What are Mini Dental Implants?

Posted on 8/10/2017 by Dr. Franco

Missing teeth have a major impact on your life. Dental implants, a recent development for replacing missing teeth, provide you with a way to restore your quality of life. They offer a multitude of benefits over traditional tooth replacement options. However, dental implants are not for everyone. At Bite Lock, we offer an alternative – mini implants.

What are Mini Implants?

Mini implants are a smaller version of regular implants. Typically, to be considered a candidate for regular dental implants, you must first have sufficient bone mass in your jaw. However, tooth loss causes bone loss, turning the situation into a vicious cycle. Mini implants help you to avoid the need for a bone graft, which requires several months on its own (up to a year) of healing.

Mini implants consist of a tiny titanium rod, approximately the diameter of a toothpick. Instead of being capped with an abutment, mini implants are created with a small ball on the exposed end. This provides an anchor for the elastic O-rings that attach your teeth to the implant.

Mini Implant Procedure

Placing mini implants is similar to the procedure used for placing regular dental implants. A local anesthetic is administered to the surgical sites. Incisions are made into your gums, which exposes your jawbone. We then drill into the bone and place your mini implants. Your gums are then stitched closed around the implants, leaving a small portion exposed above the gums. You are provided with temporary teeth while you heal.

Once you have healed from your surgery, we then begin the process of creating your permanent teeth, which involves taking impressions of your mouth. The impressions are used to design and fabricate your new teeth. When they are ready, they are affixed in place.

Benefits of Mini Implants

There are several benefits to the use of mini implants:

•	They do not require as much bone mass for proper osseointegration. This means that they can be an option for those who have suffered bone loss, helping you to avoid the need for a bone graft.
•	Because the implants are smaller, they can fit into smaller areas of your mouth (they are ideal for smaller teeth).
•	Because the implants are smaller, surgery is less invasive, and therefore also requires less downtime than with regular dental implants.
•	They are less expensive than regular dental implants.

Mini implants can also be used to stabilize traditional dentures. Typically, traditional dentures are held in place by suction, supported by your gum tissue. Even with a proper fitting denture, they can come loose, and slide around on your gums. Not only are you faced with a potentially embarrassing situation, but your mobile dentures can also rub against your gums, causing painful denture sores. This issue is particularly common in the lower jaw. Mini implants can help to stabilize your dentures, preventing these issues from occurring, providing you with an alternative to denture adhesives.

Just because you don’t qualify for regular implants, that doesn’t mean you are stuck with dentures or fixed bridges. Call Bite Lock at (972) 594-7414 to schedule your consultation and find out if mini implants are right for you.

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Bite Lock Teeth in a Day by Dr. Pedro F. Franco - Dallas, TX

PEDRO F. FRANCO, DDS

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