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Single Dental Implant Case Study
A patient named Tamara came to us six months ago for a single dental implant. She was twenty-two at the time of her visit to our office. While still a teenager, she had developed a horrible toothache and gone to her family dentist for treatment. During the course of the dental examination that followed, an enormous cavity was discovered in the interior side of the molar. The dentist concluded that the tooth was too far gone for a filling or even a root canal to repair, so he performed a tooth extraction. He had mentioned to Tamara the options of a bridge or a dental implant, but since the molar was the second from the back of her mouth, neither was considered a necessity. Because Tamara's family lacked dental insurance at the time, she and her parents decided to forego both options until further notice.
After graduating from college, however, Tamara landed a very high-paying job whose dental insurance plan included considerable partial payments for dental implants. Her benefits, combined with her higher salary point, now made it possible to do something about the missing tooth in her lower jaw. Tamara knew quite a bit about medicine in general (she worked as a surgical assistant, actually), and was aware of the fact that leaving an empty space in the gum line could lead to bone loss in later years. She came to our office to have a titanium dental implant placed in the location of the missing tooth.
Titanium has long been the preferred material for which to make cosmetic tooth replacements. The implant actually consists of a base that screws into the jawbone and mimics a natural tooth root. The bone then adapts to this new structure and begins to grow around it. This process is known as osseointegration and is necessary for two reasons. First, it stops bone deterioration in its tracks, and then reverses the cycle by giving the bone a new mass to shape itself around. Secondly, the titanium alloy (officially known as Tivolloy ) provides a bio-friendly base onto which a porcelain crown can be placed. This is why this form of tooth replacement is often referred to as a cosmetic dental implant, because the porcelain crown mimics the translucent color of enamel and can perform all of the normal chewing functions of a normal tooth.
Tamara's case was a very simple one due to the fact that she needed only one implant. The surrounding teeth were very healthy, and her gums showed no signs of periodontal disease on any level. Furthermore, she had no limiting medical conditions such as diabetes or alcoholism, so all in all, she was the perfect candidate for a cosmetic tooth replacement.
After taking x-rays of her mouth and making a mold of her existing teeth, we selected a titanium implant of appropriate size and shape and placed it in her jaw. After the healing phase was complete, we further secured the base with a small screw known as an abutment . (This is a standard procedure in implant dentistry). Once the abutment was secure, we then placed a porcelain crown that complemented the surrounding natural teeth to such a degree that it looked like Tamara had never lost a tooth.
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