Dental Implants: What You Should Know

20 May.,2024

 

Dental Implants: What You Should Know

Dental implants are medical devices surgically implanted into the jaw to restore a person's ability to chew or their appearance. They provide support for artificial (fake) teeth, such as crowns, bridges, or dentures.

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Background

When a tooth is lost due to injury or disease, a person can experience complications such as rapid bone loss, defective speech, or changes to chewing patterns that result in discomfort. Replacing a lost tooth with a dental implant can significantly improve the patient's quality of life and health.

Dental implant systems consist of a dental implant body and dental implant abutment and may also include an abutment fixation screw. The dental implant body is surgically inserted in the jawbone in place of the tooth's root. The dental implant abutment is usually attached to the implant body by the abutment fixation screw and extends through gums into the mouth to support the attached artificial teeth.

Figure 1. Structure of The Dental Implant System

Recommendations for Patients

Before choosing dental implants, talk to your dental provider about the potential benefits and risks, and whether you are a candidate for the procedure.
Things to consider:

  • Your overall health is an important factor in determining whether you are a good candidate for dental implants, how long it will take to heal, and how long the implant may stay in place.
  • Ask your dental provider what brand and model of dental implant system is being used and keep this information for your records.
  • Smoking may affect the healing process and decrease the long-term success of the implant.
  • The healing process for the implant body may take several months or longer, during which time you typically have a temporary abutment in place of the tooth.

After the dental implant procedure:

  • Carefully follow the oral hygiene instructions given to you by your dental provider. Regularly cleaning the implant and surrounding teeth is very important for long-term success of the implant.
  • Schedule regular visits with your dental provider.
  • If your implant feels loose or painful, tell your dental provider right away.

Benefits and Risks

Dental implants can significantly improve the quality of life and the health of a person who needs them. However, complications may sometimes occur. Complications can occur soon after dental implant placement or much later. Some complications result in implant failure (usually defined as implant looseness or loss). Implant failure can result in the need for another surgical procedure to fix or replace the implant system.

Benefits of Dental Implant Systems:

  • Restores the ability to chew
  • Restores cosmetic appearance
  • Helps keep the jawbone from shrinking due to bone loss
  • Preserves the health of the surrounding bone and gums
  • Helps keep adjacent (nearby) teeth stable
  • Improves quality of life

Risks Associated with Dental Implant Systems:

  • Damage to surrounding natural teeth during implant placement
  • Injury to the surrounding tissues during surgery, such as sinus perforation
  • Injury during surgery (for example, fracture of surrounding jawbone)
  • Inadequate function, such as feeling like the teeth do not bite together normally
  • A sensation that the tooth is loose or twisting in place resulting from an abutment screw loosening
  • Implant body failure (looseness of the implant body)
    • due to systemic infection, which may be more likely in patients with uncontrolled diabetes
    • due to local infection in bone and gums supporting the implant body
    • due to delayed healing, which may be more likely in patients who smoke
  • Difficulty cleaning the gums around the implant, resulting in poor oral hygiene
  • Untreated periodontal disease
  • Post-surgical numbness due to nerve impingement or damage
  • Always notify health care providers and imaging technicians that you have dental implants before any magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or x-ray procedures. Dental implants can distort or interfere with these images. FDA is not aware of any adverse events reported for MRI or x-ray procedures with dental implants.

Ways Dental Implants are Evaluated for Safety

Dental implants systems are typically made of materials that follow international consensus standards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or ASTM International. These standards have details of what makes a safe material. Most dental implant systems are made of titanium or zirconium oxide. Other materials such as gold alloys, cobalt-based alloys, titanium alloys, or ceramic materials are sometimes used. The safety profiles of these materials are well-known.

Dental implant systems are evaluated according to international consensus standards. Biocompatibility testing, to show that bodily contact with the device does not cause complications like irritation or allergic reaction, is part of the evaluation that helps ensure the materials in the dental implant system are safe and do not cause adverse effects when implanted in people.

For manufacturers to market dental implant systems in the United States, they must first show the FDA their systems are as safe and as effective as dental implant systems already on the market.

Reporting Dental Implant System Problems to the FDA

Prompt reporting of adverse events can help the FDA identify and better understand the risks associated with medical products. If you have problems associated with your dental implant system including the dental implant body, the dental abutment, or the dental abutment screw, we encourage you to file a voluntary report through MedWatch, the FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting program.

To help us learn as much as possible about the adverse events associated with dental implant systems, please include the following information in your report, if available:

  • Date of device implantation
  • Identification of dental implant system used
  • Description of the problem including date of onset, and any diagnosis and follow-up treatment
  • Description of medical or surgical interventions taken, including prior interventions, if any
  • Pertinent medical and dental history

Additional Resources

 

How to Choose Perfect Shaped Teeth & Veneers for Your ...

Choosing the Perfect Shaped Porcelain Veneers

While there are plenty of cosmetic dental treatments available that can bring out the natural sparkle in one’s smile, nothing can come close to the effectiveness of porcelain veneers for the perfect smile. A leading cosmetic dentist in Beverly Hills can help you choose the right porcelain veneer tooth shape for your face.

The composition of the teeth is much like bone. Dentists look at the teeth as an extension of the skeletal system where it is connected to the bones of the jaw. The teeth are covered in a very tough outer layer of enamel that protects the dentin for everyday wear. However, bad eating habits, nutritional deficiencies, and poor oral hygiene practices can adversely affect the overall health of your teeth.

Many patients turn to us for to get the best porcelain veneers in Beverly Hills. Basic cosmetic treatments like teeth whitening improve only the shade of the teeth, while structural problems like cracks and chipping remain. Porcelain veneers provide a completely new look for your smile because both color and structural issues are addressed. While these can be considered as masks or fronts, they are nonetheless made of only the highest quality of ADA approved porcelain veneers.

This allows these cosmetic dentistry applications to withstand the rather slightly corrosive (acidic) environment of the oral cavity. Additionally, they are tough enough to withstand bite pressure from the jaws when biting, chewing, cutting, and mincing food with no problems.

Choosing the Right Veneer For Your Face

In choosing the perfect shaped porcelain veneers for your face, you need to understand that there are thousands of different ways in which your cosmetic dentist can give you the ideal smile that you deserve. In choosing the right porcelain veneer you have to consider the shape, color, and material of the veneer that you will choose.

This means choosing the right shape often means you have to consider the color or shade of whiteness that you would like to have. The shade or color of the porcelain veneer is primarily based on bleaching categories. BL1 will be considered as the super white while a BL4 will resemble four shades darker than BL1. In choosing the right color, many cosmetic dentists would recommend choosing one that is not more than two shades lighter than the whiteness of your existing teeth.

This is to provide you with a more natural look. As for the materials, it actually depends on the different brands. Some of the more recognized brands used by Beverly Hills porcelain veneers patients include Da Vinci, Lumineers, Procera, Zirconia, IPS Empress, Feldspathic porcelain, and IPS E. Max. Your cosmetic dentist can work with a ceramist lab to fabricate your very own porcelain veneers or will make them in-house.

Understanding the Fundamental Shapes of Veneers

Once you have decided on the color or shade of veneers including the materials to be used, you will have to decide on the shape of the veneer. Choosing the right porcelain veneer tooth shape requires the use of smile libraries.

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Shaping of veneers are typically focused on the six main teeth: two central incisors (left and right), two lateral incisors, and two canines. Each set of these teeth can be shaped so that they appear boxy or squarish or even rounded at one or both corners of the tooth.

The canines can be shaped into a gentle arc or a sharp point or leveled off as a straight edge. The lateral incisors can be lengthened or shortened relative to the length of the central incisors to give you a more dramatic look.

These combinations can take on a variety of styles, the most commonly used of which is the LVI Smile Library. Dr. William Dickerson of the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies developed the 12-style LVI Smile Library, which many cosmetic dentists now use to allow their patients choose the style of porcelain veneer they would like to have for them.

This is different from the 18 styles of the Loren Library because Dr. Dickerson's model is composed of 12 popular styles making it easier to choose. According to the LVI Smile Library, porcelain veneers can be classified into 12 different styles describing the characteristic smile they wish to portray.

  1. Aggressive–square, round central and lateral incisors with gently curved or semi-straight canines. This is perfect for men as well as women who may want to project a rather strong personality.

  2. Dominant–square, round central incisors, rounded far corner of lateral incisors, and sharply pointed canines; lateral incisors are chipped a little bit higher than the central incisors.

  3. Enhanced–slightly rounded edges of both central and lateral incisors with the lateral incisors slightly higher or shorter than the central incisors to give it a gull-wing appearance; canines are bluntly pointed. This style of smile particularly is one of the most popular styles of porcelain veneers chosen by females those who wish to compete in beauty pageants as well as engage in photo-op sessions where a perfectly looking pearly whites is a must.

  4. Focused–similar to an Enhanced Style unless the central incisors are square without rounded edges.

  5. Functional–similar to an Enhanced Style except the canines are more pointed.

  6. Hollywood–similar to an Aggressive Style but with the lateral incisors slightly offset or shorter from the central incisors. This is one of the most sought after porcelain veneer styles among males as it provides an excellent show of teeth without being overly aggressive.

  7. Mature–similar to an Aggressive Style but with the canines slightly more pointed.

  8. Natural–similar to an Enhanced Style but with the canines more aggressively pointed

  9. Oval–similar to an Aggressive style unless all the incisors and canines take on a more rounded or oval shape.

  10. Softened–similar to an Oval Style but with a less pronounced curvature of the edges of the teeth.

  11. Vigorous–similar to an Aggressive Style unless the canines are more pronounced, is protruding well into the oral cavity like a fang.

  12. Youthful–similar to an Oval Style but with more pronounced and protruding canines like in a Vigorous Style.

Before and After pictures of a man who got perfect veneers for his teeth

In using the Smile Library it is often important to understand the basic meaning of the shapes of the teeth. Teeth that have rounded edges are often considered to be softer and younger and more feminine. Enhanced, Natural, Oval, Softened, and Youthful styles will be excellent choices for women.

Teeth that are either flat or squarish are more masculine, aggressive, dominant, and older. This is excellent for men and Aggressive, Dominant, Hollywood, Mature, and Vigorous styles will be great choices. The Functional and Natural Styles of smiles can work well on both men and women in any culture because the styling produces both rounded edges and stronger and sharper lines of the canines.

Communication

Given the fact that choosing the right porcelain veneer tooth shape requires understanding of the different shapes in relation to your facial features as well as unique personality characteristics, it is very important to engage your cosmetic dentist in a discussion on what smile style will look best on you.

With so many possible combinations, a quick appointment will save you any confusion and you will quickly see whether you and your dentist can work together to determine the best dental veneer procedure to give you that warm smile.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Step-in Post. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.