• It can treat cases untreatable with conventional methods of dental bridges and dentures.
• It prevents further resorption of the jawbone following tooth loss.
• It can perfectly restore chewing function.
• It avoids cutting down and overloading the natural teeth occurring with conventional mean of replacing tooth loss.
• It helps restore a patient’s self-esteem and confidence since it gives the feeling of regaining the real teeth.
• It functions better than conventional dental bridges and dentures.
• It gives superior aesthetic results.

You will be a suitable candidate for oral implant if you fulfill the following requirements:

• You must be medically fit to undergo ordinary surgery.
• Your jaw must have enough bone to support the implant (if not, bone grafting may be required).
• There must be enough space to accommodate the prosthesis over the implant.
• You must understand what the treatment can offer.
• You must realize to what extent the treatment can meet your expectations.

You should consider implant when:

• You do not want to have your natural teeth cut down which is required in making conventional dental bridge.
• You cannot wear or chew well with your denture.
• You cannot tolerate a denture in your mouth.
• You do not want to damage your remaining teeth from wearing a partial denture.
• You have lost your back teeth making it impossible to construct a conventional dental bridge.
• You have a long toothless span which is not indicated for making a conventional ndental bridge.
• You want superior aesthetic results with your tooth replacement.
• You want the most effective way of restoring your chewing function.

Whether for a single missing tooth or replacement of all of a patient’s teeth, oral implant is now recognized as standard treatment for a full range of problems. If you want to know more about oral implant, please consult your dentist.

The surgery can only commence after thorough diagnosis and treatment planning. A recipient site of the same size and shape as the implant is created in the jawbone with drilling instruments. The implant is inserted into the site prepared. Usually, a healing period of 3 to 6 months is required for the jawbone to fuse with the implant. The jawbone has different densities in different areas – the denser the bone, the shorter the healing period. After this healing period, the prosthesis is constructed over the implant and the treatment is completed. Usually, a straightforward implant treatment takes about 4 to 7 months to complete. Longer periods are required for complex situation such as cases requiring bone grafting.

The operation will be performed under aseptic condition usually in a clinic with proper facilities and condition for oral implant surgery. Local anaesthesia is given for pain ncontrol during the operation. Intravenous sedation can be given if necessary. Pain which may occur after the operation can effectively be controlled with oral medications. The prosthetic part of the implant treatment does not require anaesthesia.

Modern oral implant treatment is highly successful, as a general guideline, the five-year success rate of oral implant over 95% with the lower jaw (mandible) and about 90% with the upper jaw (maxilla). The success rates may slowly decrease as the implant stays longer in functio n. In difficult cases, the success rates are expected to be lower. Despite the overall high success rates with oral implant treatment, there is still the possibility of failure which can be contributed by various factors and conditions, such as poor healing power, poor bone quality, smoking and diabetes.

The service life of an oral implant can be affected by many factors: high standards of treatment, meticulous daily cleaning by the patient, regular professional maintenance, abstinence from smoking and avoidance of overloading (like chewing bones, shells, hard nuts and candies), can contribute to the durability of the oral implant. In view of the high success of modern oral implant treatment, an oral implant can be considered a long lasting medical implant that does not need to be changed.

Whereas no medical treatment can be guaranteed 100 percent without risks and failures, implant operation can be considered very safe. The prosthetic phase of treatment is basically non- invasive and non-surgical in nature.