Frequently asked questions

There are four reasons:

• Financial consideration: implant therapy has a cost and one must be able to bear it.
• Health problems: uncontrolled diabetes, immune deficiency, heart problems, insuffissance bone. In some cases, this deficiency can be managed by techniques of bone regeneration.
• Lack of motivation of the patient.

Smokers often present arteriosclerosis which is a thickening of the artery walls causing a slowdown in the bloodstream.

Smoking can also cause blood hyperviscosity. Viscous bllod flows less easily. These two cases lead to a reduction in blood flow. However, it is the blood that helps osseointegration (bone healing around the implant) by providing specific elements.

The viscosity is analyzed in the blood: it is the hematocrit (red blood cell count as a percentage of total blood volume).

The normal value of the hematocrit is 40 to 45%.

If the hematocrit is above the normal value, the smoker blood presents hyperviscosity in addition to the reduction of vessel diameter. In this case, less blood flows and the contribution of the elements contained in the blood needed to support the implant is reduced. Implant placement is not indicated in that case.

If the hematocrit is normal, implant placement is indicated.

In most cases, the patient implants are placed under local anesthesia in dental practice. Medical risks are those of general dentistry. For a healthy patient, there is no more risk than for a tooth extraction.

They are different areas between the maxilla and the mandible

Maxillary:

The maxilla is a bone presenting an important cavity filled with air. The maxillary sinus is located above the molars and premolars. The main risk is the breaking of the sinus by drilling too deep.

In most cases, it heals itself with time. There are no post-operative consequences. When there is not enough bone, it is possible to partially fill the sinus with alternative materials.

Mandible:

The main anatomical obstacle is the inferior alveolar nerve (NDI) located inside the mandible, which is located from the wisdom tooth to the canine.

This anatomical element must not be injured. The consequences can be very annoying to the patient.

Indeed, this nerve provides the sensitivity of teeth, a portion of the oral cavity, and the hemi-lower lip on the same side. The injury can cause temporary or permanent hypo-sensitivities from the lower lip and to some teeth.

The risks are greater in the mandible than the maxilla.

The time between implant placement and construction of the prosthesis is usually between 2-3 months.

Under certain conditions and in particular if it is a front tooth, an implant can be installed and a temporary tooth placed in the same session, so that the patient is never without teeth.

100% success rate does not exist.

The failure rate is only 5% of the implants placed. This statistic is valid worldwide.

In case of failure, we replace the implant which did not take by another one. This second implant rested at the same place as the first has again a success rate of 95%.

An osseointegrated implant may remain for life. Some implants placed over 20 years show no sign of weakness. One can imagine that these implants could have a life well beyond.

In contrast, the fixed prosthesis on the implant can deteriorate over the years. It will therefore be changed the same way as natural tooth prosthesis.

Implantology is growing and it is a very attractive market for manufacturers. They are becoming more numerous.

There are manufacturers precursors, the most known are: Straumann (Switzerland), Nobel Biocare (Sweden), 3i (USA) AstraTech (Sweden), etc..

Today new brands are flooding the market. Whatever the brand, the material is the same: titanium.

The only differences between the brands are:

• The surface of the implant is an important part of the bone-implant contact. Depending on the surface, the osseointegration takes place more or less rapidly.
• The "acastillage" which is all the parts used to make the prosthesis is designed with more or less ingenuity by manufacturers.

There are many reasons:

• Some practitioners prefer to use brands of implants that have been proven for over 30 years.
• Other practitioners rely on new implants (age less than 10 years).
• thers prefer the acastillage.
• etc..

Whatever the brand, the success rate is always the same: 95%

This is an important issue that we are seeing more and more. Patients travel, move, change practitioner and we see patients whose implants are fully osseointegrated, but the prosthesis is to be done or redone.

The implant is like a "plug" it is screwed in which the prosthetic part. Unfortunately the "thread" in the interior of the implant varies from one system to another. Consequently, to redo a prosthesis implant, it is necessary to know the credentials of the implant and asked to contact the manufacturer, which provides prosthetic parts.

It may happen that:

• The patient has lost its references implants.
• The dental practice who installed the implants is no longer in business.
• The manufacturer of implants and components used to make the prosthesis no longer exists.

In most cases, the dentist will handle the situation. Indeed, there is a compatibility between different brands prosthetic parts implants.

In some rare cases, where there is no more compatibility of prosthetic parts with another system, it is necessary to remove the implant, and wait for bone healing before another installation.