Two quite different dental procedures with unfortunately similar names can sometimes cause confusion. Reimplantation is the process where a tooth that has been dislodged, usually through trauma, is fixed back into the mouth. Dental implants Leicester, on the other hand, make use of artificial titanium components that act as roots, attaching crown-like prosthetics to your jawbone. Quite the difference in procedure for a similar name!
Immobilised dental prosthetics
When it is often referred to as oral implants, it would be more accurately called an immobilised dental prosthetic. The procedure is carried out over two sessions with a lengthy gap in between to allow new bone to form.
During the first session, the gum is opened and a titanium implant is placed into the jawbone; this either uses a recently vacant socket or a new hole drilled into the jaw. The gum is closed around this implant and often stitched or glued. This holds the implant in place as it goes through a process called osseointegration, with new bone growing around it and the jaw locking it in place. This can take anywhere between 4 months to a year.
When the implant is fully fused in place (usually checked by x-ray), the prosthetic can be fitted on top of it. For some patients, this is an individual tooth, but for others, a set of implants can be used to hold a bridge or denture in place.
Replanting a patient’s tooth
A tooth is reimplanted when it has been cleanly dislodged from its socket, usually during trauma. More often than not, teeth break before they become dislodged from the jaw, leaving a shattered or bifurcated tooth. But, if a tooth has been removed as a whole, then there is an opportunity to re-implant it. For this to be successful, time is of the essence. The removed tooth must be reintroduced back into its socket preferably within a few hours of the loss, and, when carried out without complications, it will be as strong and healthy as any of the undisturbed teeth.
Common complications can be caused by infections underneath the tooth; this area has very little blood flow. So, if an infection is introduced, it is likely to become an abscess rather than resolving on its own. But even late reimplantation necessitates a root canal, which is preferable to losing the tooth entirely.
Time is the critical difference
So, the big deciding factor is time; reimplantation is an emergency procedure, and any local dental clinic should see you in a pinch to save your tooth. An oral implant involves a very methodical thought process based on restoring teeth, and so, it is worth weighing up your options to find an experienced dentist with a long track record of successful implantation.
Even if both finish off with a tooth rather than a gap, any well-performed implants with good quality prosthetics are completely seamless in matching whichever tooth you may have lost. They should be approached differently, and reimplanting or even reconstructing a shattered tooth is always recommended.