An Overview of the Different Types of Dental Implants
Tapered/cylindrical posts made of titanium, dental implants are artificial tooth roots incisively placed into the jawbone underneath your gums. Dental implants serve as the base for replacement teeth and their purpose is holding the replacement teeth/bridges in place. Considered by many as the best treatment for missing teeth, implants are positioned in the jawbone in a way that allows them to intermix with your natural bone and become a brawny and robust foundation for replacement teeth.
By intermixing with your natural bone, implants provide stable support for your artificial teeth/bridges. For this reason, more and more people today are using implants for replacing their missing/broken teeth. While dental implants are a good way for you to replace your missing/broken teeth, you must find out about and understand the implant options available to you. Today, there are over forty different types of dental implants. However, only two of them are considered safe by the American Dental Association(ADA). Following are the two implants recommended by ADA:
Endosteal Implants
The most common types of dental implants, endosteal implants are placed surgically into the jawbone. Shaped like screws, endosteal implants are place-holder posts made either of titanium, ceramic material or metal covered with ceramic. The implant (s) is placed into the jawbone and then time is given to the surrounding gum to heal. Once it is healed, a secondary surgery takes place to connect the implant to a post and create a strong hold. Finally, the replacement tooth (or teeth) is individually attached to the post or grouped on a denture or bridge.
Subperiosteal implants
The main substitute for endosteal implants, subperiosteal implants are implants with metal frames that are placed into the jawbone just underneath the gum tissue. Unlike the other types of implants, subperiosteal implants sit on top of the bone and aren’t fixed into jawbone. However, they’re still present below the gum. The frames become fixed to the jawbone upon the healing of the gums. Attached to the frame, the posts of the implants jut through the gums. These posts are what the artificial teeth are mounted to.
Best for people whose jawbone cannot hold endosteal implants, subperiosteal implants are a safe way to replace the missing/broken teeth. Whether you’re unwilling to undergo oral surgery or have little bone for endosteal implants, subperiosteal implants eliminate the need for you to get the complex and often painful endosteal implants to replace your missing/broken teeth.
There you have it—an overview of the two main types of dental implants. In addition to the aforementioned -implants, transoteal implants and zygomatic implants are some of the other implants commonly used to replace teeth.
Sources:
