mini dental implant cost

Mini Dental Implants to Replace Missing Teeth – Easy Quick & Cost Effective

July 22, 2011/in Blog /by Paresh Patel

My next patient was a young 27 year old. She had such a lovely personality; but she would not smile. How sad. Her story was typical….lost her teeth at a young age due and now wanted to do something just for her.

Photos of her missing teeth right and left sides.

On my first glance it looked like she had lots of bone to place implants. But on further investigation by doing some ridge mapping (the process where the dentist numbs the gum tissue and feels with a perio probe to see what is gum tissue and what is bone) it was determined that lots of bone had been lost over the years.

Bone grafting or bone splitting was presented as an option but not accepted.

The next alternative was to consider using mini dental implants to support a set of splinted or connected crowns.

Two mini implants were placed to act as roots for crowns. The crowns will be connected together to splint the mini implants together. On the right and left sides they will look like premolar teeth. Over time additional mini dental implants will be added to replace the molars.

Final x-ray of the mini dental implants in place.

Cone Bean Scan x-ray to show how thin the bone is and the mini dental implants all in bone to the floor of the sinus cavity. Without having mini implants this case would not have an alternative option for most patients to consider.

I will finish the post once the premolar crowns come back from the dental lab and are cemented in place.

Paresh B Patel DDS

Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Mini Dental Implants

Mini Dental Implant Educational Seminar with Hands on Course

May 13, 2011/in Blog /by Paresh Patel

The cost of mini dental implants is around 1/2 that of a traditional dental implant.

However to me the true cost is not measured only in dollars. It is in lots of other measures as well.

Other costs could include:

Loss of the ability to smile
Unable to find and keep a good job
Social situations are avoided – like going to church, cheering at your kids or grand kids sporting events
Inability to enjoy your favorite foods (steak, salads, crispy veggies)
Overall health suffers – ill chewed food puts stress on your digestive system and you absorb less of all the good stuff
Spending valuable $$ on Adhesives or Pastes to glue in your dentures
Constant sores in your gums
Yearly relines of your denture or partials

The cost of even missing one tooth is HUGE! If one tooth is missing and not replaced 20% of the teeth next to it will be lost in the next 4 to 8 years. This is one of the reasons that over 50 Million Americans have lost all their teeth.

Mini Dental Implants for an Affordable Cost can:

Replace Single Teeth: With a mini implant acting as the root of your missing tooth a porcelain crown can be made. You do not remove this like a partial denture. To you it is like having your natural tooth back.

Replace Multiple Teeth: Several mini dental implants can be placed to form a porcelain bridge. This will get rid of the gap where several teeth have been lost. It does not require healthy teeth on either side to be ground down like a traditional bridge.

Replace an Entire Row of Missing Upper or Lower Teeth: In some cases 8-10 mini dental implants can be placed in the upper or lower jaws to support a full roundhouse bridge. This will replace 10-12 missing teeth with a series of porcelain crowns that are connected and placed over the mini implants. You will never need to use dental adhesives or pastes to hold teeth in again. You also will have teeth that you do no remove. You will have to brush and water pick to keep your new teeth clean.

Paresh B Patel DDS

Mini Dental Implants

Dental Implants Charlotte Lake Norman Mooresville NC

Dental Implants Hickory Lenoir Boone Asheville NC

miniMARK Dental Implant Seminar – Online Restorative Presentation

May 6, 2011/in Blog /by Paresh Patel

To view Part 1 The miniMARK Placement Protocol click the blue text.

So we left with the patient done with the miniMARK implants in his lower jaw.

A set of Locator impression caps were placed over the miniMARK mini dental implants. These look like champange glasses and will communicate to the lab the exact location of the one piece Locator miniMark implants.

A good impression is taken to ensure that all pertinent landmarks are captured in the impression. Land areas, retromolar pad, frenal attachments and of course the Locator impression caps.

Wax Rim

Master cast with the Locator retention caps placed on the lab analogs. These 'snaps' will be processed into the denture.

Final processed denture with the metal frame incorporated. If the denture is too retentive then different nylon rings can be placed to decrease the retention. Or if it is not tight enough stiffer rings can be placed to increase the retention on the miniMARK implants.

My patient has had the lower denture now for 4 weeks and loves how stable and retentive it is. This case utilized some of the best technologies avaliable today for implant overdentures. The Locator attachment, a metal frame incorporated into the denture, high quality composite denture teeth and lab processed attachments.

To use these kinds of materials and mini dental implants unfortunately has one setback: COST for the patient. This case is about 2 timesthe cost of a o-ball mini dental implant solution. Certainly something for the dentist and patient to discuss and come to the best solution that will fit every ones desires and needs. There are several good implant and mini implant systems out there….check them out and help your patients by getting the best system for you.

Paresh B Patel

Mini Dental Implants

Dental Implants Mooresville Lake Norman Charlotte NC

Dental Implants Lenoir Hickory Boone Asheville NC

Mini Dental Implant Dentures ~ IMTEC MDI, OCO Biomedical, Intra Lock

March 1, 2011/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

Do you have a loose denture? If you have around an hour of time a few mini dental implants can be placed to secure that upper or lower denture.

3 out of 4 mini dental implants placed in the lower jaw to anchor in a snap in/out denture. Mini Dental Implants can typically be placed without cutting the gums, so less surgery, less healing time, less discomfort and less cost for the patient.

This also allows medically compromised patients, such as diabetics or patients on blood thinning medicines, to be potential candidates for mini dental implants.

Four snaps inside the existing denture. In this case we were able to use the patients denture and fit the retentive snaps inside the lower denture. These snap on top of the 4 mini dental implants.

About an hour later the mini dental implants are in place and the denture is fitted with the snaps. An easy and cost effective way to help patients suffering from loose or ill fitting dentures.

Paresh B Patel DDS Mini Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Mini Dental Implants Lenoir Hickory Asheville NC

Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Dental Implants to get rid of a Upper Partial Denture

February 1, 2011/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

If you are missing a few teeth and wear a partial denture I can empathise with your situation.

Who wants to wear all that metal and plastic in their mouth if there was another option?

Typical design of a cast metal partial denture.

Metal hooks that are visible around the teeth that it holds onto.

If this describes your situation then you should consider dental implants – mini dental implants or traditional.

My patient without her upper partial denture in. She is missing her front three teeth and the tooth behind her canine tooth.

4 mini dental implants were placed with minimal surgery (no cutting of the gum, no stitches) The temporary crown is on the mini dental implant behind the canine tooth (right side of picture).

Temporary crowns in place over the mini dental implants. My patient gets to leave without her partial denture. I will let her 'test drive' the temporary crowns for a few weeks. Any changes we want to make to the look of the crowns can then be communicated to the dental lab that will make the final mini dental implant crowns. The 'test drive' period also allows me to assess the function and phonetics (how her speach is).

X ray of the OCO Biomedical mini dental implant used to replace the missing premolar tooth.

Paresh B Patel Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Mini Dental Implants

Dental Implants Hickory Boone Wilkesboro Asheville NC

Mini Dental Implant Bridge ~ Full Arch Roundhouse Crowns for Fixed Teeth

January 11, 2011/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

What do patients that have no teeth really want? Is it dental implants? Crowns? Implant supported dentures? NO…they want their teeth. For right now that is not something that dentistry can give back to them… However we can get pretty close with some mini dental implants and a well thought out and fabricated full arch roundhouse bridge of porcelain crowns.

When we decide make a full arch of teeth over mini dental implants I like to make a well fitting denture to begin with. It is our blueprint for what the final crowns should look like. The patient can approve in the denture the color, size, esthetics, function, speech, etc….all before we make the investment in the final porcelain bridge.

Once the provisional denture is approved by the patient all the diagnostic information is sent to the Dental Lab for the final planning. This case was done with Evolution Dental Lab. A guide stent is made for the placement of the mini dental implants. This is done off the Cone Beam 3D x-ray scan to ensure the dental implants are placed in sound bone and will allow for the crowns to be placed in the correct approved position.

A wax mock up of the final design is made on the stone cast over the mini dental implants. This mock up will be duplicated in putty so I can make the patient in their mouth a temporary set of teeth to confirm everything once more.

Surgical guide for the placement of the mini dental implants.

OCO Biomedical Mini Dental Implants in place ready to have the temporary bridge made.

The temporary is made…notice how similar it looks to the approved denture. Since we have worked out most of the details of esthetics and function in the denture all I need to do is place the dental implants the the predetermined positions and copy the denture into the temporary bridge. The patient leaves that day without the denture. He has a fixed set of teeth to chew and smile with. Any slight changes, if needed, are made and the dental lab can make the final bridge.

The final mini dental implant bridge was made in two pieces. There is an exact fit to this bridge. Notice the multicolor pink porcelain to frame the porcelain crowns.

Back teeth for the mini dental implant roundhouse bridge.

Final bridge over the OCO Biomedical dental implants.

Mini Dental Implant Bridge cemented in patients mouth…day of placement.

Lip retracted view of the mini dental implant bridge. Notice the intimate fit of the pink porcelain to the gum tissue. The patient can floss or waterpick between each mini dental implant.

Steve with his new teeth the day of placement. He has a full arch of mini dental implants and a fixed non removable set of Porcelain crowns. Solutions similar to this start at $12,999. This includes the implants and the crowns.

What a wonderful way to get rid of your dentures and get back to living you life enjoying the things you want to do.

Without the advent of mini dental implants solutions like this would require a commitment of around $20,000 with more time/discomfort.

Paresh B Patel Implant Dentist Charlotte NC

Mini Dental Implants

Dental Implants Hickory Wilkesboro Asheville NC

Dental Implant Education Seminars

Snap in Denture with OCO Biomedical Mini Dental Implants

December 9, 2010/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

No ridge of bone left on your lower jaw? Suffering with a loose ill fitting denture? Tired of gluing down your denture and then still having it move around when you eat or talk?

Then you should ask for Mini Dental Implants to help create a snap in denture. In one or two visits you can now go back to eating the things that you enjoy. Have the security of loose dentures not falling out when you speak or sing.

Our next patient example is very typical of what we do.

Lower jaw where the teeth have been missing for years. The jawbone has been worn away by the lack of teeth and the lower denture constantly rubbing over the gum tissue. You can see the ulcer in the gum tissue where the denture rubs the tissue when the patient is trying to eat.

Example of a Mini Dental Implant. There are several reputable manufacturers of mini dental implants such as OCO Biomedical, Intra Lock, IMTEC MDI, and HiOssen. Any of these would be a good choice as all are FDA approved and have long term clinical success.

Patients existing lower denture. It is almost FLAT as there is hardly any ridge of bone for it to sit on.

4 OCO mini dental implants in the lower jaw ready to hold and secure the denture with snaps.

These 4 mini dental implants were placed in about 30 minutes. This case was a bit more difficult that most due to the extremely thin ridge of bone that was left.

Existing denture is relined with a soft material. Normally I would fit the snaps into the denture the same day. In this case we are making a new denture so I will let the soft reline material condition the tissue around the mini dental implants and will put the snaps in the new denture.

Final x-ray with the 4 OCO Biomedical mini dental implants that will secure in a snap in lower denture.

Paresh B Patel Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implants

Mini Dental Implants ~ 1/2 the Cost All the Benefits

November 2, 2010/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

Dr. Paresh B Patel's interview on Charlotte Today. Click to watch patient comments on their experience with mini dental implants for an upper and lower full denture and mini dental implant for a fixed porcelain crown.

Paresh B Patel DDS Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implants

Mini Dental Implant Bridge ~ Similar Results as a traditional implant ~ Tremendous saving in cost

September 1, 2010/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

As promised here are the pictures of the fixed cement hybrid bridge (denture teeth with a metal frame that fits over the mini dental implants).

Denture tooth bridge with a cast metal frame that will be cemented over the 9 mini dental implants

View of upper fixed hybrid cemented in place to show horseshoe shape and no coverage in the roof of the mouth.

There is a 1mm space around the pink acrylic to clean under the teeth with a waterpick and sonicare toothbrush.

You can scroll down to the OCO Biomedical i-mini i-micro post to review the original case before the mini dental implants were placed.

Nine mini dental implants were used in the upper jaw to hold in 12 teeth.

Paresh B Patel Dentist Mooresville NC

mini dental implants

Mini Dental Implants for Upper Crowns

March 29, 2010/in Blog, Uncategorized /by Paresh Patel

This is part II of the post… The mini dental implants have been placed and allowed to heal. Impressions were taken and sent to the crown and bridge lab for resin crowns to be fabricated. Resin crowns were selected instead of traditional PFM upper crowns due to patient $$. I kept the model work so that over time when the patient is better able to afford the Porcelain Upper Crowns we can just send the models back to the lab and skip one step in the fabrication process.

The upper crowns were tried in over the mini implants. Our patient approved the look and color. They are now cemented in place.
Close up of premolar crowns
Single Premolar mini implant upper crowns (2 minis were placed to hold the crown in place)
Chewing view of premolar upper crowns over a total of 5 mini dental implants.

I have had lots of dentists ask me and even tell me that mini implants do not work in the upper arch or that they can't work in soft bone. My personal experience has been if mini implants are placed in the upper arch they just need time to heal like any other size implant. Don't be in a hurry to get the final product…you can only go as fast as the mini will integrate into the bone.

Over the past 2 years and close to a 1000 mini implants being placed I have had one case fail in the upper arch. It was two minis used to support a upper molar crown. They went in solid but over 6 weeks they did not stay that way. I believe it was either smoking or the patient functioning on them that was the cause of the failure.

Paresh B Patel DDS Mooresville NC

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

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