What’s the buzz on Ceramic Implants?

Researchers are always improving the procedures and materials that your teeth look more natural and you smile without pain. Dentistry is art and science, it is changiung it is evolving. Alhumdulillah Dr Nasir (me) has been exclusively selected from Pakistan to participate in an event at “International Academy Of Ceramic Implantology” Canada. http://iaoci.com

A latest development is the all-ceramic one-piece implant for areas of high esthetic concern or in cases of titanium allergies. Before all-ceramic the zirconia implants, no doubt has been a huge success, Recent research and review by our dental community says that zirconia implants may well be a useful substitute to titanium, and they also state that there is insufficient evidence of long-term outcomes or well-defined reasons for failure.

Some research states that zirconia integrates as well as titanium implants and that torque comparisons are same. Evidence a pre-clinical trial that proves that soft-tissue response might be better with zirconia implants.

An all-ceramic implant case

The following case was submitted by Dr. Stefan Rohling from the University of Basel, Switzerland, as an illustration and case report of single zirconia implant.

Following a traumatic injury and fracture of the maxillary left central incisor, the patient desired a solution that was metal free.

The case was treatment planned for a single implant and the choice of fixture was a Straumann PURE zirconia implant.

The restorative advantage of this implant is that it can be treated very similarly to a titanium tissue-level implant, making the restorative process very easy.

The PURE implant is colored with an ivory shade so that it more closely resembles the hue and value of bone and lowers the chance of changing the value of the tissue over the implant.

After the osteotomy is complete, special position indicators are used to determine the final abutment height and position to allow any correction to the depth or direction of the osteotomy.

The implant can then be delivered. In this case, the old restoration was luted to the adjacent crown and used as an unloaded provisional until healing was complete.

After integration of the implant, it can be provisionalized and the soft tissue developed for final tissue contours. This can be done using a temporary abutment supplied by the manufacturer.

At about 12 weeks post-surgery, the soft tissue is ready for the final restoration. The restorative process is completed using familiar techniques for impressioning and restorative fabrication.

The final restoration shows excellent tissue response and an esthetic tissue result.

The benefit of an all-ceramic implant is apparent in this case: an excellent esthetic result with no show-through or color change in the tissue. The challenge in using this kind of an implant is in careful patient selection and in using very careful surgical placement.