Mini Dental Implants in Buffalo, NY

Todd Shatkin DDS is a leading cosmetic dentist specializing in Mini Dental Implants for patients in Amherst, Williamsville, Clarence, Buffalo, Western New York, the United States and Internationally.  If you or someone you love is looking for a solution to missing or damaged teeth, contact the Aesthetic Associates Centre today for a free consultation.

Losing your natural teeth can be very traumatic and can greatly affect your self-confidence, self-esteem, nutrition, and overall quality of a life. For many, the traditional options for replacing a full set of teeth have been dentures or implants. Both options come with advantages and disadvantages, but a new technique, mini dental implants, combines the benefits of both and offers a great alternative to teeth replacement.

Mini dental implants from Aesthetic Associates Centre can replace teeth quicker and at a lower cost than conventional dental implants. In fact, in most cases, the entire procedure can be completed in a single visit, allowing patients to eat with new teeth the same day.

Mini Dental Implants in Buffalo, NY Implant Dentist Dr. Todd ShatkinBut replacing missing teeth with mini dental implants is about more than dental function. Dental implants can provide the confidence you lost with missing teeth, loose-fitting dentures, and speech difficulties. Mini dental implants can help give you a full smile and comfortable teeth that stay in place while eating or talking.

Mini dental implants combine the benefits of dentures with the benefits of implants. Dentures have always been a low-cost way to replace lost teeth, but they can be uncomfortable and, because they are removable, can slip or fall out when chewing or talking. This can be embarrassing and often leave people feeling uncomfortable in social situations. Dental implants provide permanent replacement teeth that are strong and durable, but the cost is often higher than people can afford. This is where mini dental implants solve the problem.

Read on for a comprehensive guide to mini dental implants.

How Conventional Dental Implants Work

Conventional dental implants are embedded into the jaw to provide a secure mount for crowns and dentures. Specifically, dental implants include a mount with a threaded screw that is embedded into the jaw. A post is attached to the screw to hold a crown or dental bridge. In essence, the dental implant acts like a natural tooth, with its root embedded in the jaw to hold the crown securely.

Conventional dental implants usually have separate screws and posts. This structure requires two-stage implantation, where the bone and gum tissue is allowed to grow around the screw before the crown or dental appliance is attached to the screw via a post.

However, conventional dental implants cannot be used in many situations:

  • Conventional dental implants are too big to hold small teeth, like incisors.
  • Conventional dental implants are too wide to fit into small gaps or narrow jaw bones.
  • Conventional dental implants require several visits to complete and, as a result, can be costly.
  • The process for implanting conventional dental implants can be painful and highly invasive.

How Mini Dental Implants Work

Mini dental implants perform the same function as conventional dental implants. However, mini dental implants have a different structure, which provides substantial benefits over conventional dental implants.

Mini dental implants are, as their name suggests, smaller than conventional dental implants. On average, mini dental implants might be less than half the diameter of a conventional dental implant. For small teeth, small gaps, and narrow jaws, a smaller diameter might make a huge difference in the fit and ease of implantation.

Moreover, mini dental implants have only two parts rather than three parts. In a mini dental implant, the post is attached to the screw. This structure allows single-stage implantation where the screw is secured to the bone and the tooth or dental appliance is immediately mounted.

Implantation Process for Mini Implants

Dr. Shatkin of Aesthetic Associates Centre invented the mini dental implant procedure we use and has trained over 40,000 dental professionals on his patented technique. Additionally, Dr. Shatkin has placed over 45,000 mini dental implants with a success rate of 98%.

Mini dental implants are well-suited to solve many problems, from missing teeth to teeth that need to be removed and replaced. The typical process for treating patients with our implants includes:

  1. Examination: We examine the patient’s teeth, gums, and jaw. We take x-ray images so we know how much jaw bone and tissue we have to work with. Some of the factors we examine include the width of the bone available, whether there has been bone or tissue loss, and the strength of the bone.
  2. Consultation: After we gather some information, we can discuss your options for tooth replacement with you. Although many problems can be solved with mini dental implants, we perform many different procedures, including conventional dental implants, that may be better suited for your particular case.
  3. Preparation: Before your surgery for mini dental implants, we may need to prepare by extracting teeth or treating you for other dental conditions or diseases. Generally speaking, your jaw and gums must be strong enough to support a mini dental implant before we can operate.
  4. Surgery: On the day of surgery, you will receive anesthesia and your dentist will cut a small incision in your gum at the implantation site. A pilot hole is drilled into the jawbone and the threaded end of the implant is screwed into the bone with the post end protruding. The incision may require sutures to close.
  5. Mounting: If a single crown is attached to the post, it can be secured with a ball and socket joint or dental cement. For dentures, the ball and socket joint is usually preferred so you can remove the dentures for cleaning. In either case, the tooth or teeth are mounted immediately following implantation.
  6. Post-surgery: After surgery, you may feel some pain or discomfort for a few days. However, since the teeth are mounted before you leave our office, you can eat using your new teeth as soon as you are comfortable. In most cases, patients feel well enough to resume all normal activities within one to two days after surgery.

Caring for Your Dental Implants

Your mini dental implants will be relatively low maintenance. For single teeth, you will clean the crown just as you would clean your natural teeth. Brushing, flossing, and annual cleanings should keep your crown looking its best.

For dentures, your mini dental implants will allow removal for cleaning. The dentures will be held in place with a ball and socket joint at the end of the implant posts. You can detach the dentures by pulling straight off the posts. After cleaning, the dentures should snap back into place by aligning the O-rings of the dentures over the posts.

The implants themselves might also need cleaning. You might be advised to brush your implants after removing your dental appliance. At your annual dental examination, the posts of your implants might need to be cleaned to remove plaque buildup.

You should discuss care and maintenance of your crowns, dentures, and implants with our dental staff if you have any questions.

Who Can Benefit from Dental Implants?

Mini dental implants can be used to hold replacements for one or more teeth. In fact, mini dental implants can perform many of the same functions as traditional dental implants. Specifically, mini dental implants can be used to:

  • Hold a single crown to replace a missing tooth.
  • Provide two or more anchor points for a dental appliance such as dentures or dental bridges.

However, mini implants can perform some functions that traditional dental implants cannot including:

  • Securing a smaller replacement crown for an incisor or premolar.
  • Filling a narrow gap left by a missing tooth.
  • Providing an anchor for patients with narrow jaws or missing bone or tissue.

These functions arise directly from the smaller size of mini dental implants. Specifically, the diameter of mini dental implants is, in many cases, less than half of the diameter of conventional dental implants. However, the length of the threaded end of the dental implant is the same for both types of dental implants. As a result, both types of implants can provide a secure and stable anchor, but the mini implants take up less space.

Benefits of Mini Dental Implants

Mini dental implants provide many benefits compared to dentures and conventional crowns.

-Conventional crowns require enough tooth to create a secure bond. Moreover, the tooth must be strong enough to hold the crown without cracking and the root must be solid enough to support the crown and remaining tooth. By removing the tooth and replacing it with a mini implant, the screw and post replace the root and remaining tooth with a non-allergenic metal like titanium. This titanium implant is much stronger than tooth and holds the crown much more securely in the jaw.

-Dentures without implants can fit poorly or loosely. Improperly fitted dentures can cause many problems such as speech impediments, mouth sores, and inflamed gums. In serious cases, loose dentures can even lead to gum infections. Anchoring dentures with mini dental implants provides teeth that are secure.

-Even when they fit properly, patients with dental appliances often chew cautiously to prevent the bridge or denture from slipping. Moreover, sticky, hard, or fibrous foods can be excluded from the wearer’s diet to avoid destabilizing dentures. When dentures are secured with implants, they function like natural teeth allowing patient to chew like normal.

-Likewise, crowns can become loose over time. This not only leads to chewing difficulties, but can allow bacteria to decay the tooth holding the crown. When the underlying tooth is removed and the crown is secured to an implant, the patient does not need to worry about the implant decaying.

-Dentures can allow tissue and bone loss from lack of stimulation. This causes patients who wear dentures without implants to develop facial collapse where bone and tissue loss can lead to sunken features. However, implants provide pressure on the jaw bone that prevents bone and tissue loss.

-If crowns break, replacing them is much simpler with dental implants since the crown is usually cemented or screwed to the post. Consequently, replacing a crown is simply a matter of affixing the replacement crown to the post. By contrast, replacing a crown over a tooth root requires cleaning the tooth and fitting the crown to the tooth.

Comparison of Conventional Implants and Mini Implants

Conventional implants can provide relief for patients with tooth loss. Conventional and mini dental implants help patients chew and speak normally again.

Dental Considerations

However, conventional implants are different from mini implants. As a result, our dentists may recommend one form of implant over the other depending on your particular case. Some factors that might go into a dentist’s recommendation include:

Location: The location of the missing tooth might influence the dentist’s recommendation. Smaller or narrower teeth might be replaced using a mini dental implant rather than traditional dental implants. Similarly, teeth that experience more bite force during chewing might require the strength and size offered by a conventional implant rather than a mini dental implant.

Amount of support: As mentioned above, if the jaw bone is narrow or there has been too much tissue loss to support a traditional dental implant, a mini implant may still be possible. Because of the narrower diameter, a mini dental implant will often fit where a conventional dental implant would simply be too big or would require such a large hole that the bone would be weakened.

Need for a bone graft: When multiple teeth are lost, the lost bone tissue can be rebuilt with a bone graft. Because mini implants require less bone for support, they can be placed without first performing a bone graft. In some cases, there is not enough bone and supporting tissue for a mini implant. In these cases, a bone graft would be required before considering a dental implant.

Size of the dental appliance: When mini implants are used to hold dentures, their small size might require more anchoring points to hold the dentures securely. As a result, using mini implants to hold large dental appliances might be impractical in some cases.

Patient Considerations

If a dentist believes that both a mini implant and a conventional implant are options, the patient can weigh the benefits of each to come to a decision. Some of the factors a patient might consider include:

Number of visits: The techniques used to implant mini implants and convention implants are different. Specifically, conventional dental implants often require several visits to the dentist separated by a healing and ossification period. This spread-out schedule is deliberate, since implantation of conventional implants requires bone to grow around the implant. Mini implants, by contrast, are often accomplished in a single visit because they do not need to be completely attached to the jaw bone before mounting the crown or denture.

Invasiveness: The surgery needed for mini dental implants is far less invasive than the surgery for conventional dental implants. This difference is due in part to the size of the implant, which results in a larger incision and a larger drilled hole. The difference in invasiveness is also due to the greater number of visits required for conventional dental implants.

Recovery time: Patients with mini implants often experience discomfort for only a few days and are able to chew normally the same day. Patients with conventional dental implants go through a recovery and adjustment period after each visit. Moreover, because of the size of conventional dental implants, the pain associated with them may be more severe than with mini dental implants.

Cost: Mini implants are usually less expensive than conventional implants because they require fewer visits and are easier to implant. Moreover, mini implants do not require bone grafts, which contributes to the higher cost of conventional dental implants. Generally speaking, mini implants may cost around half as much as conventional implants, although every case will vary based on the amount of work needed.

Replacement: The duration of both mini dental implants and conventional dental implants is very long. However, if the dental implant needs to be replaced, a mini dental implant is generally easier to replace because it has fewer parts and requires less invasive surgery. As a result, patients may find it easier to live with mini dental implants over their lifetime than conventional dental implants.

Schedule A Free Consultation at The Aesthetic Associates Centre

As a pioneer in both the technology and techniques used in mini dental implants, Dr. Todd Shatkin has the knowledge and experience with mini dental implants to help almost any patient who has experienced tooth loss. Whether you lost a single tooth or have experienced the loss of multiple teeth, Dr. Shatkin and Aesthetic Associates Centre can help you find a solution to the speech, chewing, and smile problems your tooth loss has caused. In doing so, our goal is to help you recover your health, social confidence, and quality of life.

If you already have dentures, you may be able to use them with mini dental implant treatment. In many cases, your current dentures can be retrofitted to fit the implants and save on costs.

If you would like more information on how mini dental implants can help you achieve the healthy and beautiful smile you deserve, contact the Aesthetic Associates Centre today to arrange a free consultation with Dr. Todd Shatkin. Proudly serving patients in Amherst, Williamsville, Clarence, Buffalo, Western New York, the United States and Internationally.

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