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OCO Biomedical Mini Dental Implants ~ Improved Zest SaturnO-ring

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Is it difficult to get 6 mini dental implant o-ball attachments to line up for an upper full denture plate? 

Upper minis

 

Several mini dental implants in the upper jaw with more than 5 degrees of divergence (off angles)

 

Is it sometimes hard for patients to line up that many snaps and figure out how to get the denture fully seated? 

Well…..sometimes yes.  As the dentist we have to put the mini dental implant where the bone is, or do another surgical procedure to make the bone ready to have all parallel mini dental implants.  To make it clear, most of my patients decline to have this additional procedure done and we work with what bone is available. 

As the patient the answer is sometimes yes as well. 

 

Transistor socketsTransistor and the socket it fits in.  You can imagine how difficult it becomes to line up the pins to fit into the socket if they are not all in line.  Even with one off angle you have to figure out which one goes in first to make the pin and socket fit together.  Very similar to the upper denture and 6 mini dental implants.

 

But hang on….now with the new Zest SaturnO-ring its a bit easier to handle off angle mini dental implants.  These new o-rings allow for up to 30 degree of correction between mini implants.  This is possible due to the housing having a Titanium Nitride race that allows the rubber o-ring to pivot inside.

Oco mini dental implant Saturno ring 

OCO Biomedical should have the Zest SaturnO-rings available to ship.   I have tried them and am sold on their ability to make snap in dentures easier for both the mini implant dentist and patient. These o-rings will fit on most mini dental implants, (IMTEC MDI, Intra Lock, Hiossen,OCO etc…)

Paresh B Patel DDS  Dental Implants Charlotte NC

Mini Dental Implants

 

Zest SaturnO-rings for Mini Dental Implants ~ Upgrade your Snap in Dentures

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After the hundreds of mini dental implants I have placed to secure upper and lower dentures I would have thought there could be a better snap for the O-ball attachment.  Saturno rings pivot

 

But thanks to Paul Zuest there is one now, the SaturnO-ring.  Released in late October it offers up to 30' of angle correction.  The standard o-rings that come with most mini dental implants(Intra Lock, IMTEC MDI, OCO Biomedical) offer around 5' .

Saturno rings 30 correction

 

 

 

 

 

It has a TiN coated race that allows the rubberTiN race

 o-ring to rotate freely inside the metal housing. 

Wow…great engineering and a great idea… I wish I had though of that. 

Picture on right shows the race pivoted up inside the housing.

 

Zest offers a standard size Saturno for a 2.25mm Ball and a Micro size Saturno for a 1.8mm Ball attachment. 

Saturno rings

Saturno rings micro

 

 

 Standard on left and

Micro on right

 

 

 

There is also a neat little o-ring tool so when you need to replace those worn out black rings you don't damage them with a sharp dental instrument getting them in the metal housing. 

O ring tool 

I had just the case to try out these new Zest SaturnO-rings.  My patient had 6 mini dental implants (Intra Lock) placed in the upper jaw to secure in his full upper denture plate.  As much as we tired to make it easy for him to remove it was just too tight.  He struggled to get it in or out.  Some of the issue I am certain was the divergent angles of the mini dental implants.  I fitted him with one of his bag full of old dentures with a lab processed Molloplast soft liner over the 6 mini dental implants.

Molloplast liner He was comfortable with that molloplast liner and it did provide some grab on the mini dental implants but of course I wanted to give the SaturnO-rings a try. 

I reamed out his horseshoe upper denture, taking away the old standard housings. 

Upper denture reamed out 

In the mouth were fitted 6 micro housings, they were picked up inside the upper denture with some self cure pink acrylic.  They worked great!  I thought I was done.  But darn it, he still could not get that thing in and out like he wanted to a few days into it.    Poor guy was just getting older and I wanted to make him happy.  I think most of it was he just wanted to feel like he could accomplish this task for himself. 

So I reamed them out again and decided to try the idea of using the larger SaturnO-ring on the mini implants to give him some retention but  not quite as much. 

Saturno and standard

The SaturnO rings snapped over the 1.8mm ball like I expected and had less retention.  There were 3 mini implants that touched each other with the housings  so I placed 3 standard housings for those areas. 

 

 

We picked them up just like normal.  Less retention…yes.  Enough retention?  Charlie said two thumbs up.  He was able for the first time now to put them in and out….without a Mirror!  Even I was impressed.  He was smiling ear to ear. 

CharlieWpostSaturno

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to some clever engineering at Zest Anchors we as have another choice to make patients lives better with mini dental implants. 

Paresh B Patel Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implants SaturnO rings for Intra Lock IMTEC OCO Biomedical

ACE Surgical Mini Dental Implant with a Zest Locator for the Upper Denture Plate

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Does your upper denture gag you?  Does it feel like a big bulky piece of plastic?  Do you not taste your food anymore?  Do you talk funny or don't sound like yourself anymore? 

These are all the things my patient told me yes to.  That is a lot of yes answers to have on one patient.  Usually I don't get that many issues with the upper denture.  But when we do have someone that just simply can not wear the upper full denture plate its a huge problem; both for function and esthetics. 

Relined upper denture

 

Upper denture prior to placing 4 Mini Dental Implants with a Zest Locator attachment (different than a o-ball and ring snap typically used on mini dental implants).

 

 

Locator

 

 

 

 

Zest Locator attachment.  It has a flat surface to make inserting the snap easier on the patient than the o-ball and ring.  It also has different nylon rings that can be swapped out by the dentist to offer the patient levels of retention…..so if the denture is not tight enough a more retentive ring can be placed.  This feature is not available on the o-ball mini dental implant.

 

4 minis in place upper

 

4 ACE Surgical Secure Mini Dental Implants with Locator attachments.

 

 

Marked inside upper denture

 

Upper denture marked for location of the ACE Secure Mini Dental Implant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Space for locator mini implant  Space created for the Zest Locator 'snaps' that will be fitted inside the existing upper denture.  In a few weeks I will make the upper denture into a horseshoe shape so he can: 'Talk better, taste his food better and gag much less'

Black housing in denture

 

Snaps picked up in the upper denture.  These rings will be replaced with more retentive rings after the implants heal into the bone.  But even today the denture is tight and my patient is impressed with how much hold he has now.

 

 

 

 

Robert ratner post

 

Final Pan X-ray of the ACE Surgical Mini Dental Implants with a Zest Locator Attachment. 

 

 

In the end I am impressed with the Locator attachment.  A bit more skill required to place these mini dental implants than a o-ball type.  This is mostly due to the protocol of using a 2.3mm in the front and having to place a 3.25mm in the back.  My preference would have been to just use 6 2.3mm minis and give the patient a few extra implants.  But as with any product it is up to the dentist to determine what he/she feels is best for the patient.  This case could have been done and been successful with any mini dental implant, IMTEC MDI, Intra-Lock, OCO Biomedical mini or micro. 

Paresh B Patel DDS  Dentist Mooresville NC

ACE Surgical Mini Dental Implant

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

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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 Implants to replace a Missing Front Upper Tooth

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Our next patient was missing one of his front teeth….well actually he is missing a few of his teeth.  However our plan is to replace these missing upper teeth with mini dental implants and crowns a few at a time as he can afford to do so. 

Missing teeth

 

 

 

 

 

He has an upper plastic partial denture plate.  We will remove the plastic denture teeth as the crowns and mini dental implants are added.

Minis in 2

 

Mini Dental Implants in place ready for impression to send to First Impressions Dental Lab for Porcelain Crowns.

 

 

Minis in

 

Mini Dental Implants Day of Placement…..notice no gum incision or bleeding in area of placement.  Minimal surgery for faster healing and less patient discomfort. 

 

 

 

Paresh B Patel DDS  Mini Dental Implants

Dentist Mooresville NC

Mini Dental Implants ~What I use them for ~Just about anywhere in the mouth

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Mini Dental Implants have a wide variety of uses.  I find more and more uses for this as a General Dentist.  I think in a matter of time mini implant dentistry will become everyday dentistry.  As routine as getting a filling.

 

Minis lowers

 

Mini Dental Implants in the lower jaw.  With 4 mini implants in place you can secure a lower denture.  Even with a thin ridge most of the time these can be placed without cutting the gum.  If the gum is not cut then no blood supply to the bone is disrupted.  The bone heals faster around the mini implants allowing the patient to function with a implant retained denture immediately.

 

Minis upper denture

Mini Dental implants in the upper jaw.  The upper jaw bone is softer and not as dense as the lower jaw.  With 6 mini implants in place you can secure an upper denture.  With a good well made denture that covers the hard bone at the very end of the upper arch (maxillary tuberosity) you can remove the middle of the denture. Most patients appreciate the palate of the denture being removed.  With this horseshoe shape design patients can taste food better, have better speech, decrease in gagging and less bulk of plastic.   With more implants sometimes it is hard for patients to 'line up' all the o-balls and housings in the denture.  What I would like as a dentist is if someone would make a Zest Locator mini dental implant.  The Zest Locator is the 'gold standard' in attachments for the traditional or conventional implants.  It is much smaller in height and guides the patients denture into the retentive rings.  The retention rings are also made of nylon so the rings last much longer than the rubber ring used in the o-ball attachment.  Right now OCO Biomedical i- mini and i-micro implants, IMTEC MDI, and Intra Lock mini implants all use the o-ball with no locator attachment available. 

Locators

 

Zest Locator attachments with metal housings shown in picture.  You can see how close to the gum they are.  Increase in patient comfort, less vertical and horizontal stress to the implants due to less of a lever arm. 

 Locator image

Image of the Zest Locator implant attachment.  You can see the 'flat' top surface.  The male snap that fits on the outside and inside of the Zest Locator acts as a guide for ease of inserting the denture.  When you have multiple mini implants this would be a welcome advantage. 

 

 

 

Mini Dental Implant to retain lower partials. 

Lower partial Lower partial mini housing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With just a few mini implants you can take a lower partial denture and remove the metal clasp, fit the retention housing in the partial denture and now the patient does not have any visible metal on their teeth.  If the partial is well made and has proper stops in the back of the lower jaw (retromolar pad) the partial will not settle and the implants will not get overstressed. 

 

Mini Dental Implants to retain an Upper Partial Denture

  

                     Retention of Maxillary Partial Dentures

Once again even with a few of these minis you can make a case that works.  Over time if the patient's desires change and they want to add more its always possible. 

Mini Dental Implants to secure a fixed bridge (Multiple teeth connected together)

Retention of Fixed Bridges

In this case multiple teeth were failing and mini dental implants were placed the day of extraction to support a acrylic temporary bridge made in our dental lab.  I used some pink acrylic around the front teeth to help hide the extraction sites while they were healing.  A final porcelain bridge was made to fit over the mini dental implants once all the gums heal.  This case is now been in function for over two years. 

 

Mini Dental Implants to replace a few missing teeth with a crown

Single tooth

Here mini dental implants were placed to support 2 premolar crowns.  They are the two teeth in the middle of the picture behind the large canine tooth.  The last tooth in the picture is a crown on a natural molar.

 

 

 

 

mini dental implants

Paresh B Patel dentists Mooresville NC