Vu Orthodontics - Orthodontics, Periodontics, and Implants

Introduction

A natural tooth should be saved first, and a dental implant should be the last option.

Poor Implant Placement

A case of bad implant placement is shown in Fig. 1. In this case, the implant was placed not parallel to the adjacent roots.  It was also placed too deep.  More importantly, the implant is of the wrong type.  It is a tissue-level implant, so the top part of the implant should be above the bone level -- should not be below the bone level, as shown.

Fig. 1. Bad implant placement

Another case of poor implant placement is shown in Fig. 2. In this case, the implant (in the middle) caused a damage to the adjacent natural tooth.

Fig. 2. Another poor implant placement

Good Implant Placement

The following example shows a good implant placement (Fig. 3). In this case, the implant is perfectly placed center, between the roots of the two natural teeth. And the implant platform is about 0.5-1 mm apical from the bone level.

(a)

(b)

Fig. 3. A good implant placement: (a) a periapical (PA) radiograph, (b) a bitewing (BW) radiograph