Can You Get Dental Implants in a Week?
The short answer is YES – some dental implants can be laced in the mouth and used in a week. Some even the same day.
But the tooth on top of the post/implant is always a temporary. The permanent tooth is always made a few months later.
There are some types of dental implants which claim to be immediately functional, and which can be used within a week or even the same day, and studies have shown that these implants have a similar success rate to conventional implants which cannot be loaded until a healing period of between three and six months has elapsed. That’s the good news, but the reality is that only a small percentage of patients are suitable for this procedure, and that most would benefit from using the more conventional implant procedure as the results are much more predictable and safer.
The benefits of having implants that are functional within a week are pretty obvious in that it gives a much better patient experience and can be less traumatic. However there must be sufficient bone to support the dental implants and the patients must be in very good general health and cannot be smokers or suffer from any systemic diseases such as HIV or diabetes that could compromise their immune system.
This system is also unsuitable for anybody who has bruxism as this would place too much pressure on the implants. They also need to be prepared to take extremely good care over their oral hygiene. In addition people having this procedure may need to follow a soft diet for between eight and twelve weeks after the surgery. The dentist must do a thorough assessment of someone’s suitability for this procedure to ensure it is really the best course of treatment.
Immediate load implants require the tooth in question to be removed effectively without removing any bone after which the implant can be placed and its stability tested by the application of suitable force using a torque wrench. After this an immediate abutment and temporary crown can be placed. The temporary crown is purely for cosmetic purposes and is adjusted to ensure no load can be applied to the implant under normal circumstances. This is to enable healing of the bone to take place over the next two or three months. After the process is completed an x-ray is taken to confirm the implant is successful.
Once the implant has fully integrated then a permanent crown can be fitted. This takes a few weeks to make.
While one advantage of this type of implant is the convenience of not being without teeth or having uncomfortable temporary fitted, and another advantage is that the tissues and gum surrounding the tooth are less likely to recede. In traditional implant surgery the gum is allowed to heal for several months before the implant is placed and there is always the risk that delayed placement can allow the gums to recede which may affect the gum line on the finished restoration.
