I have to get a couple of teeth replaced so I’ve been doing some research. I think dental implants will be my best replacement option. Do you know if Astra Implants are long-lasting? Should I use the cemented or screw-on type of implant crown? Are the titanium or zirconia better? I see mixed ideas online.
Stan
Dear Stan,
While you are correct that dental implants are the best tooth replacement option, I want to shift your focus a bit. You are trying to find the best materials, but instead I want you to look for the best dentist to do your procedure. Dental implants are an extremely advanced procedure. What a dentist learns about them in dental school is just not enough. You want a dentist with the post-doctoral training specifically in implants.
It’s even better if they are able to not just place the restoration, but do the implant surgery themselves as well. This erases the possibility of miscommunication between the dentist and an oral surgeon because they will be the same person. If you can’t find a trained and experienced implant dentist near you who can also do the surgery, make sure that it is the dentist who determines the placement of the implants and not the surgeon. Otherwise things can go terribly wrong.
Let the dentist determine which brand of implant will be best for your situation. There are a lot of factors that go into the planning of this type of treatment. The data on whether to use titanium or zirconia is mixed because of how long each of them has been around. Dentists, as well as medical doctors, having titanium implants as prosthetics for years. Because of that there is an abundance of data on its longevity and who is a good (or bad) candidate. Comparatively, zirconia is still rather new. The material is certainly strong enough to serve in that capacity. We just don’t have the years of information behind it that we have for it’s metal counterpart.
Focus on finding the right dentist and not the materials and you will have a much better outcome.
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