Dental Implants are an alternative option given to patients requiring dentures. Dental Implants are small dental devices that are inserted into the upper and lower jaw to help restore the mouth that has little or no teeth that can be restored. Dental implants are slowly gaining on popularity because of their many advantages over age-old dentures.

For some people, particularly persons with loose or poor fitting dentures due to flat ridges, or persons with multiple missing teeth who need support for crowns and bridges, implants may be considered a more appropriate alternative to fix the appearance of missing teeth than dentures.

Implants help to accomplish the following:

▣ Helps reduce movement of dentures, bridges and/or crowns
▣ Helps in proper chewing
▣ Provide support and improved stability for removable dentures or fixed bridge work
▣ Approximate the "feel" of natural teeth better than dentures
▣ Promote "denture self-confidence", as speech and appearance are often improved

Before undergoing this procedure the main factors to be considered are the following:

▣ The health of the patient
▣ Healing abilities to injuries
▣ Placement and technique
▣ Proper handling of the implant by the patient and the dentist

There are many different types of dental implants from which to choose, including:
Artificial bone substitute

In this kind of implant the similar kind of mineral that is found in bones is used. This helps the implant to bond to the existing jaw bone. The synthetic bone substitute is placed on top of the bone to help rebuild the shrinking ridge and provide a strong support for dentures.

This type of implant is inserted into the jaw bone to serve as the tooth's root.

This type of implant, usually an option for persons who can no longer wear conventional dentures, involves a specially-designed implant that fits directly on the existing bone.

Dental implants may either be inserted by a dentist specially training in implantology, or by an oral surgeon in a hospital.