Contents
There are several subspecialties in the field of dentistry, one of which is implantology. In modern dentistry, a dentist-implantologist is one of the most sought-after specialists, since prosthetics of teeth with their complete loss is not effective enough. An implant dentist will help to fully restore the integrity of the teeth and dentition, which will last for a very long time and will not require any therapeutic measures.
Characteristics of specialization
Dental implantology has a centuries-old history, but modern terminology arose only 100 years ago. Implant and implantation mean a material alien to the human body, which is introduced using medical techniques in order to perform the functions of that organ (in dentistry – a tooth) that it is intended to replace. The specialization of the dentist-implantologist arose only in the middle of the 20th century, when removable and fixed dentures began to be massively avoided in the medical environment, replacing them with modern implants.
In order to practice dental implantation, a dentist must, in addition to higher medical education of a dental profile, undergo a specialized internship in the field of “Dental surgery”, as well as take special courses in dental implantology. When combining the work of an implantologist with the specialization of an orthopedic dentist (which is very common in modern medicine), the doctor must additionally receive the specialization of an orthopedic dentist.
Thus, the sphere of influence of the dentist-implantologist includes knowledge and skills of working with general dental pathologies, maxillofacial surgical area, orthopedic work. The dentist-implantologist must have the skills to select and administer the necessary anesthesia, be able to make surgical incisions in the jaw area, suture wound surfaces, perform operations on soft and bone tissues.
Diseases and symptoms
Recently, the help of implant dentists has been resorted to only in extreme cases, with complete adentia, that is, in the absence of absolutely all teeth in the dentition, or when prosthetics are impossible for various reasons. However, today implantation is a very common method of replacing the dentition, it allows you to get a full-fledged tooth or even the entire dentition, which in the future for decades will not cause any problems to its owner.
They turn to a dentist-implantologist in order to restore missing teeth in any part of the oral cavity.
With the help of high-quality implants, it became possible to save both chewing and frontal teeth, and this can be done both in single cases of missing teeth, and in case of defects in the dentition with the absence of several teeth at once. Therefore, modern implantation techniques often become an excellent alternative to removable, fixed and bridge prosthetics of all types of teeth.
As a rule, the patient gets an appointment with a dentist-implantologist from other specialists – dental therapists or dental surgeons. Nowadays, dental implantation is resorted to, in most cases, at the request of patients in the absence of health contraindications, and if there are indications to implant teeth, that is, in the absence of the possibility of installing prosthetic structures. Dental implantation is a well-defined medical technique that requires a complete examination of patients and their preparation for this procedure.
Among the main problems of dental implantation, which the latter is able to fully solve, we can distinguish the following problems, symptoms and diseases of the dentition:
- absence of a dental unit anywhere in the jaw;
- the absence of several teeth (groups) in any part of the jaw;
- the absence of adjacent teeth with those that need to be prosthetized, that is, in the case when the bridge structure simply has nothing to attach to due to the lack of suitable supporting teeth in the neighborhood;
- absence of a group of teeth in different parts of one jaw and on different jaws (complex dental defects);
- complete adentia, that is, the need to replace the complete dentition;
- physiological features of the body that do not allow wearing removable dentures, for example, a gag reflex when putting on dentures or allergic reactions to the materials from which dentures are made;
- physiological atrophy of the bone tissue of the lower jaw, which does not allow you to securely fix and wear a removable prosthesis;
- unwillingness of the patient to wear removable dentures.
It is important to remember that even in the presence of these problems, an implantologist cannot always insist on implants, since implantation has very serious contraindications for use.
Among such contraindications, diabetes mellitus, various pathologies of the thyroid gland, broncho-pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases in the acute and decompensating stages, oncological pathologies are distinguished. There are also contraindications to local type implantation – these are numerous caries, diseases of the mucous membrane in the patient’s mouth and other signs that the patient can correct in some time and turn to the implant dentist again for implant placement.
Reception and methods of work of a dentist-implantologist
The dentist-implantologist in the course of his practice must perform a number of mandatory procedures, ultimately leading to the installation of the necessary implants in the patient’s mouth.
Such procedures during medical examinations include:
- primary dental examination;
- consultations with other relevant specialists;
- appointment of various laboratory examinations of the patient;
- diagnostic methods for examining the oral cavity;
- individual work on choosing the shape and size of implants;
- production of a specific type of implant and its introduction into the oral cavity and bone tissue of the patient;
- dental prosthetics.
Until the moment when the doctor begins to carry out the direct operation, the patient will have to visit him several times. During the preparatory stage, a good implant dentist will collect all the information he needs for further work about the patient and his medical history, prescribe the necessary examinations to identify contraindications and be able to predict the result of the implantation as accurately as possible.
When examining the patient’s oral cavity, the implant dentist requires the results of the performed studies, such as a complete blood count, a blood test for hepatitis, sugar, HIV infection, a panoramic x-ray or computed tomography of one or both jaws of the patient.
In the presence of cardiovascular diseases, the dentist will need the results of the patient’s electrocardiogram, in case of drug allergies, it will be necessary to pass allergy tests for sensitivity to the components of anesthetic drugs. In case of problems with the rest of the teeth or gums, the patient undergoes a sanitation of the oral cavity to prevent infection from entering the open wound during implantation.
The dentist-implantologist necessarily informs the patient about the existing methods of implantation of the dentition, the types of implants to be implanted, the duration of wound healing and further prosthetics. After the final agreement with the patient on the chosen implantation technique, the doctor proceeds to planning the operation.
During the surgical stage of the work of the dentist-implantologist, two methods of performing the operation can be used – two-stage implantation and one-stage. The decision to use one of these types of techniques is made exclusively by the doctor, according to the picture of the course of the disease that he can observe in the patient.
Surgical intervention with any implantation technique is performed under local anesthesia, which ensures complete painlessness of the process for the patient. A specialist prosthetics one tooth takes about 30 minutes on average. After implantation, a control x-ray of the implantation area is taken, after which the patient can leave the dental appointment.
Subsequently, the patient must visit the implant dentist who performed the implantation in order to remove the sutures and again take an x-ray of the area affected by the treatment, as well as a couple of months after the implantation, in order to install a titanium screw – a gum shaper that gives contours future crown. And, finally, at the third visit, instead of the shaper, an abutment is installed in the gum, which will serve as a support for the metal-ceramic crown in the future.
3-6 months after implantation, the patient is assigned prosthetics of the implanted tooth. This stage, which can last about 1 month on average, includes taking an impression of the patient’s jaws, laboratory production of an orthopedic structure of a pre-approved type, fitting the prosthesis and fitting it in the oral cavity, and final fixation of the structure in the oral cavity.
The service life of dental implants largely depends on how carefully the patient himself will continue to monitor the condition of the oral cavity. And, of course, it is necessary to visit the dentist regularly so that the doctor can independently monitor all the changes that occur in the patient during the process of wearing the structure.
Recommendations to patients
When any teeth are removed, irreversible changes occur in the human oral cavity. If any dental units are removed and not restored, then a violation of the closure of the jaws will begin, which often leads to periodontal disease in the future. There is also a displacement of the teeth within the jaw – some of the teeth go forward (teeth in front of the removed unit), and some begin to strive to take the place of the removed tooth. Thus, there is a violation of the correct tooth contact in the human mouth. This can lead to frequent food particles getting stuck between the teeth, the development of caries or gingivitis.
Also, the inclination of the chewing units of the oral cavity leads to an overload of the tissues surrounding the remaining teeth, as well as to a decrease in the bite height and displacement of the remaining dental units forward along the jaw. This is fraught with the fact that the front teeth may begin to diverge in a fan-shaped shape, loosen. All these processes, one way or another, provoke the rapid death of the dentary bone. That is why, when removing teeth, you should definitely contact a good implant dentist for an appointment to restore all the necessary components of the oral cavity and maintain the correct chewing function of all teeth.