How to determine the number of required implants?

Number of implantsIf the restorative dental treatment is necessary, besides the selection of high-quality implants and a good specialist, this poses the question about the number of required implants. And if there is one missing tooth, the answer is obvious, but if you want to restore three, four or more teeth in the dentition, one of the preparation stages for surgery becomes the joint decision with the implant surgeon about the necessary number of implants. The choice of dental implant technique as well as the duration of treatment and the cost depends on it.

The rule “one tooth – one implant” works only with a single defect of the dentition, in other cases the situation varies. If there are two or three missing teeth it will be optimal to place two implants to fixate the dental bridge which consists of two or three crowns depending on the number of restorable teeth. The saving in this case will cause problems as having restored two or three teeth supported by both an implant and a natural tooth, the doctor risks to remove the natural tooth, damaged by the excessive loading, integrate a new implant and replace missing teeth from the very beginning. Indeed, the misdistribution of loading leads to disastrous consequences and nullifies the treatment.

Absence of four or five teeth leads to the need to choose at least three implants with the accurate centering of the middle one according to two others that is optimal support of the denture in this case.

In case of fully edentulous in one or two dental arches, the dentist will not recommend a single implant for each tooth but suggest the technique of denture restoration on four implants or give proofs of the use of 8 to 10 implants under the full denture, fixed on them, and replacing the entire dental arch. Removable dentures have their own rules and, using them, it is possible to reduce the number of implants.

So how to determine the number of required implants? It is important to understand that the therapeutic approach is determined by the doctor, and he should take the final decision about the optimal number of implants in each individual case. Of course, he should take into account the possibilities of the patient and his fully informing about the reasons of the taken decision with regard to his health.

The number of implants to be placed will also be affected by the following factors:

– the bone condition and its ability for integration of  the planned number of implants;

– the financial capacities  of the patient that can not cause a breach  of the dental implant procedure, as compromise decisions can entail even larger costs on the replacement of misloaded implants and dental prosthetics;

– fixed or removable implant design, i.e. type of dental prosthetics.

Specialists of the company Bio3 Implants recommend when choosing the number of implants to hold the opinion of the attending physician, as only he/she can optimally estimate the condition of bone tissue, the distribution of the loading on the design and the general state of the patient’s health – everything that is important for the successful dental implant procedure.