The loss of natural teeth is associated with decreased height & width of the supporting jaw bone, thinning of the oral mucosa, increase tongue size, decreased facial height specially the lower third, loss of muscular tone of the face and increase in the wrinkles around the mouth.
The goal of dental implants is to restore the patient to normal function, comfort, esthetic, speech and health regardless of the current oral condition. Bone grafting, maxillary sinus augmentation (subantral augmentation), jaw bone recontouring and nerve repositioning are different procedures used to prepare the mouth for implant placement.
Dental implants are artificial replacement of the natural teeth roots. Different forms of dental implants are available including: blade implants, ramus frames, cylindrical & screw- root form and subperiosteal implants. Today, root-form implants are the most commonly used with very high success rate.
Factors to be considered before starting any implant treatment include: general health of the patient, oral health, availability of bone in the implant site, vital structures near or close to the implant location, oral habits such as grinding of the teeth and clenching, teeth adjacent to the implant site and time.
The technique for root form
implants include surgical phase and prosthetic phase. The surgical phase
consist of two stages but might be proceeded by a preparatory surgery to modify the site
for the future implants. In the first stage a hole is prepared
in the jaw bone using special rotary instruments at specified sequence, speed and cool
environment. The implant body is
placed in the hole and the gingiva is sutured back to it's original position. The healing
time for an implant to osteointigrate is 3-6 months depending on the density
of bone around the implant.
The second
stage surgery is performed to expose the coronal part of the implant body
and to attach a healing permucosal extension piece to the
implant. The gingiva is sutured around the permucosal piece which when it heals creates
access to the implant body.
The prosthetic phase starts by
replacing the permucosal extension with the abutment. The abutment is screwed to the
implant body and prepared like a natural tooth to receive a crown
or a coping. An impression is taken and send to the dental laboratory for crown
construction. 
Until the
permanent crown is ready, a temporary crow is used for esthetic and may be function.
The situation is more complicated when dealing with multiple implants or full mouth reconstruction.
In our office we use the Maestro implants made by Biohorizons Dental Implant Systems and designed by Dr. Carl Misch a well known pioneer in the field of dental implantology. This implant system engineered to fit different types of bone densities, increase the surface area of the implant body and reduce the amount of the unfavorable sheer force on the bone surrounding the implant body. The Maestro implant is made of Titanium Alloy which is 2-4 times stronger than the pure titanium.
The implant surgery can be done either in our office, Museum Dental Center using local anesthesia and sedation or in the hospital under general anesthesia. Our office is well equipped to perform this procedure in aseptic environment using the latest Hi-Tech equipment.
Medical evaluation, study models, X-rays, CT Scan & 3-D studies and clinical evaluation of the mouth are needed before starting the surgical phase.
Multimedia and written teaching materials are available for interested people.
For any question please contact Dr. Khalifeh at:
(323) 933-3855.
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Single tooth implant
Root-form implants connected by a superstructure bar
An overdenture with 4 O-ring attachments
An overdenture seated on the supersrtucture
Implant supported full lower arch fixed bridge
Root form implants
Subperiosteal implants