Crowns, Bridges, Dentures, Implants

Teeth-in-a-day implants: are they as good?

08/28/2007

Question:

First, thank you for your previous answer to my question concerning implants. Because of it I just had a tooth removed and an implant put in and should be receiving the permanent crown in 6 months. However yesterday I saw an article in the Sept. issue of the Reader`s Digest that dealt with advances in dentistry. It said that it is now possible to replace a tooth with an implant in one day! Neither my oral surgeon, who is very well respected, nor my prosthodontist who is also well respected and head of my local university`s prosthodontic department even suggested this alternative. Then I came across an ad in the paper in which a dentist offered this procedure, saying it was also less expensive. What gives? If this proceedure can really give you a new tooth in a day and at lower cost why hasn`t it supplanted the "old" method? Shouldn`t I have been made aware of it?

Answer:

It is true that immediate loading of a tooth in a day can be done in selected cases. Most likely, you were not a good candidate for this type of delivery, so therefore it was not discussed with you. Waiting for healing is still the most predictable method.

For more information:

Go to the Crowns, Bridges, Dentures, Implants health topic, where you can:

Read articles on this topic
Browse the previously asked questions
Ask your own question.

Response by:

Nancy L. Clelland, DMD, MSD
Associate Professor of Restorative Dentistry
Section of Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics
College of Dentistry
The Ohio State University