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Dental Implants: Bringing the Carefree Back Into Your Smile

Summary & Participants

Losing your teeth in an accident or to tooth decay is no laughing matter. Many people with missing teeth are too embarrassed even to smile. But there are a number of cosmetic solutions available for tooth loss, from dentures to bridges. And thanks to advanced dental technology, there is a relatively new procedure available which can permanently repair your smile.

Medically Reviewed On: June 30, 2008

Webcast Transcript

PAUL KAMEN, DDS: But hopefully each one of us knows what the other one does. What Graz does is to place essentially the titanium screw that Graz is referring to is a hollow screw. Inside of it when ready, he can place something that actually screws or attaches onto the implant that contains the final prosthetic tooth that he has developed.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: And what is that tooth made out of?

GRAZIANO GIGLIO, DDS: It could be made out of ceramic material which is very aesthetic or it could be made out of a metal with a ceramic on top of it.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: When does a patient need this procedure? What examples?

GRAZIANO GIGLIO, DDS: There are several examples. Of course, an implant can be used in any situation where a patient is missing teeth. Typically they range from anyone who is completely edentulous. That's actually how implants were first developed. People who lost most or all of their teeth and were until recently were condemned to wearing removal dentures, what people call "plates" for the rest of their lives. They go to bed at night and put the plates in a glass by the bed. That's how they spent their lives. Now we can place implants into the mouth and actually give them their teeth back.

But we can also use implants where patients have lost only one tooth or just a group of teeth due to either dental decay or periodontal disease. Finally, we also use implants quite frequently these days for people who’ve lost a single tooth -- frequently an upper front tooth due to trauma, an accident or sports injury. We can go right ahead and replace that tooth.

GRAZIANO GIGLIO, DDS: What's good about that is that you're not touching the adjacent teeth. Adjacent teeth remain virgin. You're not drilling into them to put some type of anchor on there to anchor the pontic which is the fake tooth. The adjacent teeth remain untouched. That's an advantage with placing an implant.

Whereas before we would file down those teeth and make a bridge or use something removable. That's why it's much better to have an implant available to us in these instances.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: So in most cases it's one specific tooth. But as we mentioned, say somebody had really bad tooth decay and gum disease, you could put a whole set of these things in.

GRAZIANO GIGLIO, DDS: There is no limit to the number -- obviously there is a limit, we're not going to put more implants in than teeth were there originally, of course. We can put one or two or three or whatever number of fixtures are required to best provide the anchorage that patient needs and to best replace the teeth that are missing.

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