Tooth implants - The procedure (Part 4):
Placing stitches. / Healing times. / Placing a dental crown.

What procedure do dentists follow when they place tooth implants? (Part 4)

(Our description of the dental implant placement procedure begins here.)

Step 11) The gum tissue is positioned back around the tooth implant.

The dentist will now screw a closure cap onto the exposed portion of the dental implant that they have just placed so its internal aspects are sealed off from the oral environment.

Placing stitches.

They will then trim the two flaps of gum tissue and reposition them back over the patient's jawbone and around the dental implant. They will also place a few sutures (stitches) in the gum tissue to hold it in position.

The stitches are usually left in place for about seven days. After this time period the gum tissue will have healed sufficiently that the stitches can be removed (a very painless procedure). In most cases the implant is given a period of three to six months to heal (osseointegrate with the patient's bone) before it is restored.

The procedure utilized with some implant requires two separate surgeries.

In some cases, the tooth implant process requires two separate surgical procedures. The initial surgery involves the placement of the dental implant itself as we have just described, with the exception that at the completion of this first surgery the gum tissue flaps are positioned back so they completely cover over both the jawbone and the dental implant.

A less involved surgery (one that typically only involves manipulating gum tissue, not trimming bone) is then performed after the healing (osseointegration) of the dental implant has taken place. The purpose of this surgery is to expose the top portion of the dental implant so it can be accessed and have a dental restoration made for it.

Step 12) The dentist will create the permanent dental restoration for the tooth implant.

How much healing time must elapse before a crown can be placed on an implant?

In most cases, a dentist will wait three to six months before beginning the process used to create an implant's dental crown. This is the time frame needed for the osseointegration ('fusion') of the dental implant with its surrounding bone. The precise amount of time that is allowed, however, can vary.

When making a determination about the needed healing time frame, the dentist will take into consideration the type of bone in which the implant has been placed (both bone quality and quantity), the implant's size, and the type of surface treatment that the implant has received during its manufacturing process.

The implant healing process.

The reason that a waiting period is normally required before a tooth implant can be restored is founded on the following.

If an implant is placed placed under a load while its healing process is taking place, the resulting implant movement can result in the formation a fibrous tissue encapsulation of the implant rather than a state of osseointegration (intimate implant to bone contact).

Creating a dental crown for the tooth implant.

Once an adequate healing period has elapsed the implant can have its needed dental restoration fabricated and placed. The first step towards this goal involves removing the closure cap that was screwed onto the implant and replacing it with a suitable abutment. This abutment portion of the dental implant provides the nub over which the final dental restoration can be anchored.

It may be possible for your dentist to place a temporary crown while the implant's healing process takes place.

It can be possible that a dental implant can be restored with a temporary dental restoration at the time during which it is initially placed (before the osseointegration process has occurred). The esthetic and functional advantages that the dental patient receives are obvious.

For this scenario to be possible, the tooth implant must have good primary stability (is anchored firmly in the bone at the time it is initially placed). Additionally, the temporary dental restoration placed on the implant needs to be designed where the level of chewing forces it transfers to the implant will not be greater than that which its primary stability can withstand.