No Bone Solutions:

Many people have lost their teeth over time and so have lost substantial amounts of bone. It is often when the bone has been lost that the problems become apparent. Things like loose dentures, difficult chewing, poor facial profile or increased facial lines.

There are lots of ways to replace missing teeth and several techniques available for when the bone has been lost. We are fortunate to have a highly skilled team at Seapoint so we can offer all the best methods of tooth replacement with implants. Even if you have been previously told you do not have enough bone for implants we can nearly always provide you with an implant based solution.

Short Implants:

There are many different designs of dental implants and in cases where there is little bone it is possible to use one designed for this purpose. Some implants make up for the lack of length by increasing their surface area with fins and incerased width. These implants have a long history of success and allow us to avoid alot of grafting where there is not a major deficiency of bone.

Example of short implants only 6mm long.

Bone Grafts:

Where a large amount of bone has been lost it is possible to grow bone back prior to placing dental implants. This bone can be either synthetic, bovine or from somewhere else in your mouth or body. The procedure may be done under local anaesthetic or general where it is more extensive. This is a very effective way or both getting implants but also in restoring the jawbone to close to its original position and size.

A small bone graft can be performed to improve the soft tissue appearance at the same time as the implant is placed or if it is more extensive it may require a seperate appointment. The procedure itself is not painful as you are completely numb.

Nerve Lateralisation:

This technique is very useful in the lower jaw for replacing back teeth when the bone has been lost and there is insufficient bone over the nerve to allow implant placement. In this procedure the nerve is gently repositioned to the side of the implant and a normal implant can then be placed. This procedure can produce some temporary alteration or loss in sensation of the nerve but it will return within 6 months in nearly every case.

Zygoma Implants:

When the top jaw has lost alot of bone and a bone graft is not preferred by the patient, an implant which uses the bone in the zygoma can be used instead. This implant is longer than traditional implants and emerges slightly on the palate in the mouth but is extremely useful when patients are lacking bone but still want fixed teeth. It is usually necessary to join a few of these implants together for success and so it is typically done for a full jaw of implants.

Ct Scans:

We have our own Ct scanner onsite and this allows us to see problems in 3d. Sometimes there is enough bone in width but not in height above a nerve. With our CT we can check this where a normal X-ray cannot. We can then place a different implant safely where you may have been previously told it`s not possible.

Ask your dentist at Seapoint about these options for more details of which is most useful to you. A full examination and radiographs will be necessary to plan your treatment properly.