Missing a tooth or multiple teeth? Your doctor may recommend getting mini dental implants, the fairly new addition to the family of restorative dental procedures. As we all know, dental implants are the gold standard of missing teeth replacement, but are mini dental implants up to par with this standard? If you want to know more about dental implants, visit a local dental clinic so their dentists and specialists can discuss more with you. But for now, let us tackle things about the smaller version of tooth implants, including their use, benefits, and discover the disadvantages of mini dental implants.
What are mini dental implants?
As mentioned earlier, mini dental implants, as the name suggests, are the reduced version of the regular implants. It has a smaller diameter of less than 3mm, where regular implant sizes can be varying from 1.88mm to 7mm. They function the same, except that mini dental implants can be used for missing front teeth, and regular implants are more often used on molars.
Benefits of mini dental implants
Osseointegration is a very important aspect in the dental implant surgery. The implants must attach or fuse neatly to the bones in order to have a stable hold. This part of the procedure makes or breaks the efficiency of the appliance, so the bone density should be ideal where implant surgery needs to be done. Getting mini dental implants, on the other hand, is much more convenient because it can be used even in areas where the bone thickness is lesser than the standard. Because it is narrower and shorter than the regular implants, it can firmly fit in smaller areas. This could also mean that the implant process would not need additional bone grafting just to satisfy the bone density of the site.
Patients who have tried getting mini dental implants as a single tooth replacement or as a stabilizer for dentures often claim that the procedure is less painful or uncomfortable than what they have expected, mainly because the surgery is less invasive considering the size of the implant.
Because mini dental implants are smaller, the cost can also be lower than the regular ones. Although it is still more expensive than most restorative dental procedures, getting the same results for a lower price is still a good deal, right?
Disadvantages of mini dental implants
Now that we know the benefits of having these implants, and everything sounds promising, will we ever find disadvantages of mini dental implants? Unfortunately, we can. Like any other dental procedure, especially like the regular dental implants, there are some points of getting the mini versions that will not work according to plan and expectations of the dentist and patient.
Mini dental implants may not be preferred for patients with significant bone loss. No matter the reason why a patient may have a lesser bone density, and no matter how small a mini implant could get, if it cannot have a bone to anchor to, the procedure will be useless.
Getting mini dental implants for a single tooth replacement is not recommended. Although studies show that these mini versions may be ideal for front teeth replacement, more studies indicate that its use is more beneficial as foundations of multiple teeth, like for all-on-4 variants.
If you want to learn more about dental implants, please visit DentistAlbany.com.au for more information.
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