Implant Basics
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When a tooth needs to be extracted we will often recommend an implant.
Our process is very streamlined and we think provides a great experience for the patient.
All teeth treatment planned for extraction have a bone graft and PRP (platlet rich plasma) planned with it. We also treatment plan a surgical extraction. This goes back to our philosophy of “Worst Case Scenario”
An extraction is probably the most unpredictable procedure we have. As such we plan for the worst. If an implant is expected we will bone graft nearly all sockets.
One advantage in addition to the better site for implant placement, is a bone grafted tooth is much less likely to have a dry socket! It does happen occasionally, but is far more rare.
All our bone grafts are treatment planned with PRP (sometimes called PRF). The use of the patients own blood and extracting their growth factors greatly helps with healing.
We allow extraction sites, whether bone grafted or not, to heal for 4 months prior to implant placement. Occasionally, the doctor may adjust this one way or another due to numerous factors, but generally this is the case.
The patient is scheduled for a conebeam to determine how their bone healed after the 4 months.
In some circumstances the doctor will decide the bone is acceptable to place the implant that day. This is called an immediate implant. When we do this it can speed up the timeline for the patient, however, the circumstances must be just right, so we do not promise the patient this outcome.
The implant is placed using the xguide system. This state of the art implant placement system allows for navigation of the jaw using a series of trackers and the CBCT. This allows a less invasive surgery and again a more predictable result.
We allow the implant to heal and integrate for 4-6 months prior to scanning for the implant crown. Some implants will be placed with a healing cap at surgery, some will need exposure at the scanning appointment.
The crown and abutment are placed on the implant and the patient is full restored. We recommend the use of a waterpik to keep the area clean, in addition to regular brushing and flossing.
This explanation is for the typical case of implant placement. When we are doing All-On-4, or full mouth replacement, the process is slightly different and explained in a different page.