A Leeds dentist has spoken out on the values and advantages of a Dental Implant. They were only developed in the 1960s, but they were an almost instant hit and still are today. The advances these days are so good that the cost and the time involved has been drastically reduced. The biggest asset about them is that once they are in, they need little or no maintenance other than the usual oral hygiene regime of cleaning them affectively. They are for all intents and purposes a fixed artificial tooth or set of teeth, they can be put in as one tooth or as a whole row, and they are better than the original teeth they are replacing. First a plate is inserted under the gum and screwed down to the jaw bone. This is then left to heal and for the bone to grow over the plate, which will have some pre drilled and screwed holes in it. Then posts are screwed into the holes and fixed with a cement to hold them. Once that is finished the ceramic tooth, which is designed from digital pictures of the mouth, is placed onto the post and pushed down into position. The whole process takes around 3-6 months, but once done it is then like having a whole new set of teeth to play with, any damaged ones can be easily replaced in a few weeks. The plates and posts are made from Titanium and they integrate very well with the jaw bone, the ceramic tooth itself looks and acts just like the real thing.
