Dental implants are a reliable, up-to-date alternative for replacing teeth without resorting to bridgework or dentures.
Dental implants are used to root artificial replacement teeth into a person's jaw. These replacement teeth, rooted into the jaw, look and feel like natural teeth.
| "Under proper conditions, such as placement by a periodontist and diligent patient maintenance, implants can last a lifetime. Long-term studies continue to show improving success rates for implants." |
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"Dental Implants: Teeth That Look and Feel Like Your Own" The American Academy of Periodontology |
Dental implants are secure in the bone, and don't wobble, click or come loose like dentures often do. Unlike bridgework, dental implants do not require any changes to adjacent teeth.
Since real teeth are left untouched, dental implants are a way to replace teeth without increasing the risk of tooth decay in natural teeth. Dental implants also avoid bone loss and gum recession that sometimes occurs with bridgework and dentures.
However, not every patient is a good candidate for dental implants, and the more difficult the case, the more important it is to seek treatment from highly experienced dental professionals.
| "Some exclusion criteria are: systematic medical conditions that affect healing, psychological problems that inhibit proper maintenance, unrealistic esthetic expectations, drug or alcohol abuse, and unwillingness to commit to post-therapy maintenance programs... Implant failure can be caused by poor oral hygiene, biomechanical failures, poor bone quality and the patient's medical status, among other reasons." |
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"7 Doses of Reality" Dental Editor's Digest |
To help ensure success, patients should seek out dental professionals who stay up-to-date on the latest techniques and materials for dental implant procedures. After three decades of study, researchers continue to find ways to refine the procedure and improve its success.
For instance, recent studies have continued to examine which implant materials do a superior job anchoring dental implants to bone structures in the mouth.
| "Currently, the three best documented implant surfaces are the smooth machined-titanium surface, the rough plasma-sprayed titanium (TPS) surface, and a surface coated with rough, porous hydroxyapatite... A recent meta-analysis evaluated more than 100 studies of patients who received implants with a variety of different surfaces... rough surfaces had a superior success rate for all implants regardless of their location in the arch. For overdenture placement, rough implants were superior to smooth in almost all locations. For single tooth restorations, the success of rough and smooth implants was not significantly different." |
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"In Practice" The Colgate Oral Health Care Report Volume 10, Number 2 |
Dr. Morton performs dental implant surgery and can provide you with more information if implants are appropriate for you. We invite you to call his Moorestown office to set up an appointment.