These people become more confident in themselves because they can eat what they want, drink what they want and smile as often as they wish. In the past, those who had a thin jawbone, usually caused by years of denture-wearing, were not able to receive implants. Because of today's technology, everyone a candidate for implants, with the exception of children whose jawbones still are growing, Steinberg stated. Now, Loyola oral surgeons can remove bone from other parts of the body, such as the hip or chin, or use synthetic bone to augment the size of the jaw, allowing an individual to become a candidate for implants. Special x-rays, or tomographies, are taken of a patient to analyze the jaw.
Planning is the most important process for implants.
Implants can be used for one tooth or all. When implanting a full set of teeth in a thin jawbone, anchors sometimes are placed through the lower jawbone from the outside by creating an incision through the skin of the chin. A metal plate is secured to the lower jaw by five anchors. Four posts are attached to the metal plate and extend through the lower jaw into the mouth. The posts are connected by a bar, called the superstructure.