Mini Implants

A New Approach To Dental Implants

Dental implants have given many of our patients a new lease of life; dentures permanently replaced with fixed crowns and bridgework, loose dentures stabilised with magnets or clips.

The shape and surface of implants has changed greatly since Neil started to place implants way back in the mid-1980s. We have worked with many different systems to overcome particular problems for individual patients. One of several systems that we are using now is the Sendax Mini-Implant system.

There are many situations where conventionally shaped implants cannot be placed, either because of medical problems that preclude the surgery required, or the jaw bone is just too narrow. Whilst narrow bone can sometimes be dealt with by grafting bone from elsewhere in the mouth or hip, this is a big and costly extra operation and delays the treatment time by up to 6 months.

The Sendax Mini-Implant system gets round this problem by providing solid one-stage implants which are narrow enough (approx 2mm wide) to be placed in most situations.

Placement

The placement of the implant takes only a few minutes and is performed under local anaesthesia. The gum is punctured by a tiny bur and the implant introduced gently through the gum with minimum fuss. There is not usually any need for stitches in the gum as the puncture site is so small.

Making the Crowns

After placement the implant protrudes approximately 4mm into the mouth. On to this a temporary crown or bridge may be placed. This is then left for 2-3 months so that the bone fuses with the implant becoming a rigid extension that can then have a the definitive crown or bridge made to blend in with the rest of your mouth.

Im happy with my denture if it just wasn't so LOOSE!

In this situation help is at hand! We place 4 mini-implants in the lower jaw, or six in the upper jaw and these have a ball shaped stud on the top.  Placing the implants and relining with a soft temporary lining takes 60-90 minutes. Once the implants have fused with the bone (we like to wait about 12 weeks), a ball housing is then placed over the studs and the existing denture relined at the chair-side to provide a rigidly retained denture which doesn't pop out when they talk or eat but can be removed to clean.