Articles

The Implant Advantage For The Single Missing Tooth

There are big advantages of doing an implant as a replacement for a single missing tooth. (1) The teeth on either side of the missing tooth don't have to be cut down or modified in any way. (2) The resulting implant-supported unit is stronger than a fixed bridge and stronger even than the original tooth. (3) It is going to be stable and should last a very long time. (4) It looks almost like new!
This patient [fig. 1] fractured the root of her tooth at the gum line and had to lose the tooth. A single tooth implant-supported restoration was the treatment plan of choice. It was determined that an immediate temporary crown could be provided on the same day that the tooth was removed, and the implant was placed.
After the tooth was removed, the implant was immediately placed [fig. 2]. A temporary crown was fabricated and cemented over the implant [fig. 3], making sure the patient couldn't bite on the temporary or touch it with her lower teeth; she walked out of the office the same day with a provisional tooth.
Five months later, after the implant has become firmly attached to the bone, impressions for the permanent implant abutment and crown were taken. The abutment is the part of the implant that connects the implant to the crown. The final implant-supported restoration looks and functions like the other teeth [fig. 4].
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