Dean's New Implant!

I got a new tooth implant a couple weeks ago. The exact need and timing is sort of lost in the blur of time, but I believe the cause was that I had a cavity under a crown (this more than 2 years ago!). Dr. Chang cleaned out the cavity, but there wasn't enough of a stump to fasten a new crown, so the root was extracted and bone graft installed (by oral surgeon). I vaguely recall that because there was a bleeding issue (since I'm on blood thinners), and had to go in for assistance to stop it. Eventually it took, and a few months later, the titanium threaded insert was installed - all was well. I sort of forgot about it, but a couple months ago, Dr. Chang reminded me we had it hanging over me, so after a session with a mouth full of modeling putty, a couple months later I had a new tooth! That is my always-smiling Dr. Chang at left, and at right is an x-ray of the titanium threaded insert and bolt that was in place for something over a year and a half!



The mouth of modeling clay was new (to me), but he took an impression of the top and bottom row of teeth (one at a time) to get a near-perfect model of my teeth. From that, a new replacement was evidently machined or cast and fired in a kiln with a hole to take advantage of the threaded insert. Shown at left is one of the molds with the implant to go at right. The new (pricey)tooth is shown at right before installation - note the hole the bolt goes through to clamp it down.





The modeling clay was used to make a complete cast of my mouth, and was used to create the new tooth. My upper bite is shown at left with the new tooth in place to check for fit.

The implant is fastened in with a titanium bolt, not to different from what you would find in a hardware store - your standard Allen head bolt, but not quite! The sterile one to be used is still in its bag at right.




After the snug check in the plaster cast above, he tried it in the real gap in my mouth. It went in, but interesting he couldn't get it back out! He didn't really panic, but had wanted to remove it to polish it up some, perhaps take a little off where it was binding. Not wanting to damage any neighboring teeth or the implant, he eventually left it in place and placed the bolt in place - yes, using an official torque wrench at left! It really is a little Allen head hex bolt! After proper torque was applied, he filled the drive hole in the bolt with a little UV-curing cement, scraped it off level and it was done! He took one more x-ray of the finished product for the historical record, shown at right... Eventually the gaps will likely distribute more evenly, but I still can't get floss down both sides of the new one. I have an unrelated cleaning scheduled Thursday, so they will likely take another look at it then... For now, all paid for and all the ivories are "in the pink"!