There are several reasons that make the dentist to extract a tooth, such as advanced gum disease (the bone that held the tooth is lost); advanced decay that could make impossible the tooth to be reconstructed; or root fracture, normally after an accident.

Some of the consequences of the tooth loss are: esthetic compromise; decrease of masticatory efficiency (it is harder to chew); overload of the remaining teeth that will have to make the function of the lost teeth (therefore the remaining teeth could be injured or lost too); difficulty to talk or to say certain words; loose of lips support (wrinkles); inclination of the neighbor teeth; unstable bite; head and face muscles and articulation problems; decrease of the size of the bone that held the lost teeth (bone resorption).

The simplest option is the removable denture, which is retained by hooks, and stabilized by a plastic or metallic structure that covers the palate or the tongue zone. The patient can remove it from the mouth.

The next option is the bridge, which consists on trimming the neighbor teeth, to make porcelain crowns on them fixed to another crown that will replace the lost tooth.

The third option consists on placing an artificial titanium root (dental implant) that will support a porcelain crown.

An implant is an artificial object that replaces a lost part of our body. This way, it will work as part that we have lost.

Dental implants are small titanium cylinders (3.75 mm. Diameter) that work as artificial dental roots, once they are placed inside the jawbone. This way the artificial teeth can be anchored in these new roots (zero to four months after their placement, once the dental implants (artificial roots) have fixed strongly to the bone), contributing to recover a beautiful smile, as well as a comfortable speaking and chewing. Dental implants will allow us to chew with total comfort, and to smile and speak with the same security than with our own teeth. With the use of the dental implants, there is no need to touch, trim or injure the neighbor teeth, to replace the missing tooth. The dental implants that have shown a very long-term success rate are the osseointegrated dental implants, that actually integrate to the bone.

They are a type of intraosseous dental implants that fix to the bone by means of the phenomenon of " Osseointegration ", creating true artificial roots implanted inside the mandible or maxillary bone, giving a solid base to built solid restorations to replace one or several lost teeth that will work exactly the same as our natural teeth. Osseointegrated implants will allow us to chew with total comfort, and to smile and speak with the same security than with our own teeth.

a) Dental implants must be placed inside the bone through a small surgery, which is painless but make some patients feel anxious.

b) The other disadvantage is the time to wait from the implants placement to the crown placement, or primary osseointegration time, that is two to six months, depending on the area of the mouth where the teeth were lost. During that time the patient can wear a temporary bridge o denture that could be fixed or removable.

a) The main advantage of dental implants consists on not trimming (damaging) the neighbor teeth to replace the lost teeth: even tough natural tooth supported bridges have been a good option, they are no longer the best, since their life is 7 to 10 years, and when they fail it is because one or more of the supporting teeth fail, due to overload or to decay coming inside the tooth. Then, the supporting teeth are lost too (sometimes they can be saved by root canals), and a longer bridge has to be done, so more teeth have to be trimmed. This problem had been avoided if an implant had been placed the first time, instead of the bridge.

b) The hygiene for maintaining healthy a bridge is more difficult than for implants, since regular dental floss cannot be used because the crowns in the bridge are fixed together. Therefore, a special technique with a special floss has to be used for bridges. On the contrary, implant-supported crowns can be easily flossed (same way as natural teeth), since the restoration is independent of neighbor teeth.

c) Life for an implant is longer than for a bridge or a removable denture: In 10-years studies, it was found that success rate for implants was 90%; meanwhile for bridges and dentures it was 50%. It was also found that when a bridge failed, supporting teeth had to be extracted or submitted to root canal treatment very often. The few times that implants failed, it only had to be changed, with no harm for the neighbor teeth.

d) Removable dentures induce a wider loss of the bone that held the natural teeth. Once that bone loss has advanced, it is impossible to retain a removable denture, and then a bone graft has to be placed. On the contrary, dental implants stimulate the bone; therefore its loss is avoided.

Along the history of dentistry and medicine, many materials have been used. At the present time, the only material considered valid for dental implants is titanium.

There are countless researches that demonstrate that titanium is the best biomaterial, given its excellent biocompatibility to the human organism.

Since it fixes to the bone (osseointegration), it has demonstrated to last for very long periods of time. There are research studies that support the use of implants that have been working for more than 35 years, with a very high success. All this makes titanium the election material.

The main purpose of implants is to work as artificial roots that will hold the crowns placed instead of the lost teeth. Implants restorations fulfill three basic concepts:
• Function and esthetics: chewing, speaking and smiling can be done comfortably; they also provide lips support.
• To stop the bone resorption, since they stimulate the bone that holds them.
• To eliminate the overload of the remaining teeth that could appear if bridges were used.

Dental implants substitute the removable dentures for fixed teeth, improving the function and the aesthetics simultaneously.
They support the new crowns without the need of trimming the natural teeth, allowing us to chew with total comfort, and to smile and to speak with total security, for many years. The implant-supported crowns can be easily cleaned with dental floss.

When we one or all the teeth in our mouth, (probably because of decay, gum disease, traumatism, etc.), a process of bone loss or bone atrophy begins. The function of the maxillary and mandibular bone is to support the teeth. When these teeth are lost, a process of bone reabsorption begins that is accelerated in most of the cases for the pressure of the removable denture .In some occasions the reabsorptions is so large that it is almost impossible tolerating or achieving good retention in a traditional removable denture. The esthetic and functional consequences can be dramatic.
The widest bone loss happens during the first months after the tooth is lost.

With implants we don't only replace the teeth that we have lost, restoring the function and the Aesthetics The bone loss is also stopped because the bone receives the stimulus of the mastication again. Therefore, it is important to replace the missing teeth with implants as soon as possible after they were lost.

Let us imagine the example a house. The teeth would be the columns or pillars for support of the roof.

If we were removing columns, the rest of them would have to support the whole weight of the structure. The remaining columns would be overloaded, and there could be a moment when the roof falls. In the mouth the same thing happens, when teeth are lost. The remaining teeth have to support all the forces of the mastication, suffering an important overload that could injure them and their bone support, and with time they could be lost too.

The treatment consists on two stages
a. Surgical phase
b. Prosthetic phase.

The surgical treatment consists on the placement of the artificial roots or implants inside the jawbone. It is performed with local anesthesia, and is painless. Sedation and general anesthesia are options for nervous patients. The duration of the intervention is from one to two hours, depending on the number of implants, that will remain covered for two to six months (depending on the area of the mouth where they were placed).

After that time sometimes there is a need of a very small second surgical phase, to uncover the tip of the implants, especially in esthetic related areas.

It is not painful. The following day of the intervention the patient will have a slightly inflamed area in the face. Painkillers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories are prescribed for a short period.

Meanwhile the dental implants integrate to the bone, if you use a removable denture, it will be modified and conditioned internally with a special material, to be used temporary since the day of the placement of the implants, until the implants are ready to receive the fixed porcelain crowns, zero to four months later.

If you use a fixed bridge, it will be cemented immediately after the placement of the implants, to be used temporary since the day of the placement of the implants, until the dental implants are ready to receive the fixed porcelain crowns, zero to four months later.

As natural teeth, implants should receive daily flossing and brushing. The flossing of the implant-supported crowns will be much easier than for teeth supported bridges, because the first ones will not be fixed to the neighbor teeth.

If your answer is affirmative to some of the following questions, you can be considered a ideal candidate to be treated with implants:
• Have you lost one, some or all of your teeth?
• Do you have difficulties with your removable denture (bad retention, pain, etc)
• Do you feel insecure when you smile, when speak or to eat?
• Has a dentist told you that you have teeth in very bad shape?
• Is there an area in your mouth where the corresponding tooth never showed up?

The age is not a decisive factor when being candidate for implants, but it is advisable not to use them before the 15 to 16 years of age, until the maxillary growth has completed. Older patients can receive implants as well as the young ones, with the same success rate.

No. A treatment with implants demands a surgical intervention, but pain and all the other implications can be perfectly controlled.

It is very important to respect the times of osseointegration or integration of the implant to the bone. In general it takes two to four months for the lower jaw, and six months for the upper jaw, between the time of the implant placement, and the prosthetic phase (start of the construction of the implant supported crowns or dentures). The prosthetic phase last from one to three weeks, depending on the case.

In spite of the excellent clinical results obtained with implants (93 to 97% success rate) there is a 3 to 7% rate for failure. No other dental treatment has such a high success rate for long terms.

If an implant fails, it is possible to substitute it for another one to solve the problem.
Anyways, most of the implant-supported prosthesis are designed to work, even if an implant failed.

In medicine it is complex to say that a treatment is for a lifetime, specially being the teeth a tool that we use every day and in each moment, that receive a lot of pressures and forces, and placed in a humid and very septic area (the mouth). Anyways, there are studies older than 35 years that show a very high success rate. The most recent studies say that 90% of the implants placed 10 years ago, are still working in the mouth today. It is much higher than the 50% success rate for ten-year periods described for tooth-supported