not necessarily mean that the dental implants will be the same. As a matter of fact, there are different implants which are more appropriate in some situations than others. The specific type of implant will actually be agreed upon by you and your dentist depending on your palate conformation, the deepness, strength and wideness of your jaw, and also considering the budget you want to allocate to the treatment. The classic dental implant is ‘Endosteal’ on (Root Form implant) which involves placing the selected implant directly into the jawbone which can hold one or several artificial teeth. After the jaw has fused with the implant, the surgeon will then fit a solid attachment (or abutment) to hold the tooth or teeth in place. This implant is very versatile and works best on patients with a wide and strong jawbone. Nevertheless, if you have a small jawbone you can still get the Endosteal implant by bone grafting.


Another widely used implant is the Plate Form implant. As the name suggests, instead of using a screw of cylinder, a plate is inserted in the jawbone. The plate is inserted through small incisions made in the gums which are then closed with tiny stitches. The attachments and crowns are then fitted accordingly.

Nevertheless, if your jaw is too narrow and bone grafting is not an option due to bone resorption or gum decay, then a Subperiosteal implant might be considered as it places a personalised lightweight framework underneath your gum tissue. The accuracy of this implant is corroborated by CT scans, ‘impressions’ and even the latest computer aided implants. This implant effectively acts as an anchoring mean for later restorations. Hence, it resembles a series of solid tooth roots. As a consequence, the subperiosteal implant is a more costly option , and if this represents an issue, then a mini dental implant might be considered instead. This mini implant works well as a replacement for smaller teeth and, because of its size, does not require any bone grafting before insertion. This implant is also made out of titanium and works very well as a fixture for dentures.

A combination of the implants described above might be considered by your dentist during your consultation session. It is important to be well educated on the different options of dental implants before agreeing to them in order to make an informed and coherent decision

Making an informed decision

As mentioned above, good information is the key to getting good and lasting dental implants. This should include not only technical information on the types of implants available, but most importantly,  you should make sure that the dentist placing the implants is a skilled one. As a matter of fact, the type and material of the implant is almost insignificant when compared to the skill of the surgeon undertaking the operation. Therefore, do make sure to contact a dentist not solely based on the most convenient cost, but rather on the skill of the surgeon as this is what ultimately will determine if you get the teeth you like or not

Procedure

The critical difference in deciding to place three dental implants as opposed to one or two, is that the loose/missing teeth are in separate areas of your jaw hence cannot be replaced through a one or maybe two dental implants. Placing three implants is no different from placing one or two instead. As a matter of fact, the procedure remains the same, and so do the types of implants you may choose. The procedure consists primarily of the dentist making a small incision in your gum to expose the jaw. A rod-like cylinder or screw implant will then be placed in the jawbone and an artificial crown or tooth will be fitted onto it temporarily for cosmetic reasons. The implant will then be allowed to fuse with the jawbone through ossointegration, and this might take from 3 to 6 months depending on the deepness and strength of your jaw. After the ossointegration has completed, the dentist will then open up the original incision to fit an abutment or attachment to the implant to which the artificial tooth will be attached. All this is performed under a local unaestethic hence does not hurt.

If you are in need of immediate new teeth, then you might consider the ‘immediate loading’ procedure where the dentist fixes the abutment soon after the implant is in place. This is often advertised as ‘teeth today’ or ‘teeth now’ schemes. Despite the fact that ‘immediate loading’ considerably reduces the amount of time between stages of operation, its success rates are lower than ‘two-stage’ implants, and it is also more expensive than its classic counterpart.

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