How Many Teeth Can Implants Replace?
Dental implants or dental implants replace damaged or missing teeth with artificial ones that look and function like natural ones. Implants replace the natural roots of the teeth with artificial roots (screwed metal cylinders) made of titanium, which is why they are often called screw or implanted teeth. They are an ideal alternative to dentures or dental bridges that cause problems or do not fit properly and provide solutions when the lack of natural tooth roots does not allow the placement of fixed prosthetic work.
You can use dental implants to replace a single tooth, multiple teeth, or all of your teeth in the upper or lower jaw, or both. If you are missing all your teeth, implants can support replacing your entire dentition with the All-On-4® method. For this method, surgeons will place four implants on both the top and bottom of your mouth, and these implants will support full dentures, which can either be permanent or removable. When a patient has lost more than one tooth, but still has healthy gums and surrounding teeth, a multiple implant is the best solution.
Two or more implants are placed and a bridge that covers the gaps between the implants, thus leaving the natural adjacent healthy teeth intact. If you've lost a single tooth due to an accident, tooth decay, or periodontal disease, that tooth can be replaced by a dental implant. Your new tooth will look and function just like the rest of your natural teeth.
During surgery, the method by which the dental implant is placed depends on the type of implant and the condition of your jawbone. Placing the implants may involve different procedures and stages, while modern implant technology today gives you the possibility, in cases where all the teeth are missing, to obtain a complete new set of teeth with only 4 implants in a day.
The biggest advantage of dental implants is that they provide a stable base for your new teeth without grinding the neighboring teeth.
Advantages of dental implants
You have many reasons to choose dental implants over other prosthetic work:
* it is independent of other teeth and its installation does not require disturbing them
* it imitates lost teeth very well, it is often indistinguishable from natural ones
* allows you to refill your teeth anywhere in the mouth
* protects against bone loss - when using other solutions, the bone in which the tooth was rooted disappears within a few months after tooth extraction, the use of implants protects against its disappearance
* offers sensations comparable to your natural teeth when biting or chewing
Implants have relatively few disadvantages, among which it is worth mentioning:
* usually a higher price than bridges or removable dentures
* it should be fixed up to a few months after tooth loss, later it is very difficult due to progressive bone loss and the need to restore it
* the existing (albeit small) risk of implant rejection
Regardless of how many teeth you are missing, we encourage you to visit your dentist and discuss your options with them. Many dental offices will have multiple solutions in various price ranges.
