Implants are an increasingly popular option for replacing missing teeth. They are placed directly into the jawbone, rather like the roots of natural teeth.

Why have implants?

Implants are an alternative to conventional bridges and partial dentures. If you find that your full dentures move around a lot, implants will help to anchor the denture in place. When teeth are lost, the jawbone starts to shrink. Implants can greatly help slow this process down.

Your dentist may recommend using implants to support a bridge rather than cut into healthy teeth either side of a gap.

While increasingly popular, implants are not appropriate for everyone. You need to be medically suitable and have sufficient thickness of jawbone. If not, bone grafting may be necessary.

About implants

Implants are made of surgical grade titanium, a metal that is well tolerated by the body. Over time, the jawbone becomes firmly united with the implant. This is called osseointegration. A small attachment at the top of the implant emerges through the gum. This is called abutment. Crowns, bridges or dentures can then be attached to the implant by screws, balls or bars.

Sedation

Various sedation options are available from our in house anaesthetist for all surgical and
restorative procedures. For those clients with a nervous disposition towards dental
treatments this service is invaluable. Please ask your client co-ordinator for further details.

Above: An implant restoration is made up of 3 main components: the implant, abutment and crown. Like crowns that are done on natural teeth, implant crowns need to go over a ‘stump’ called the abutment. The procedure for implant restoration always begins with the implant itself.

Implant - An implant is effectively a titanium screw surgically inserted into the jawbone to eventually act as a replacement root for the missing tooth. It has a screw-like threaded external surface and an internal hollow well with screw threads.

Abutment - This is the equivalent of the stump of a tooth onto which crowns for natural teeth are fitted. A natural tooth is reduced to a stump so that a crown with the normal size and appearance can go over it. In the case of implants, an individually customized laboratory milled abutment is screwed into the implant well and this acts as the “stump” that holds the crown. Implant abutments can be made in either metal or more so these days in zirconia (non metallic). Zirconia is preferred where aesthetics and total
biocompatibility are the clients requirements. Each abutment is individually custom made for maximum fit and function.

Crown - This is the visible part of the implant restoration. It is made to resemble the crown of a natural tooth in almost every way. They can be metal ceramic crowns or zirconia ceramic crowns. We feel zirconia ceramic are the future of implant superstructures as scientific studies demonstrate their superior biocompatibility and aesthetics over metal ceramic restorations. The implant crown is cemented to the customized abutment.

Dental Implant Patient Guidelines and Risk Factors

1	All x-rays are 2-dimensional and do not show a 100% accurate picture of the underlying bone. Deficient bone or poor quality bone is sometimes discovered only during surgery.
2	Bone grafting procedures do not guarantee the success of implant surgery.
3	Even with reasonable care, there is a small chance of nerve damage especially when implants are placed in the lower molar region. This causes numbness of the lip or tongue on the affected side. Most cases of numbness are temporary and last for about 6 months. There are rare cases of permanent numbness.
4	Even with reasonable care, implants placed in the upper molar region are most likely to not integrate in the first instance.
5	Smoking can adversely affect the outcome of implant treatment.
6	Poor oral hygiene can lead to infection and cause implants to fail. If home oral hygiene is not diligently carried out as outlined by our team, we would strongly advise against any implant therapy or smile makeover.
7	A small percentage of implants may fail for no apparent reason.
8	Highly aesthetic implant cases found in advertisements are not typical of implant treatment outcome. Most cases will be less than ideal. Multiple additional surgeries may be required to achieve an aesthetic result. The outcome is not always predictable.
9	Natural front teeth are easier to restore aesthetically than implants.
	Before These veneers had deteriorated at the gum margin. The client was also unhappy about the amount of gum showing in her smile.   & After Perioplastic gum contouring was used to correct the gum line position. Twelve computer designed low fusing ceramic veneers were then placed to create the new smile.         Before These crowns were simply too big and quite masculine. The colour was too dark for the client’s skin tone. These crowns were metal ceramic, which sometimes causes gum recession and decay to the tooth underneath.   & After Before correction we made diagnostic wax models from what the client had and reshaped them to see what we felt would look best. What we came up with was very close to this final result using ten new all ceramic crowns.         Before This lady presented with poor fitting crowns and overgrown gum margins.   & After A gum lift followed by ten new crowns completed this smile transformation.         Before This lady had mis shapen and malpositioned teeth due to years of gum disease.   & After Gum reshaping and rejuvenation followed by ten zirconial ceramic crowns completed this new smile.

What Are The Benefits Of Implants?
Look, feel and function like natural teeth. Strong and long lasting. Avoid the embarrassment of loose teeth. Restore your chewing ability with confidence.

Why Choose evodental For Your Implant Care?
Our clinical directors have developed revolutionary techniques and skills that are setting new practices for dental implants.

evodental use Evolution implants and Nobel Biocare implants.

We have our own laboratory (Evolab) on-site, this means that communication of your personal information of requirements necessary to ensure concise quality of your dental work is maintained. This also reduces the number of visits necessary to guarantee your perfect smile makeover. The benefits of having Evolab on-site, ensures that our laboratory technicians are involved directly with our clients. Ensuring the highest standards of
craftsmanship are achieved during smile design.