See Below for actual implant cases!
Implant article
by Dr. Jim Jostock & Dr Michael Jostock
Affordable Dental Implants Can Change Your Lifestyle
Just ask 62 year old Estelle Ceuninck from Fraiser. “I had struggled for years with a set of upper and lower dentures unable to chew the foods I desired. I couldn’t even drink a glass of water without my lower denture unseating itself. I was also self conscious of the poor smile that I had so I found myself smiling less with nowhere to turn. Now, after an excellent new upper denture and just two implants supporting my unique lower denture, my lifestyle has totally changed. I am more confident in my smile and I can now eat and function with my teeth as though they were my own. Indeed my lifestyle has changed immensely. This procedure was well worth the time and effort and I found it to be uniquely affordable as well.”
Dental implants are a modern day miracle for people needing replacement of diseased, hopeless or missing teeth. Those teeth can now be replaced with strong, natural looking teeth that even your closest friends and family will not be able to detect them up close. Imagine replacing a missing tooth with an implant retained natural looking tooth that will never decay and be there for life.
The loss of teeth can be very devastating for people who take pride in their appearance and smile. A confident smile is lost quickly when teeth are missing or when partial or full dentures look artificial. A smile is an important part of everyday life from having a high self-esteem to making a great first and lasting impression.
There are three main goals when treating people with missing teeth, whether you have one missing tooth or do not have any remaining teeth. The first goal is to improve function so that a high level of comfort is achieved during rest and while eating. The second goal is to achieve a smile that you will be confident; a smile that is very natural. The third goal is to improve your overall health, as today modern dentistry is showing so many correlations between dental health and systemic disease.
If you think that you may be a candidate for dental implants whether you have one missing tooth or are currently wearing dentures, I hope that you find the following information helpful to you or someone you know.
What happens when you lose teeth?
When teeth are present in the jaw bone, chewing creates stress in the bone. Like physical exercise placing stress on your muscles keeping them strong, chewing does the same by placing stress on the teeth and ultimately on your jaw bone. When a tooth is lost, the bone is not exercised and it is unneeded, so your bone becomes weak and is lost. Moreover, teeth will shift into the area of the missing tooth. After a period of time, the teeth behind the missing tooth will drift and fall forward. There is a point when the teeth are tipped so far forward that it becomes very difficult to restore without extracting the leaning teeth. The picture below shows what happens when a missing tooth is not replaced.
People who are missing all of their teeth will lose bone continually until the jaw bone is very thin and fragile. Over time, a denture will sink into the bone in the chewing areas, which leaves a ditching under the denture for food to collect. At this point, a denture cannot be stabilized and is very uncomfortable to function with. Even areas where a single tooth is lost will loose bone. The bone in those areas can become very thin quickly depending on the area. This is why it is important and the standard of care to place bone grafts in socket sites where teeth are extracted. The bone grafts prevent the bone from essentially folding in and causing the bone to become thin. Keeping the bone thick allows for successful implant placement.
Bone loss is a very slow and predictable process, but it can be prevented with the help of dental implants. Dental implants will exercise the bone to keep it strong and rigid. They will also prevent areas of bone from ditching under a denture. If you do not have enough bone for implant placement, you can have bone added to your jaw to give you adequate width and height of bone for implant placement. This ultimately will stop the bone loss from occurring.
What is a dental implant?
A dental implant is essentially a special screw in the shape of a tooth root that is placed into your bone. Implants are made from medical grade titanium and often times are coated with synthetic bone. The top of the implant will be at the level of your gums so that you will not see any part of the screw. The implant then goes through a healing period. During this healing period, the implant fuses to the bone to become part of the dentition.
Implants will never decay and have a 30+ year prognosis with 100% success rate in our practice. They also do not require modifying the teeth adjacent to the implant. Implants are very esthetic because they are able to hold your bone, keeping your gums at a natural height. Another advantage is that partial and full dentures can be attached to the implants which keep dentures tightly secured for improved function and cosmetics. Overall, dental implants are very predictable and can greatly improve a person’s way of life.
Types of restorations for dental implants!
There are numerous types of restorations for dental implants; however, I will only review the main types of implant restorations.
The first type is a fixed restoration, much like your natural teeth. Porcelain crowns can be attached to implants to replace one or more teeth or bridges can be fabricated to replacing missing teeth. You can even entertain an option of fixing an entire upper or lower arch of teeth to implants if you do not have any remaining teeth. These restorations are cemented or screwed into place and you will never be able to remove them. They are like having natural teeth and our patients have told us that they often prefer chewing on the implant crowns because they feel stronger.
The other major type of implant restorations are “snap on” teeth. These restorations are reserved for those who want to snap down their partial or full dentures. Special attachments are placed on the top of the implant and the other counterpart is cured to the denture allowing the denture to be snapped into place. This greatly improves a person’s function and appearance as the dentures are kept stable at all times. This is most often the case for lower dentures as they “float” on the ridge without something like implants to hold them in position.
If you have any question regarding dental implants, please feel free to call our office. Live patient testimonials are available as those patients are excited to share their success and experiences with others. Feel free to call and schedule an office visit to see how you can benefit from dental implants.
Following case courtesy of Dr. Jim Jostock
This person broke a tooth and it had to be extracted. A bone graft and implant was placed. After 6 months of healing we restored the tooth with a cosmetic restoration.
The image on the left shows an implant abutment fastened in place after healing has occurred. The image to the right shows the finished cemented porcelain crown in place.
Following case courtesy of Dr. Mike Jostock
This individual had six congentially missing teeth. Six implants were placed and restored with cosmetic restorations six months following
implant placement. Other cosmetic restorations were previously placed on the upper.
