When tooth loss occurs, titanium screws placed into the jawbone to replace missing teeth are called dental implants. A dental implant takes the place of your missing tooth and is embedded into the bone like a tooth root.

Why Dental Implant?

• When you lose any tooth, your chewing efficiency decreases. If the lost tooth is one of the back teeth, you will feel this more significantly. In the case of losing front teeth, you may face aesthetic and social issues. In traditional treatments, fixed porcelain bridges were used to replace missing teeth. For this procedure, at least two teeth adjacent to the missing tooth were reduced in size by being completely trimmed around, and the load of the missing tooth was distributed to the other teeth. If any problem occurred with any of the bridge abutment teeth, the entire treatment would fail. In dental implant treatment, a porcelain crown is placed on the implant that replaces your missing tooth, and the neighboring teeth are not negatively affected by the treatment in any way.
• When a tooth is missing, the jawbone in that area becomes non-functional and begins to resorb quickly. This is a natural rule in the body—tissues that are not used gradually deteriorate. However, with dental implant treatment, since the bone regains function, the risk of bone loss is eliminated.
• When a tooth is missing, the neighboring teeth tend to shift or tilt toward the empty space. Gaps form between the other teeth, causing aesthetic problems. Food can get trapped in these gaps, which disrupts eating comfort and leads to significant gum issues. Sometimes, the shifting of adjacent teeth into the empty space occurs so severely that it makes any future treatment in that area impossible. In dental implant treatment, since the implant is placed where the extracted tooth was, the overall dynamics of the mouth are preserved without disruption.
• Bone loss that occurs along with tooth loss causes a loss of facial support. The shape of our face is influenced by our jaw and facial bones, as well as the muscle tissues above them. When bone resorption accompanies tooth loss, depending on the amount of loss in that area, facial support and aesthetics are also affected. Dental implant treatment eliminates all these negative effects. Since the bone volume and gum form are preserved as in natural teeth, the restorations made with implants can achieve much more aesthetic results compared to traditional bridge treatments.

Dental Implants and Removable Dentures
In cases where all teeth are lost, patients using complete dentures are never fully satisfied. Considering how these dentures are made, achieving full satisfaction is quite unlikely. Complete dentures rest only on the soft tissues of the mouth and cannot be fully stabilized. Their chewing efficiency is only about 40-50% compared to natural teeth. This situation makes it difficult to enjoy meals and properly chew food. The fear that the denture might move or come loose while speaking in public also causes social isolation. These problems are much more common with lower jaw dentures.

So, what can be done in this situation?
With dental implant treatments, even if you have no teeth at all, you can have fixed teeth like in your youth that you do not need to remove from your mouth.
For this, 6 to 8 implants should be placed in both the upper and lower jaws.

In cases where bone structure, general health, or socioeconomic conditions do not allow for placing many implants, 2 implants can be applied in the lower jaw and 4 implants in the upper jaw to stabilize the dentures. With this method, you can have dentures that you can remove whenever you want but can be securely fixed in your mouth while wearing them, allowing you to eat comfortably.

How Is a Dental Implant Done?
Dental implant placement is a minimally invasive surgical procedure. It is painless and performed under local anesthesia. The duration of the procedure varies between 20 and 90 minutes depending on the number of implants to be placed. After the screw is inserted into the bone, a small stitch is made. You will not feel any pain during the procedure. After the anesthesia wears off, you may experience mild pain that can be controlled with painkillers.
 

• Since it is a surgical procedure, you will need to take a course of antibiotics as a prophylactic measure after the operation.
• Applying ice to the operation area for the first 2 days will help reduce any minor swelling that may occur.
• It is recommended to eat soft foods and keep the operation area clean for the first few days. Using an antibacterial mouthwash is also advised.
• Your stitches will be removed one week later.
• If you have a busy work schedule, you can return to work the very next day.
• There is no problem with driving after the operation.
• Two to three months after the procedure, your prosthetic teeth will be placed on the implant.

If you have a tooth that needs to be extracted, the implant can be placed in the extraction site during the same session. However, certain conditions must be met for this. There must be no infection in the tooth or surrounding tissues, and there should be no damage to the socket bone around the tooth root. This procedure, called immediate implantation, can only be applied to the front teeth and small molars.

Can Dental Implants Be Applied to Everyone?
Yes, almost everyone can have dental implants. Dental implants are a minimally invasive procedure. They're not scary. When performed by a professional, the risks are minimal. If your general health issues don't prevent this procedure, in which case we'll make the decision after a consultation with your doctor, you can have dental implants.

The quantity and quality of bone in the area requiring implants can sometimes be a barrier. We evaluate this situation using advanced diagnostic methods, and if there are no significant bone deformities, we can perform implant placement using grafting (bone addition) methods.