Dental implants are a popular dental replacement due to the stability, natural feel, and promotion of healthy bone and tissue development. Traditional dental implants do require a lengthy treatment process that can take months from start to finish, which might feel like years if the missing tooth is near the front of your mouth. Same day dental implants are an alternative treatment for impatient patients in need of a new tooth.
What are the pros and cons of same day dental implants, and how do they stack up against traditional dental implants?
Shortest Treatment: Same Day Implants
The key selling point of same day implants is obviously the shorter treatment term. Traditional dental implants take months because the metal piece is implanted into your jawbone and then left to heal until that bone fuses around the root in a process called osseointegration. The artificial crown might then be attached directly to a root or an intermediate post piece can be attached, which then requires soft tissue healing time before the crown is attached.
For a same day dental implant, all of the steps are done in the same day. Your jawbone will still need to heal around the root for the stability of the implant to kick in, but that will still happen over time even with the tooth crown in place. You get to leave the dental office with a new tooth rather than a gaping hole.
Best Osseointegration Failure Protection: Traditional Implants
The problem with same day implants is that osseointegration doesn't always work. The bone can fail to fuse around the root due to placement issues, less dense bone, or underlying health conditions. When the whole tooth is placed in one go, you and your dentist might not realize osseointegration is failing for some time. Then the dentist will need to remove the entire tooth structure to try and treat the issue that lead to the failure, which means you have essentially wasted a tooth crown.
Traditional implants have such a long treatment time because the dentist wants to be sure that osseointegration was successful before the tooth crown is placed. If the osseointegration does fail, your dentist simply needs to remove the root to perform any repair procedures.
Best for Dealing with Bone Issues: Traditional Implants
Bone loss or density issues are two of the common causes of osseointegration failure. If your dentist finds the problems ahead of your procedure, you won't be considered a dental implant candidate until the problem is fixed. If the problem develops after the root is in place, the tooth structure will need to be removed. A bone graft can usually fix the issues and make you a better candidate for implant success.
Bone grafts can technically come before same day or traditional implants, but the healing period will add significantly to the same day implant treatment time and steal their main selling point.
Share5 January 2016
Halloween is a holiday that my children love, and telling them they can't go door-to-door collecting candy would break their hearts. This led me to allowing them to collect candy on the holiday, then rationing it out to them every day instead of letting them gobble it up in just a few days. I always thought this was better for them, but my dentist told me this could be the reason why their February dental check-ups were always their worst ones. Daily candy consumption was taking a toll on their teeth. I started a new tradition of letting them indulge for two days, then giving them the option to swap the rest with me in exchange for a new toy. They never pass on the opportunity for a new toy. I created this blog to encourage other parents find similar tactics to keep their children's teeth healthy after Halloween.