implants questions

[thetiggler]

1) In the old days if you lost all your teeth you got a set of dentures/false teeth. You got 2 dentures one for the upper part of the mouth and one for the lower part. Can you do something similar with implants? So in other words you sort of implant set of dentures rather than implanting each tooth one by one? I hope I explained myself well. What would be the approximate cost?

2) What is the difference between the Branemark system, Straumann system and Zimmer system?

3) When I look at a lot dental implant websites they say something like Branemark system implant will cost X amount without crown. What do they mean by this? Are they saying

A) All implants need a crown and that will cost extra

B) You can have an implant only but if you want to make the tooth look even better you need a crown as well

C) Not all implants need a crown but in some cases it is essential and that will cost extra

4) A related question. How long do you think we are away from being able to rergrow our missing teeth?

[Dr Pav Khaira]

You can certainly have dentures made ontop of implants. These are an excellent method for replacing missing teeth.

There are a number of implant systems which have an excellent long term record. The most commonly used in the UK are Branemark, Astra and Straumann.

It sounds like the websites you have seen are giving indications for cost of placing implants but not for replacing your missing teeth. This means that whatever fees you see there are incomplete and there will be a further fee for replacing your teeth. This fee can be difficult to estimate without a full consultation as restoration depends on complexity and type of restoration used, whether it is a crown, bridge or denture.

We are currently not very far off from being able to re-grow teeth in a laboratory, however at the moment there is no way we have the technology or understanding to be able to get these teeth to integrate into the mouth. So at least for the foreseeable future implants are here to stay!

I hope this helps

Kindest regards