|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
From Design to Reality Using One Piece Implants for Bridge in Front
A 68-year-old lady has lost several teeth, which are replaced by two dentures. She wants to have a bridge (a fixed prosthesis (fake teeth)) for missing lower incisors (Fig.1 (three-D image of CT): from #23-26). The best option is to place two implants and make a bridge over these two implants.
Fig.2 is a section at level of roots of the lower teeth. The bone is skinny: the front-to-back (buccolingual) width is about 4 mm. The bone is thin because the front teeth have been lost for more than 20 years. The two red circles represent two of 3-mm implants to be placed at the sites of #23 and #26, where the bone is the thickest.
Fig.3 and 4 are front-to-back (sagittal) sections for the sites of #23 and 26, respectively. The widths of the crest (on the top of the lower jaw bone) are 3.8 and 3.3 mm, respectively. The height is more than 15 mm.
We place two of 3x17 mm one-piece implants and immediately fabricate a temporary 3-unit bridge. Three months and a half later, a permanent bridge is cemented (Fig.5). X-ray in Fig.6 is taken another one month and a half later. The patient is doing great.
Xin Wei, DDS, PhD, MS 1st edition 07/19/2012, last revision 04/18/2020