Advantages and Limitations of Mini Dental Implants

Dental implants have proven to be a viable and healthy solution for many who suffer from tooth loss as a result of causes ranging from health decisions to genetic misfortune. Mini implants are one of the most advanced and effective solutions for the replacement of natural teeth. They can be a solution for those that have significant bone loss or are looking for a more affordable option to full dental implants.

Mini implants are a smaller version of a full-sized dental implant. They are toothpick thin posts that are made from titanium. Most frequently mini implants are used to stabilize the lower denture helping to eliminate the discomfort of a moving denture.  Mini implants come with many advantages; however, they also carry with them limitations, as is outlined below.

• The surgery is minimally invasive.
  
• The entire process takes only a few hours. The patient can walk in to the office in the morning and out the same day with a full set of teeth.
  
• The quick recovery of a mini implant patient can allow the patient to eat the same day.
  
• It is a solution for patients that have significant bone loss that restrict them from being candidate for full dental implants.
  
• It is a solution for patients that cannot have surgery for medical reasons.
  
• Mini implants requires no sutures or long recovery periods.

We would like to offer our special thanks to Dr. Lee Fitzgerald, offering Dallas Dental Implants, who provided a great deal of information about the advantages and limitations of mini dental implants.

• Mini implants are not an ideal, long-term solution based on the thinness of the implant.
• Non-removable dentures are not an option with mini implants.
  
• Mini implants do not offer the same degree of stability that a normal dental implant does.
  
• Some of the same drawbacks of traditional dentures apply when mini implants are used: somewhat uncomfortable, clicking, and esthetic drawbacks such as bad breath. They can only be used on the lower arch. The upper arch does not integrate with the implants. Metal fatigue is a risk with mini implants due to their size, so they can malfunction.

The best long-term option is a full dental implant, however, the cost is higher. Mini implants are a good alternative, but they cannot be seen as a replacement to natural teeth to the same degree that a dental implant is considered.