The mini dental implant is a relatively new innovation in dentistry, but it has already made a huge difference for patients seeking restorative dental treatment.
In this short article our Saint Louis mini dental implant dentists will be giving you some information about how mini implants work, and what they can do for patients suffering from tooth loss.
A mini dental implant is very similar in concept to a full-sized dental implant. Every mini implant has a small titanium root that sits in the patient’s jawbone. This mini implant root is made of titanium, and it designed to fill the hole left by the missing tooth root. Over time, mini implant roots bond with the bone tissues around them,
Sometimes mini dental implant roots are capped with tooth-like restorations, so as to create stand-alone replacement teeth. Mini dental implants can fit into tight spaces along the patient’s gum-line, and they do not require as much jawbone density as full-sized dental implants do to stay in place.
Mini implants are frequently used to hold other dental prosthetics—like dentures—permanently in place. In this case, our dentist inserts a few mini implant roots into strategic places along the patient’s gum-line. Each one of these mini implant roots will be capped with a restoration that looks similar to the ball in a ball and socket joint. The bottom of the patient’s prosthetic is retrofitted with sockets that will lock into place over the ball joints. Once a denture is secured with mini dental implants, the denture is not removable.
Mini dental implants have increased the number of tooth replacement options that we are able to offer in our Saint Louis dental implant dentist office. Our dental team would be happy to give you more information about all of your restorative dentistry options—just give us a call or submit a question on our Contact Us page.