Intra Lock – Page 2 – Implants By Paresh

OK…since I first found about the OCO i mini (i micro)dental implant in the 2.2 and 2.5mm diameters I have been dying to try some. A square crown and bridge head is just what I had looking for in the Intra Lock offering; but sadly enough they did not take me up on my suggestion.

In my hands I find more uses for a dental implant less than 3.0mm in size so the OCO i micro and i mini were a welcome addition. Each size comes in 10,12,14 and 16mm lengths and comes in either the square crown head or o-ball for denture use. Another good point about the OCO micro implants is that they use the same Imtec MDI or Intra Lock MDL drivers.

Alright enough of the nuts and bolts of mini implant sizes and companies…they all work so use what you like I guess. Now on to the main event.

My new patient came to see us to see if mini implants could help him either wear his upper denture again or to get rid of it totally and give him a fixed solution that he would not have to remove. After the appropriate discussions, diagnostic xrays and records we decided on a cost effective solution….8-9 mini implants to support a fixed hybrid cement retained upper bridge (or in simple terms a bridge made of metal, porcelain or resin teeth, and pink acrylic to replace the missing gum tissue) Even that is a mouthful to say (or put in!) Although the upper ridge looked wide and felt like it should have miles of good bone his maxillary sinuses had pneumatized (enlarged sinus cavities with little bone present).
OCO Biomedical mini implant size 2.5 x 12mm were used in this case
Since I am used to the Intra Lock packaging where there is no finger plug on the mini I did not particularly care for it and made the insertion into the bone a bit cumbersome for me. I think the Intra Lock mini implant direct to implant handpiece for insertion makes more sense.

However in the end I do like the OCO product…the mini or micro implant feels sturdy and the thread pattern cuts and condenses bone very nicely. By the 3rd one I had gotten used to the finger driver step before seating the implant fully with the implant handpiece.

I was able to get 9 OCO mini implants in place…a post op iCAT scan was taken to ensure that I got them in bone. We reamed out holes in his upper denture to cover the OCO imicro implants.

A PVS impression was taken in a duplicate denture we made in our Lang duplicating flask. That way the lab has the correct vertical dimension for his bite, and a guide for his tooth setup. Once the case is mounted the crown abutments will be adjusted in the mouth with a reduction jig for draw and room.

I will post the impression, metal work tryin, final product soon.

Paresh B Patel DDS – Dentist Mooresville NC

Mooresville NC http://www.dentalminiimplant.com or http://lkndds.com

At the last Annual meeting for Mini Implant Dentists a friend of mine, Dr. Steve Brown, showed several of his cases where he used one mini dental implant for each root on a missing tooth. Of course I thought, huh? Not a bad idea, but is there really space?

To confirm I spoke with Valdi at Sam Shatkin's FIRST Labs. Valdi is the master lab tech at the Lab and he said, 'No problem, Dr. Brown has been doing that for years.' So with that information in hand I had to give it a try.

So, having the sink or swim kind of attitude, I enlisted the help of a friend and long time patient of mine. He had a missing upper molar that he desperately wanted back, not to mention he had been bugging me to death about it.

So with the big day here and multiple sizes of Intra Lock mini dental implants in stock, we got John numb with 1/2 a carpule of Lidocaine…not a lot really. Just enough to get the gum tissue numb.

We made one pilot hole and placed a 2.0 x 11mm mini….and then another pilot hole was made carefully. One more mini was tightened into place…..was there space for one more? I looked over at the assistant, she nodded her head in approval. The patient was just sitting there just like the guy in the cartoon….'A bit wider Mr. Sprinkle, I need to see if this tennis ball, I mean this last mini implant can be fit in' I said.

So there it was, 3 mini dental implants all snug in place ready to support a molar crown!