Edentulous jaw or adentia is quite frequent not only with elderly but also with young people. It is necessary to know that teeth can come out due to bad care, smoking, injuries. For example, neglected caries can easily turn into periodontitis (inflammation of tissue with tooth apex), due to which one can loose it.
With this, tooth absence is not a very big problem. Owing to modern implantation methods, we can cope with it. There are several methods to restore edentulous jaws.
So, what can we offer to patients with complete teeth adentia?
Of course, a removable denture or a non-removable construction. In MM Dental, we make complete removable dentures, as temporary prostheses, for a patient not to feel aesthetical discomfort. A prosthesis performs its function for the period of healing of the main surgical work (two-stage implantation, sinus-lifting, etc.).
Minuses of the removable denture: it is sometimes not very comfortable, with bad fixation, smudging, it takes too much room in the oral cavity (the whole palate in the upper jaw is covered), it needs many correction visits and has many other disadvantages.
That is why we suggest different variants of treating edentulous jaws with artificial implant roots. You have a choice – to get either a conditionally removable construction or a non-removable, each method will be described below.
All-on-2
Quite inexpensive prosthetics, using two implants in the place of absent canine teeth and a prosthesis for 12–14 teeth which is kept on special ball-abutments.
All-on-2 prosthetics are not made non-removable because of the great load on abutment implants. Due to the frame, a conditionally removable construction allows unloading abutment implants and transfer part of the load to the mucous tunic of the mouth (gingivae).
Advantages: the prosthesis is well fixed in the oral cavity, minimal expenses, free palate (in the upper jaw).
Disadvantages: conditionally-removable prosthesis to be removed at least once a week for cleaning, replacement of matrices in ball-abutments (once a year), which brings additional expenses.
All-on-4
A system that allows to place a construction for 12–14 teeth on four implants. In this case, implants are placed on the sites of absent second and fifth teeth. Such a system can be both conditionally removable, as in the previous system, and non-removable (it is cemented or screwed on).
The All-on-4 system allows bypassing anatomic formations (to do without sinus-lifting and bone augmentation in the lower jaw). Like the All-on-2 system, it allows making temporary prostheses either on the day of surgery or on the second or third days.
Such a system is hardly inexpensive, as fixing the prosthetics system needs special implants and a digital template, which allows bypassing the above anatomic formations. And the system gave a good account of itself, being used for over 20 years.
Pluses: stable, aesthetic, rather quick, functional work
Minuses: relatively expensive
All-on-6
A system which differs from the previous one in two additional supports (implants) on the sites of absent sixth and seventh teeth (molars). This allows to transfer the load between the retainer teeth, and thus extend the use of the non-removable construction.
As in the previous technology, teeth are inserted either on the day of implant placement (one-stage technique) or using a delayed two-stage technique.
Advantages: good aesthetic result, stable, durable non-removable construction, modern dental implant systems allow avoiding additional expenses on surgeries (sinus-lifting, etc.).
Disadvantages: relatively expensive
Systems as All-on-8 and others, have the principle of lost teeth replacement with implants in relation one-to-one. But we are not into such techniques as we see no sense in placing 16 implants on the jaw with absent 16 teeth. They are quite expensive and have no functional sense. The load on bone tissue will be too great in such a surgery.
Myths and reality of teeth implantation
You can probably hear every day the commercials “Teeth implantation without surgery” or “Laser teeth implantation without incision”.
What is true and what is not?
First, in medicine, any intervention into a human body – either tooth extraction or tooth implantation – is a surgery.
Second, tooth implantation suggests gingiva incision and detachment to the jaw bone in order to drill a bed for an implant. Another thing is what incision and what detachment it is.
We use a minimal incision (up to 5 mm) without mucosal detachment, what minimises the trauma of mucous membrane and allows for quick recovery.
With no teeth at all, we do not use the scalpel to incise the gingiva but a mucotome (an instrument for gingiva puncture) and a pilot drill, using a special digital template for implant placement. This allows us to precisely place implants in the bone bypassing anatomic formations. But any way, these manipulations are operative interventions or surgeries.
For quick gingiva healing after implantation, we use the A-PRF technology (fibrin enriched with platelets). For patient’s comfort, implantation can be made under sedation (medication sleep), when the patient falls asleep and does not feel what is going on in his/her mouth and wakes up when the doctor has finished his work.
Third, laser implantation is an operative intervention as well, in which a laser but not a scalpel is used for gingiva incision. All other implantation manipulations are standard. Thus, when you hear or see a commercial “teeth implantation without surgery or laser teeth implantation without incision”, you should understand that it is nothing more than a manipulation.
Relative contraindications to teeth implantation:
- type 1 diabetes, oncology, blood diseases
- CRS (chronic recurrent stomatitis)
The cost of work with complete absence of teeth depends on the system of implants we choose, the implant manufacturer, the type of prosthetics – removable, conditionally-removable, cemented or screwed. All these issues are discussed with the patient individually, regarding the clinical picture in oral cavity and computed tomography data.
In our clinic, you can get qualified consultancy in calculating different variants of work. You should keep in mind that with the development of technology and dentistry, there is practically nothing impossible, and you should not get upset if you lost your teeth.
