A dental implant is an artificial tooth root made of titanium that an implantologist places into your jaw to hold a replacement tooth or bridge.

Dental implants are an ideal option for people in good general oral health who have lost a tooth or teeth due to periodontal disease, an injury, or some other reason. Dental implants are so natural-looking and feeling, you may forget you ever lost a tooth.

Placed by a professionally trained implantologist with diligent patient maintenance, implants can last a lifetime.

There are many kinds of implant manufacturers on the market and the implantologist will discuss with you what type of implant should be used. This is dependent on your specific condition and how the implant should be placed. Generally there are two types of systems that Vital Center use, the Swiss made Camlog (www.camlog.com) and Swedish made Branemark (www.nobelbiocare.com). Both types have been tried and tested for many years and are well known throughout the dental world. Vital Center will only use these trusted names and no other unknown generic types.

If you are missing just one natural tooth, then one implant is normally all that will be needed to provide a replacement. Larger spaces created by two, three or more missing teeth do not necessarily need one implant per tooth. However, the exact number of implants will depend upon the quality and volume of bone at each potential implant site. Implants can be used for the following types of replacement:

	Replacing a Single Tooth If you are missing a single tooth, one implant and a crown can replace it. A dental implant replaces both the lost natural tooth and its root.

	Replacing Several Teeth If you are missing several teeth, implant-supported bridges can replace them. Dental implants will replace both your lost natural teeth and some of the roots.

	Replacing All of Your Teeth If you are missing all of your teeth, an implant-supported full bridge or full denture can replace them. Dental implants will replace both your lost natural teeth and some of the roots.

Our price quoted for implants includes the abutment.

What are the advantages of implants?

A dental implant provides several advantages over other tooth replacement options. In addition to looking and functioning like a natural tooth, a dental implant replaces teeth without sacrificing the health of neighbouring teeth. The other common treatment for the loss of teeth is a tooth-supported fixed bridge that requires adjacent teeth be ground down to support the cemented bridge.

Because dental implants will replace your tooth root, the bone is better preserved. With a bridge, some of the bone that previously surrounded the tooth begins to resorb (deteriorate). Dental implants integrate with your jawbone, helping to keep the bone healthy and intact.

With complete loss of teeth, implant-supported full bridges and dentures are more comfortable and stable than conventional dentures, allowing you to retain a more natural biting and chewing capacity. Also, because implant-supported bridges and dentures will replace some of your tooth roots, your bone is better preserved. The loss of bone that accompanies conventional dentures leads to recession of the jawbone and a collapsed, unattractive smile.

How will the implants be placed?

You will generally need to have 2 or 3 trips to Hungary to complete the full treatment. Remember Hungary is only a little over 2 hours away and can be combined as a short break away from work – some appointments can be organised to take in a long weekend.

The first step is to place the implant/s, which looks like screws or cylinders, into your jaw. This is done under local anaesthetic (sedation and general anaesthesia is available for more nervous patients). Over the next two to six months, the implants and the bone must be allowed to bond together. During this time, a temporary replacement solution will be made, so that you will immediately be coming home with that new smile. This initial stage generally requires a 1 or 2 night stay

The second step, will be to place the crowns and bridges. After a short time, you will experience restored confidence in your smile and your ability to chew and speak. To create the crowns from impression generally takes about a week. You can stay in Hungary for the week and enjoy the delights of Budapest or we can arrange for you to have a holiday in another part of Hungary (Lake Balaton for instance). You would have the impressions made at the beginning of the week and crowns fitted at the end. Alternatively, you can make two separate short visits of 1 or 2 nights.

Bone Grafting or Sinus Augmentation

A key to implant success is the quantity and quality of the bone where the implant is to be placed.

The upper back jaw has traditionally been one of the most difficult areas to successfully place dental implants due to insufficient bone quantity and quality and the close proximity to the sinus. If you've lost bone in that area due to reasons such as periodontal disease or tooth loss, you may be left without enough bone to place implants.

Bone grafting or sinus augmentation can help correct this problem by raising the sinus floor and developing bone for the placement of dental implants. A simple common technique for this is to fill some of the sinus cavities with biocompatible bone grafting material. This then gives more bone density and strengthens the area to allow implants. This will also help with regenerating the loss of bone tissue.