Missing some or all your teeth can have a devastating impact on your quality of life. The loss of a tooth or numerous teeth can severely impact your self confidence, the way you look, your ability to eat and sometimes the way you speak. The jaw bone shrinks away from the tooth socket, affecting your facial profile and leading to that “sucked in” look which is so often associated with older people.
Gaps in your mouth can also make you feel conscious to smile widely, and to cover your mouth when laughing.
The loss of even a single tooth can have serious consequences on the rest of your mouth, causing overloading of the remaining teeth to compensate for the loss of function of the missing tooth, which can lead to broken teeth elsewhere in the mouth, tilting of the adjacent teeth into the space, and not being able to chew food as well as with your natural teeth.
However, there is now a perfect solution – DENTAL IMPLANTS, a realistic, strong and permanent way of replacing one or more missing teeth. Implants are one way of replacing missing teeth. Implants can be used to replace a single tooth, several missing teeth, or to replace a full set of teeth.
Other options for missing teeth are bridges or dentures. But the disadvantages associated with them are: Chewing problems and fitting of dentures that can lead to loosening, bone resorption etc.
What are Dental implants?
Dental Implants are artificial tooth roots which are placed gently into the jaw bone. Over time (usually a few months) they fuse (osseointegration) with your own natural bone, to provide a secure foundation for tooth replacement. Most dental implants these days are made from titanium, which has been proven to be well tolerated by bone and soft tissue.
Once fitted, dental implants can support all types of replacement teeth, including crowns and bridges. They can also be used to hold dentures firmly in place, so that you can eat and talk with confidence.
The procedure to place them is fairly straight forward and is usually carried out under a local anaesthetic. Once the implants have been placed, there is usually a short period to wait for them to attach to the bone before they are restored.
Advantages of Dental Implants

  • Implants have the advantage that they replace missing teeth without the need to prepare any of the remaining teeth as would be the case in conventional fixed bridgework.
  • Many patients with multiple spaces cannot tolerate even the best fitting dentures, dental implants can allow for full function without discomfort.
  • Dental implants look, feel and function like your own natural teeth.
  • The average denture patient with an excellent fitting denture eats at 15-20% efficiency when compared to a person with natural teeth. As the jawbone shrinks, your chewing efficiency is reduced even more, making it difficult to eat certain foods. Dental implants, on the other hand, can restore chewing efficiency comparable to that of natural teeth.
  • Prevents bone loss
  • The implant done perfectly considering all relevant factors, in most cases, stays in place for a lifetime, so is one of the most successful treatments carried out in the mouth.

The procedure involved for dental implant
Initially, the dentist assesses your teeth, the spaces in your mouth, and the general health of the rest of your mouth. It is important that your mouth is healthy first, so that the implants are more likely to be successful.
CT scans would also be taken to look at the amount of available bone, and assess whether we need to use artificial substitutes to provide more of a stable base for your implants. CT scans measure the depth, width and density of the jaw bone, and more importantly the depth of bone in the proximity of nerve canals and sinus cavities in a 3D view to an accuracy of 0.1 mm.
The placement of dental implants without the use of a CT scanner is taking an unacceptable risk with a patient’s well-being.
After surgically placing the implant, it is then left for three to six months to fuse with bone. Beautiful temporary false teeth can be constructed whilst this healing phase is taking place, so that you can still smile and chew confidently. In some cases, where there is enough good quality bone, temporary crowns over the implants may be placed on the day of implant placement.
Once the healing has taken place, temporary crowns are placed over the implants so that the gum contours well around the temporary restorations prior to placement of the permanent false tooth/teeth.
Single Tooth Implant
The most ideal form of replacement for a missing tooth is Implant. Here the lost bone and tissue can also be restored perfectly, using blood growth factors and natural/artificial bone substitute materials. Immediate temporary caps can be placed in most cases. Extraction and immediate implant placement can also be done in most cases which avoids the need of additional surgery.
Implants to Replace All Teeth All-on-4™
This is a specialized technique in which only four implants are used to replace all the missing teeth in Upper/Lower jaw. Our clinic was the first in country to do All-on-4™ surgery.
This is a very special technique in which only four implants are placed in each jaw and 12 teeth are replaced in each arch (total 24).
Temporary teeth can be given immediately. Permanent teeth are given after 5-8 weeks depending on the healing response.
Though the treatment is slightly costly compared with other alternatives, it does not require extensive surgeries for bone grafting or sinus floor elevation.
Guided Surgery
Implants used for guide surgery are different and slightly costly than the routine treatments But the advantages of the treatment and technology surpass all other disadvantages. With advent of new technology surgeries can be avoided. After a special dental scan (1st machine in the country) a computer planning of the surgery is done. This data is sent to Sweden from where a special stent is obtained. This stent is held as reference for placing the implant. This allows minimum invasion of the tissues and often minimum blood loss.
Bone grafting
Usually patients visit for an initial implant consultation. During this appointment the complete examination of the teeth, gums and bone structure is done to make sure that the patient is suitable for dental implants. Sometimes there may not be enough bone to support an implant – this problem is solved through advanced procedures such as BONE GRAFTING.
Bone Grafting is a technique in which the lost bone structure of the patient is restored back using artificial or natural bone substitute material Many artificial bone substitutes are available which replicated natural bone structure. In extensive cases patients own bone is used to rebuild bone.
There is a new technique called PRGF (Plasma rich growth factors) which are derived from patients own blood and used during grafting. Results of PRGF are outstanding.
Bone of patient can be obtained from iliac crest, tibia, jaw bone, cranium, rib etc Quality and quantity of bone is different in all sites and reason for grafting decides the site. The post operative healing is very good and usually there are no complications.
MAINTENANCE OF IMPLANTS
Your implants can serve you for years if you keep your mouth healthy and take care of your implants.
Just like your natural teeth, you should brush after every meal (morning and evening)
Special cleaning aids

  • Use soft or medium tooth brush & chlorhexidine gel
  • Use non whitening and non abrasive toothpaste
  • Use a brush with a bent handle or special interdental brush to reach behind your teeth to clean the abutments.
  • Use gauze or special floss with a foam coating to clean around your gums, abutments and prosthetic teeth.

TIPS FOR BRUSHING YOUR TEETH

  • Removable prosthesis After removing, brush the inside and outside, brush around the gums and abutments and floss the abutments.
  • Fixed prosthesis Brush your fixed prosthetic teeth as thoroughly as you would your own teeth, reach the brush behind the teeth to brush the back of the abutments and floss around the abutments from front, sides and behind.

ROUTINE CHECK-UPS
It is very important to have routine check-ups by your dentist, after implant treatment is done.
At least twice a year you must have your prosthesis checked to see how well it fits in your mouth, make any repairs and clean the abutments. And at the same time the stability of the anchors and the health of your gums and jaw will be checked.
Take an appointment for scaling and polishing regularly.
EATING HABITS
You will be able to eat normally without any unusual sensations once your implants have integrated, and till you get used to your prosthesis or crowns and bridges after implants.
Here are some do’s and don’ts for eating.

  • Do not try to break hard things.
  • Do not eat too sticky foods.
  • Do not smoke as it may cause staining on your dentures or may infect your healed implants.

With several years of experience and having placed hundreds of implants belonging to various systems, Dr.Pritish Lodha &  Dr. Alpana Lodha have found the best Implant systems that can give patients the most optimized results in almost any situation.

For years delayed loading implants were the sole option for people with missing or damaged teeth. Traditionally implants were placed and left to heal for months before loading a crown, bridge or denture. However, nowadays single piece and immediate loading dental implants are quite popular. Immediate loading dental implants can also be placed immediately after tooth extraction. By use of this technology, it is possible to give you replacement tooth/teeth in a day!

  • We have an interdisciplinary team of experts comprising of an Implantologist, Oral Surgeon, Periodontist and Prosthodontist in ONE location
  • SSCC has also introduced the All-On-Four technique in Nashik which was developed by the Portuguese dentist Dr. Paulo Malo in collaboration with Nobel Biocare.( U.S.A.)
  • We offer single or multiple tooth replacements and even full mouth rehabilitations
  • We utilize a versatile range of Nobel Biocare and Osstem Implants, both world leaders in implant technology Nobel Biocare practitioners are readily available in major cities around the world should the incredibly rare need for minor assistance arise.
  • We have extensive experience in planning and successfully executing innovative solutions for complex cases like Direct and Indirect Sinus Lift Surgeries, Block Bone grafts and Ridge splitting using piezosurgery.
  • Go ahead – bite into that apple and dive in to that mouth-watering steak. Walk in to your board meetings more confidently. With your new implants, you’ll have many reasons to smile!