Implantology consists of placing dental implants on the jawbones or jaws of patients who have lost one or more teeth. Dental implants consist of a small titanium cylinder and are intended to replace the root of a pulled tooth. These implants will therefore be used as support for a dental prosthesis, and will allow, in particular the patient who has lost all his teeth, to avoid having to wear dentures. Implantology thus constitutes a branch of dental surgery. Despite some possible incidents, but very rare, on the whole the placement of dental implants carried out under adequate conditions by an experienced operator constitutes a reliable and simple surgical act, and of which the complications turn out to be infrequent and, in most cases without consequence.

A natural tooth is made up mainly of two elements: on the one hand, the crown, constituting the visible part of the tooth, and on the other hand, the root, that part of the tooth which is housed in the jawbone. , just under the gum line.

Implantology is a branch of dental surgery which involves the placement of dental implants. Dental implants are made of small cylinders made of metal, titanium, and very often have the shape of a screw. Concretely, the dental implant acts like an artificial root of the teeth. Indeed, surgically fixed inside the jawbone, the dental implant is intended to replace the root of a torn tooth, with the aim of serving as a support for a dental prosthesis.

A dental implant cannot, by itself, replace an absent natural tooth: it is necessary, therefore, to install an abutment, once this implant has been inserted into the jawbone.

It is necessary to have one or more dental implants fitted when a person has lost one or more teeth, or even sometimes all of their teeth when wearing dentures is a source of discomfort. The major causes of tooth loss are cavities and loosening. Teeth may also have been lost due to trauma, shock, or have been extracted following treatment failure.

A dental implant is usually done because missing teeth cause problems with aesthetics, but also with phonation and occlusion. They can also induce the displacement of the remaining teeth.

On the other hand, there are absolute contraindications to this surgical act, the main ones of which are: 

• At the level of the heart: diseases affecting the valves (valve disease), a recent infarction or even severe heart failure as well as cardiomyopathies;
• Other cases: an evolving cancer, certain bone diseases, certain immunological pathologies, immunosuppressive treatments, declared AIDS, a pending organ transplant, certain psychiatric diseases, severely irradiated jaws, treatment for osteoporosis or certain cancers by bisphosphonates.

Be careful in these different cases to never practice the placement of dental implants, because its complications could then prove to be serious. 

Moreover, with regard to children, the placement of implants is not indicated before the end of the growth of the jawbones, which generally takes place around 17 or 18 years old. On the other hand, an advanced age is not a contraindication, if however the general condition of the patient proves to be good.

Local anesthesia is necessary in order to place the dental implant. The dentist will then be able to make an incision in the gum and remove a flap. Then he can drill a hole in the bone and insert the dental implant there. He will then be able to fold back the gum flap, before suturing it.

Such an operation can be performed for a single implant or for several. Due to the scarring, the patient may experience pain for about seven days.

Then, the implants will be left in the bone as it is for six months: thus, they will integrate optimally into the bone. After this so-called “nursing” period, the dentist will then uncover the head of each of the implants, before preparing them so that they serve as a support for the prosthesis.

The signs of a dental implant that shows good results, that is, ultimately, that the dental implant is healthy, are as follows:

• There is no inflammation in the peri-implant gingiva;
• There is a presence of bone near the first coil of the implant, which is visible on the x-ray;
• The implant remains very still;
• The implant is not painful, neither when brushing nor chewing.

The dental implantology technique therefore has the advantage of preventing the patient from having to wear dentures. In fact, the prognosis, that is to say the life of the implant, is better for implants located on the upper mandible than for those located on the lower mandible.

Finally, a dental implant that is going well is an implant completely forgotten by its wearer, both at the sensory level and at the visual level.

It is common for dental implants to cause side effects: mainly, swollen gums, bleeding as well as pain that can last up to about a week. It is very rare, however, for these side effects to last long after surgery. In order to calm the pain, it is possible to take an analgesic, which does not require a medical prescription.

In addition, a more significant side effect is what is called implant failure, or implant complication. Indeed, patients who have lost an implant frequently speak of rejection. In fact, when an implant does not fit in the mandible, it is never through a phenomenon of rejection in the medical sense of the term, that is to say that it is absolutely not related to immunological reactions. as seen in the case of organ transplants. Ultimately, therefore, it is not the patient’s body that rejects this foreign body.

Implant failure means that the implant has not been retained by the jawbone – in short, that implant has fallen, that it is gone. On the other hand, an implant which presents a complication is itself always retained in the mouth, but its behavior is abnormal. In these two cases, it will then be necessary to make an appointment with your dentist.