Plain-English definitions of the words that come up when you are deciding about dental implants, from osseointegration and abutments to bone grafting, sinus lifts and peri-implantitis, so you can follow a treatment plan and ask better questions about it.
Also known as: Tooth implant, Implant fixture.
A small titanium screw placed into the jawbone to take the place of a missing tooth root. It is not the visible tooth: the implant is the anchor, and a crown, bridge or denture is attached to it once the bone has healed around it.
Source: www.cuh.nhs.uk
The process by which living bone grows directly onto the surface of a titanium implant and locks it in place. It is what makes an implant stable enough to chew on, and it is the reason most implant plans include a healing period of several months between placing the implant and loading it.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
The connector that sits between the implant in the bone and the crown, bridge or denture on top. It passes through the gum, so its shape and height decide how natural the finished tooth looks where it meets the gum line.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Also known as: Implant restoration.
The visible tooth screwed or cemented onto an implant abutment, usually made from zirconia or porcelain bonded to metal. It is shaped and shade-matched to the teeth either side of it, which is why the final crown is fitted after healing rather than on the day of surgery.
Source: www.cuh.nhs.uk
One implant carrying one crown, used to replace a single missing tooth without touching the teeth on either side. This is the main practical difference from a conventional bridge, which requires the neighbouring teeth to be cut down.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Also known as: Full arch rehabilitation, Fixed full arch bridge.
A complete upper or lower set of fixed teeth carried on a small number of implants, typically four to six, rather than one implant per tooth. The bridge is fixed in place and is removed only by the clinician.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
A named full arch technique in which four implants carry a complete arch of teeth, with the two back implants placed at an angle so they engage more available bone. Angling them is what often avoids the need for a bone graft or a sinus lift.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Also known as: Same day teeth, Teeth in a day.
Fitting a temporary set of fixed teeth onto implants on the same day they are placed, instead of waiting for healing. It depends on the implants being stable enough at placement, which is assessed during surgery rather than promised beforehand.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Also known as: Temporary crown.
A temporary tooth worn while the implant integrates and the gum settles into its final shape. It is deliberately not the finished article: it protects the site, lets you eat and speak, and guides the gum contour that the permanent crown will sit against.
Source: www.cuh.nhs.uk
Also known as: Bone augmentation, Grafting.
Adding bone or a bone substitute to a jaw that has too little of it to hold an implant securely. Graft material can come from elsewhere in your own jaw, from a processed donor or animal source, or from a synthetic material, and it needs months to mature before implants go in.
Source: www.cuh.nhs.uk
Also known as: Sinus augmentation, Sinus graft.
A specific graft at the back of the upper jaw that gently raises the floor of the maxillary sinus and places bone underneath it. It is needed because the sinus tends to expand downwards into the space left when upper back teeth are lost.
Source: www.cuh.nhs.uk
Also known as: Socket preservation.
Placing graft material into a socket at the moment a tooth is removed, to slow the bone shrinkage that normally follows an extraction. Doing it at extraction is usually simpler than rebuilding the same bone as a separate operation later.
Source: www.cuh.nhs.uk
Also known as: Alveolar ridge.
The part of the jaw that holds tooth roots. It exists to support teeth, so it steadily loses height and width once a tooth is gone, which is why the timing of an implant plan matters more than most people expect.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Also known as: Cone beam CT, Cone beam computed tomography.
A cone beam CT scan, which produces a three-dimensional image of the jaws at a lower radiation dose than a medical CT. For implants it shows the height and width of available bone and the exact position of nerves and sinuses before any surgery is planned.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Also known as: Computer-guided implant surgery.
Planning implant positions on a CBCT scan and then transferring that plan to the mouth with a printed surgical guide that directs the drill. The aim is to place the implant where the finished tooth needs it, rather than where the bone is merely easiest to drill.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Inflammation around an implant that has progressed into loss of the supporting bone. It is the main long-term threat to an implant, it is usually painless in its early stages, and it is the reason implants need the same hygiene and monitoring as natural teeth.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Also known as: Gum disease, Advanced gum disease.
Advanced gum disease in which the bone supporting the teeth is destroyed, eventually loosening them. It is the most common reason UK adults lose teeth, and it has to be stabilised before implants are placed, because the same disease process can attack an implant.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Also known as: Tooth loss, Toothlessness.
The clinical word for having no natural teeth left, in one jaw or in both. Partial edentulism means some teeth are missing, and it is the usual starting point for a discussion about implants rather than dentures.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Also known as: Implant retained denture, Implant supported denture, Snap-on denture.
A denture that clips onto two or more implants instead of resting on the gum. You still take it out to clean it, but it no longer relies on suction or adhesive, so it does not lift when you eat or talk.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Every dentist, dental therapist, hygienist and dental nurse working in the UK must be registered with the General Dental Council, and anyone can check a registration free on the GDC public register. There is no separate GDC list for implant dentistry, so implant experience is a matter of training and record, not of registration category.
Source: olr.gdc-uk.org
Also known as: Conventional bridge, Fixed bridge.
A false tooth, or a row of them, held in place by crowns on the teeth either side of a gap. The supporting teeth are cut down to take the crowns, which is the main difference from an implant, where the neighbouring teeth are left alone. See dental bridge replacement.
Source: www.dentalhealth.org
Also known as: Adhesive bridge, Maryland bridge.
A bridge whose false tooth has small wings bonded to the back of the neighbouring teeth, so very little of those teeth is drilled. It suits a front tooth with healthy neighbours and a light bite, and can come unstuck and need re-bonding.
Source: www.dentalhealth.org
Also known as: Implant supported bridge, Implant retained bridge.
A bridge carried on dental implants rather than on natural teeth, so two implants can replace three or four missing teeth in a row without cutting down the teeth either side. See implant bridges.
Source: www.dentalhealth.org
A removable plate carrying one or more replacement teeth, usually clipped to the natural teeth that remain. It is the least invasive way to fill a gap, but it moves when you eat and does not slow bone loss under the gap.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Also known as: GBR.
A bone graft in which granules of graft material are held in place under a barrier membrane, so new bone grows into the space and adds width to a thinned ridge. Small amounts are often added at the same visit as the implant. See bone grafting.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Inflammation of the gum around an implant without loss of the bone beneath it. It is the early, usually reversible stage that can progress to peri-implantitis if plaque is not brought under control.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Also known as: Ceramic implant.
A dental implant made from zirconia, a tooth-coloured ceramic, instead of titanium. Like titanium, zirconia forms a close bond with the jawbone through osseointegration.
Source: en.wikipedia.org