Mini Dental Implants


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Dental implants are a great dental innovation which can help those who have lost a tooth whether due to injury or disease. In the past, missing teeth were commonly replaced by using a dental bridge or a removable denture. However, both these methods come with their own inherent problems. For instance, patients who use dentures can experience a range of problems such as strange clicking noises during speech or when eating. Similarly, dentures can often come loose and may require the use of adhesives and fixatives to keep them in place. Dentures will also need to be periodically relined to make sure they don't cause unnecessary injury to your gums or bone loss. Bridges also have a number of issues which can affect users. Firstly, wearing a bridge requires that the surrounding teeth act as anchors; this means that some of the natural tooth structure must be removed from otherwise healthy teeth to accommodate crowns. Bridges can cause several problems to the surrounding teeth and, as with dentures, will need to be replace periodically. Luckily, recent innovations in dentistry mean that the use of implants has become more refined and effective than ever before.

Mini dental implants are used to provide a sturdy base for a restoration which can potentially last a lifetime. The most important part of a Mini dental implant is the titanium section which is implanted and designed to mimic the function of your tooth's root. An O-ring is placed on top of this which will serve as a stable base for your restoration. This design ensures that your restoration has a much sturdier base than is provided by bridges or dentures so you don't have to worry about it slipping or coming loose. Mini implants also provide a degree of flexibility to the restoration, allowing small movements. It is also completely detachable, but it won't come loose unless the user decides to remove it. Not only do mini dental implants make a great alternative to crowns and bridges but can also provide a greater degree of security to restorations on the lower jaw.


Fitting Mini Dental Implants

The fitting procedure itself is normally carried out under a local anaesthetic, which will numb the target area before surgery begins. Your dentist will fit the implants about five millimetres from each other and can then provide adjustments so that the restorations fit perfectly. The implant surgery only takes about one hour to complete and due to its effectiveness many patients are able to eat lightly on the same day. Mini dental implants provide the additional benefit of being completely removable, making it easy for users to remove their restorations and care for them. The titanium which makes up a mini dental implants reacts well to human bone and due to its inherent strength, can potentially last a lifetime.

What are mini dental implants used for?

Most frequently mini dental implants are used for securing a denture in the lower jaw. Because they are smaller than standard dentures they can be used where there is not enough density or volume of bone for standard implants. Their size makes them ideal also for single tooth implants.

How are mini dental implants fitted?

Mini dental implants are fitted under local anaesthetic and the procedure is fairly low key. It can take as little as an hour. During this time the mini implants are placed at about 5mm apart, four implants to each jaw that has a denture. After the mini dental implants are placed your denture will be adjusted slightly so that it tightly fits into place and onto the implants. Just an hour afterwards you could eat light foods, as the procedure is not too invasive and does not need a long healing stage.

What are dental implants made out of?

Dental implants and mini dental implants are made out of titanium or titanium alloy. They look like a small screw, with the surface area roughened to improve adhesion. Most dental implants are made out of pure titanium, which is available in four grades dependant on the levels of other materials contained (such as carbon or iron). A recent development is the use of grade five titanium to make dental implant screws. This is a titanium alloy that contains 6% aluminium and 4% vanadium but seems to offer a similar level of osseointegration to commercially pure titanium (which is more expensive).

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