The Two Types of Dental Implants
Posted on: 21 August 2018
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Your dentist may recommend dental implants for a number of reasons. Sometimes they are needed because of damage that has occurred to your teeth either from decay or from some sort of trauma. In other situations, implants are fitted to improve the appearance of your teeth. Whether you have them fitted as a part of a cosmetic dentistry procedure or not, there are two main types of dental implants, endosteal and subperiosteal. What are they and what augmentation might you need to accommodate them?
Endosteal Implants
This type of dental implant is the smaller and more common of the two. Typically, endosteal implants are fitted with small screws into the jawbone. This gives them a strong anchoring point which means that the implants are unlikely to shift around as you use them to bite and chew. Endosteal implants are more frequently recommended than the other type for cosmetic procedures especially if no other structural dental work is required. These implants are made from non-corrosive materials such as titanium that will last a very long time in the mouth without any problems.
Subperiosteal Implants
Fitted beneath the line of the gum but not into the jawbone itself, subperiosteal implants are fixed firmly in place but don't offer the same level of anchoring that endosteal implants do. They tend to be recommended to patients who do not want their jawbones drilled into. In some cases, it is necessary to opt for a subperiosteal implant because the jawbone is not sufficiently strong to take the sort of trauma caused by drilling into it. You might be offered a subperiosteal implant if you have lost teeth when you broke your jaw, for example.
Jawbone Augmentation
In order to make a weak jawbone stronger, there are a number of techniques available to dentists. They mean that it becomes possible to install endosteal implants where otherwise subperiosteal ones would have been the only choice. In many cases, dental healthcare professionals will advise undergoing jawbone augmentation in order to make the bone sufficiently strong to accept the screws of an endosteal implant. In some cases, bone additives are used to promote the natural growth and repair of a weak or damage jawbone. However, this is not the only option. Sometimes dentists will recommend a sinus lift procedure whereby a natural section of bone is surgically added to the jawbone. Where the bone is too thin to accommodate an endosteal implant, you may be offered a similar, widening procedure known as ridge expansion.