A guide to dental implant treatment in Mississauga, Toronto, Oakville. Replacing missing teeth with dental implants.
Ever wondered how you could replace those missing teeth you had removed many years ago and improve your smile and chewing abilities? Do you wear complete or partial dentures that seem to fly out every time you sneeze? Unable to eat on one side of the mouth because you are missing molars or grinders? Do you have a parent that wears a set of dentures that he or she is never satisfied about? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you could be a good candidate for dental implant treatment. Read on to know what dental implants are and how they can bring a genuine smile to your face.
Natural teeth are anchored in the jawbone via their roots, front teeth have one long root whereas back teeth or grinders(molars) have 2-3 roots. These roots are like the roots of a tree, not visible to the eyes, but essential for stability and function. The roots are anchored in living bone, but covered by soft tissue, called gums. When a tooth is removed or lost for any reason, the bone that housed the roots is now without function, and becomes thin and weak over time. Tooth loss in adults is a very real problem in adults that can have serious consequences, both functional and emotional.
A MIS 10mm wide diameter implant placed in the lower left side.
A missing tooth or teeth that need to be replaced use different methods, from removable dentures that need to be removed at night and left in water to fixed bridges to fixed implant retained crowns and bridges. For patients that are missing all their natural teeth and are struggling with removable complete dentures, dental implants can provide the stability and anchorage needed to keep dentures in place during speech as well as eating hard and chewy foods. Dental implants are made of medical grade titanium alloy and anchored within living jawbone, and are hence called bionic replacements of teeth. Although the initial costs can be high, the dental implants can last much longer that other means of tooth replacement, and pay for themselves in no time whatsoever.
Dental implants in Mississauga are available in many dental offices, and as the population ages, more and more residents will seek out this treatment modality to predictably replace missing teeth. In Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Brampton, ETobicoke and southern Ontario in general, people are experiencing longer and more predictable lives, thanks to advances in modern medicine. These boomers, as they are affectionately referred to, are increasingly opting for healthier mouths, including ‘fixed’ options to replace missing teeth, instead of unsightly and loose-fitting removable partial dentures.
Due to the rising Canadian dollar and intense competition among manufacturers of dental implants, the cost of dental implants in Mississauga has reduced in the last few years, while increasing the success rates beyond 95%. Dental implants today cost significantly lower than a custom dental bridge to replace a single missing tooth, especially a back molar tooth. Moreover, since dental implant treatment completes 3-6 months after the surgical phase, the fees are broken down into three parts, further reducing the burden on the patient.
How does a dental implant work?
A dental implant is a titanium alloy screw surgically placed under the gums in your jawbone to replace the roots of the missing tooth. A part of the screw sticks out through the gums, called the collar, on which a single crown can be attached, or this collar may have a special cylinder, called abutment to hold a denture firmly in place. So essentially, dental implant treatment, involves a pre-treatment evaluation, surgical phase where the actual dental implant is inserted into the bone and a prosthetic phase where the missing tooth or teeth actually get attached.
Let us take the example of a healthy adult male, who had a lower right molar tooth removed a few weeks ago due to a failed root canal treatment. If the missing tooth is not replaced soon enough, the patient loses ability to chew on the side and will stop eating foods altogether on the side after a few months. This loss of tooth and loss of function causes the bone to start shrinking away and lose thickness and density as well. This natural body process is called bone remodelling, and can cause significant bone shrinkage in as less as a year. This patient has four options:
- Replace missing tooth with a removable denture
- Replace missing tooth with a fixed dental bridge
- Replace missing tooth with a fixed dental implant
- Do nothing
Most patients do not like the idea of a removable partial denture, as it takes a long time to get used to a removable appliance in the mouth. Besides having metal clasps and wires that can be unsightly, these removable dentures bring back only about 15-20% chewing efficiency as compared to a natural tooth.
A fixed dental bridge or a fixed dental implant crown are the two most commonly selected procedures. For a dental bridge, the two teeth adjacent to the gap are shaved down for crowns that draw near parallel to each other and the crowns are joined by a dummy tooth to replace the missing tooth by a three-unit fixed bridge. So, a dental bridge actually involves two crowns joined by a dummy (called pontic). Until a few years ago, this was the gold standard of replacing a missing single tooth, and we still do a lot of bridges for patients that cannot or will not have a dental implant. The bridge is made of tooth-coloured porcelain which is durable yet looks like natural teeth. The metal used, if any, for the prosthesis, is carefully hidden from view. Dental bridges can last for many years, and can predictably replace the lost form and function. The drawback is that adjacent teeth need to be shaved and adjusted to replace one tooth, and if the adjacent teeth are otherwise healthy, this sacrifice seems unnecessary. Flossing under a bridge can be cumbersome and the use of a special floss is required.
Since the early 1950s, scientists realised that titanium is a metal that completely fuses with human and animal bone, and in humans, this property has been cleverly utilised to make dental implant screws that become one with the bone and are so solid that chewing hard food on crowns and bridges attached to dental implants feels almost the same as chewing on natural teeth. Most implant manufacturers make root-form endosseous dental implants, that look like small screws, and these sterile medical grade screws are placed accurately with the jawbone, so as a crown or bridge can be made to connect to this screw in a few weeks when the screw and bone have fused together. Please see the image below to compare how an implant is similar to a natural tooth root and yet has subtle differences. Note how the implant differs from the natural root by actually fusing with the bone instead of having a membrane that natural teeth have (periodontal ligament).
Anatomy of a dental implant
How much does a dental implant cost?
Applewood Village Dentistry has trained dentists that can now place dental implants surgically, which reduces the cost to the patient dramatically. The surgical placement of the implant in healthy bone with no other complicating factors is close to $900 under local anaesthesia, with the cost of the implant itself being around $200 to $490, depending upon which manufacturer is chosen. We currently place the MIS system of dental implants, that are now sold in more than 60 countries worldwide, are approved by Health Canada, and are a superb line of dental implants at an affordable price. MIS line of implants can be used for single tooth replacements, implant-retained dental bridges or to hold and support dentures (called overdentures). The surgical protocol is followed for implant placement surgeries, whether the implant is placed at the time of tooth removal or later on. After the bone and implant have fused together in about 3-4 months, the top of the cylindrical implants is uncovered by a minor procedure, and a ‘healing abutment’ is screwed onto it that emerges out of the gums. To this abutment a crown is attached after another 3 weeks, usually held in place by a tiny screw that holds the crown to the implant. The crown is made of either zirconia or porcelain layered on metal, either way no metal ever shows during smiling or speech. The making of the crown or bridge or overdenture and the associated lab fees and the cost of the tiny titanium components is what drives the cost of implant dentistry high, but we have yet to see a single implant and crown cross the CAD $2650 mark. The way it stands today, a single implant with a crown on it is a few hundred dollars less than a three-unit fixed bridge to replace a missing single tooth!
A fixed bridge to replace four upper right teeth on two dental implants
What are the success rates of modern dental implants?
Modern dental implants have a success rate of over 95% when done in healthy bone of adequate quality and volume. Patients need to understand that an average crown on an implant should last around 10 years or more, after which it may need either a new crown or a new tiny retaining screw (called prosthetic screw). Very rarely does the implant in the bone ever fail. The only time an implant fails to fuse with the bone is in smokers (success rate drops to around 70%), tobacco chewers, patients with poor oral hygiene, uncontrolled diabetics and others with serious medical conditions or infections, where dental implants may not be recommended. Every patient is unique and hence a proper pre-treatment evaluation is essential.
Whatever the reason for your missing tooth or teeth, dental implants are a tried and tested way to replace these in a predictable manner giving patients a satisfying outcome each and every time. Take charge of your mouth and replace those missing teeth, and give us a call on 905 279 1818, to book your pre-treatment assessment appointment today!