Mini Dental Implants

Frequently Asked Questions on Mini Dental Implants ~ Do They Work?

Mini Dental Implants ~ Are they bad? Do they work? Can you unscrew them with your fingers? Do the break? Can you use a mini implant on the upper arch?  And many more......

I get lots of questions from Dentists and Patients alike on Mini Dental Implants.  The short answer is if used and placed properly Mini Dental Implants will work to solve the patients request....to have a 2nd chance for teeth.  A mini dental implant just does it a different way.  Do I think mini implants will replace traditional regular conventional implants?  No....mini dental implants offer the patient another choice.  There will always be a need for regular implants.

Do Mini Dental Implants Work?

Yes...they can replace missing teeth in the upper and lower jaws with porcelain crowns or bridges.  They can hold in upper or lower dentures with a o-ball and a snap fitted into the denture.  Mini Dental Implants have a history of working well for over 15 years.

My Dentist tells me that I should not get Mini Dental Implants; what should I do?

There is lots of confusion on this subject of mini dental implants vs. regular traditional implants.  There should not be.  They both work and they both work well.  It's more of an issue of choice for the patient.  If a patient does not choose regular traditional implants they should not be told to just go home; they should have been offered mini dental implants.  With 40 - 50 Million Americans without teeth, implant treatment should not be only for the rich.  Mini Dental Implants offer what was once not possible for most patients.  With only 3% of Americans with Dental Implants we as Dentists have so much work to do.   It would take us our entire careers to help everyone live a better life with dental implants. 

Mini Dental Implants do integrate (bond) to the bone. 

They are approved to use in the USA by the FDA for long term use anywhere in the mouth.

I can tell you that my success after placing over 1500 mini implants is the same as regular conventional dental implants.  I encourage patients who have reservations to make a consultation with a skilled Dentists (Oral Surgeon, Periodontists, or General Dentist) who places traditional implants and a Dentist who places mini dental implants.  I would ask each one to see examples of their final results and how many implants they have placed.  With that information I think patients are well equiped to make a choice that is appropriate for them. 

Mini Dental Implants are so small, will they holdup in my mouth?  I was told they would break.

Mini Dental Implants are made from titanium alloy.  This alloy is 1.6 x stronger than CP(Commercially Pure) Titanium.  Most mini dental implants are between 2.0mm and 3.0mm in size and fracture LESS because they are SOLID.  A regular conventional implant is two pieces that is held together with a screw.  If the traditional implant on average is 4.0mm wide and the screw hole in the center is 2.0mm wide then the outer wall of the implant is at most 1.0mm.  Because of the one piece design the mini dental implant will fracture less than a regular traditional implant.

Do Mini Dental Implants integrate or bond to the bone?  I was told they do not.

All the mini dental implants we use are made from the same Titanium alloy used in making the larger regular style traditional implant.  The surface coatings are the exact same, so if titanium integrates (bonds) with the bone, the same will happen with a mini dental implant.  Studies now show this to be true.

Paresh B Patel DDS  Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implants

 

Mini Dental Implants to replace a Missing Front Upper Tooth

Our next patient was missing one of his front teeth....well actually he is missing a few of his teeth.  However our plan is to replace these missing upper teeth with mini dental implants and crowns a few at a time as he can afford to do so. 

 

 

 

 

 

He has an upper plastic partial denture plate.  We will remove the plastic denture teeth as the crowns and mini dental implants are added.

 

Mini Dental Implants in place ready for impression to send to First Impressions Dental Lab for Porcelain Crowns.

 

 

 

Mini Dental Implants Day of Placement.....notice no gum incision or bleeding in area of placement.  Minimal surgery for faster healing and less patient discomfort. 

 

 

 

Paresh B Patel DDS  Mini Dental Implants

Dentist Mooresville NC

Upper Partial or Mini Dental Implant Bridge?

It seems here lately we have had a lot of patients come in that are unhappy, frustrated and just don't like their partial dentures.  They specifically want to just get rid of it and replace it with some mini dental implants and a set of porcelain crowns or porcelain bridges. 

 

Photo of my patients existing upper partial denture that replaces most of her upper front teeth.  I did not think it looked all that bad for being 7 years old....she just did not like it.  The way it kept her from tasting her food, the way she talked with it, the bulk of metal as she put it on the roof of her mouth.  She also did not like the lower but wanted to start with replacing the top partial plate with mini dental implants and a bridge.

 

 

Like most patients that seem to find me...she had what looked at initial glance good bone.  However on the x-ray it was mostly tissue.  It had just been too long since the teeth had been extracted and the bone had just melted away.  Without roots the body over time just starts taking away the bone.  If an ill fitting partial sits and rubs on the bone year after year it accelerates the process of bone resorption.

 

So we went over the options as usual of traditional implants and some bone augmentation or I could use what bone she had, place at least 6 minis and make her a 8 tooth bridge to replace her missing teeth. 

 

I used her existing upper partial denture plate as a guide on where I could place the mini dental implants.  I drilled a hole in the center of each tooth, placed in back in her mouth and with a marking stick located the ideal place for the mini implant. 

 

 

 

Of course in her mouth most of the 'ideal' locations had less than ideal bone. 

 

 

 Photo of 6 mini dental implants placed day of.  You can see 2 areas where we tried to get the last 2 mini dental implants in but found poor bone.  These areas will just fill back in with gum tissue. 

 

 

A impression was taken of the mini dental implants and off to First Impressions Dental Lab for them to make the 8 tooth porcelain bridge.  In three weeks her mini dental implant bridge will be back and I will post the photos.

Paresh B Patel DDS mini dental implant dentist

Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implants to Secure a Lower Partial

The uses for a mini dental implant never stop amazing me.  Today we had a fella come in who had broken his lower little front tooth. 

 

Clinical photo of the broken lower front tooth....it was broken below the level of the gum tissue.

 

 

 

So I decided to extract the root tip for him with some peritomes to save as much bone on the lip side as possible to hold our ?????  You guessed it, a mini dental implant.

 

Picture of extracted root tip and the Intra Lock MILO 3.0 x 15mm mini dental implant in the socket where the root was. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture of the mini dental implant 'snap' in place over the o-ball.  This is what will fit inside his partial denture to hold this side of the lower partial. 

 

 

 

 

Picture of the impression metal cap fitted over the mini dental implant.  This will be picked up in our impression so the lab can place a replica of the implant before the pour the stone model.  Once that is done they can process the 'snap' under the replacement denture tooth. 

 

 

 

Impression of mini dental implant and partial to be sent to First Impressions Dental Lab to add a snap and a tooth. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final x-ray of mini dental implant in place where the root tip was...day of placement. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our goal is to add a few more mini dental implants over time and then get rid of his lower partial denture for either a full set of fixed crowns or a secure lower denture.  At the end of the procedure our patient commented on how quick and painless the entire process had been.  It nice that such new products exist for us as dentists to offer such a non invasive, non surgical approach to dental implants.

Paresh B Patel DDS  mini dental implants 

Dentist Mooresville NC