Better Denture Implants

Better Denture Implants
April 21, 2005
6 News WLNS.com
Dental implants can help a people get back to a normal life, but the healing process can take a while. Now the Government has approved a new implant process that heals faster and stronger.
Asher Dimor suffered from multiple dental problems, so he decided to have his remaining teeth taken out and have dentures put in, but a thin gum line made it difficult to keep the dentures in place.
Asher Dimor, denture wearer: "Very difficult for me to eat."
Dr. Steven Schwartz, NY Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: "When he tries to wear a lower denture, it literally flops around in his mouth."
One solution is dental implants. Posts are surgically screwed into the gums. Patients are eventually given special dentures that lock into place.
Dr. Steven Schwartz: "And the top of the implant has a little snap, almost like when you would snap your shirt."
The downside of implants is the healing time. It can take 3-6 months before the posts bond to the jaw bone, which means patients have to wait that long for their replacement teeth, but Ashur is getting implants recently approved by the FDA. The new fixtures are coated with flouride ions. Those ions trigger the growth of something called osteoblasts.
Dr. Steven Schwartz: "Osteoblasts are bone-forming cells, those are your cells that grow new bone. That new bone growth allows the jaw to bond with the implant faster and stronger."
The new implants are probably anywhere from 30 to 50% faster than the old implants, which means patients like Ashur can get their new teeth weeks faster than before.