Immediate Function

Immediate Success by Bill Locante
When our patients break a tooth in the esthetic zone, it is obviously going to cause concern. Patients dont want to go without and tooth and they dont like to wear a flipper while waiting for their implant to integrate. Fortunately, we are often able to place either an immediate function implant or an immediate non-functional implant with a temporary. With either one of these options, our patients are thrilled to leave with a tooth in that missing space! I have been placing immediate function implants for many years now and have experienced excellent success. As you have heard me say many times, the key to success for any immediate placement of an implant is having adequate healthy bone. The presence of active infection is a contraindication for immediate implant placement. Sometimes, our attempts to save the tooth result in bone loss due to infection, requiring bone grafting and healing before an implant can be safely placed.

Tips for greater immediate implant success:
If you want to greatly improve the final esthetic result and increase your patients possibility of having an immediate implant placed, the following steps will help you.
1. Explain the bone loss that can occur with chronic infection with your patients. Help them understand that no pain doesnt mean no problem exists.
2. Once you make the decision to remove the tooth, encourage the patient to have it extracted immediately to avoid further bone loss. We will always do our best to get your patients in within a day or two of your phone call. For optimum bone preservation, the tooth should be very gently removed with the least amount of trauma to the bone.