Benefits of Instant Tooth

Having an instant tooth (crown) on an implant after extraction has cosmetic benefits.  You walk into a dental office with a painful or loose tooth.  When you leave, you have one solid tooth.  In fact, implant surgery is not painful at all.

Mr. Luo's upper right first premolar (Fig.1: #5) is a trouble maker.  The tooth cracks.  The tongue portion of the tooth (Fig.2 L) has a crack line.  When he chews, the crack line enlarges, causing excruciating pain.

Although this tooth is not a front tooth, it is still within esthetic zone.  When it is extracted, an implant is placed immediately.  If the implant is buried tightly inside the jaw bone, a temporary crown (Fig.3 P) is to be made.  But this crown should not touch the tooth on the opposing jaw.  A space is created between these opposing teeth (Fig.4 ^).  After surgery, you should try to chew on the other side of the mouth.  The implant does not heal if there is any type of pressure or movement from chewing.

The hidden benefit of the instant tooth/crown is to keep surrounding gums, particularly those between the neighboring teeth (called papilla, Fig.3 *) in place.  After extraction, our bone and gums shrink.  With implant in place, the bone does not shrink much, but the gums do.  Only the temporary crown can hold the gums.

Implant surgery is surprisingly painless with no or minimal pain after.  In five days, the gums around the instant crown return to normal pinkish color (Fig.5,6 (palatal view), as compared to Fig.3,4(purplish)).  The patient is doing great.

In about 4-6 months, we are going to show you that the instant tooth prevents the gums from receding.

Xin Wei, DDS, PhD, MS 1st edition 09/01/2013, last revision 09/07/2013