Can a dental implant replace missing teeth from birth?
When babies are born without teeth, they are actually already developing the germ of milk teeth, which start to form as early as the third month of pregnancy. However, it can happen that there are anomalies and that some teeth do not sprout, even in adulthood.
In this case, we speak of "dental agenesis", an anomaly characterized by the absence of one or more teeth. It has nothing to do with poor hygiene or dental care: dental agenesis is a problem that often has hereditary causes, but there are other possible causes.
Causes of missing teeth
The most common is a physical obstruction or interruption of the dental foil that prevents the tooth from forming properly. Lack of space can be another possible reason for dental agenesis. At the same time, this anomaly may be related to an impediment in the process of tooth formation.
As of today, there are still no methods to grow teeth that are missing from birth, studies are still in the testing phase but research has made progress: with techniques related to stem cell culture and tissue development, one can hope in the future for a growth of natural teeth that never come up.
Missing teeth, how to solve the problem?
Meanwhile, in order to solve the problem, however, it is possible to use various techniques, among which the best result is guaranteed by dental implantology.
Implantology is the most common treatment for dental agenesis. It is a dental technique that is used when teeth are damaged or fallen. The implant allows the insertion of an artificial tooth through a small titanium screw inserted into the bone of the mandible.
The condition of the gingiva is a determining factor in determining whether this solution can offer effective and long-lasting results.
For this reason it is always advisable to rely on professionals who can carefully assess our situation, make a complete diagnosis and propose the solution that best suits our needs. Our team studies each individual case, before treatment and for many years after surgery: to offer the most effective, least invasive and, above all, definitive solution to your problems.
Specifically, to perform this type of intervention, it is necessary to first perform diagnostic tests to detect the presence or absence of the dental root and assess the state of health of the maxillary or mandibular bone.
In some cases, before performing the surgery and grafting the dental implant, it may be necessary to apply an orthodontic appliance to create the right space between the teeth and correct other defects.
To protect the physical and mental well-being of the patient, these appliances usually include a mobile prosthesis to hide the space created by the missing tooth.
After this preventive work, the implant can be placed according to the normal dental procedure: by applying the titanium pin and the zirconium prosthesis.
In these cases, using a fixed tooth whose pivot replaces the root system, a function very similar to that of natural teeth is obtained. The zirconium of the prostheses also guarantees an appearance similar to that of natural teeth, with prostheses of the same colour as their own teeth.
This operation is performed under sedation, the patient does not feel any pain and the post-implant phase is not particularly annoying.
Our dental clinic in Bologna performs different types of dental implantology operations: we are able to offer you the most effective, least invasive and, above all, definitive solution for you, thanks to advanced and patented equipment and technologies, which allow us to optimize time and costs.