Implant Restorations & Longevity.

I have been restoring implants for many years. Of the implants that I have restored there was one that was restored about 20 years ago on which the crown and support structures loosened. There is a key component which is designed to hold indefinitely. It in essence 'cold welds' the tooth portion of the replacement to the root portion which is the surgically placed implant. This technology has improved to the point where the implant manufacturers no longer recommend placement of crowns for implant restorations with remvable or temporary cement. All of the crowns placed in my office on implant restorations done recently are secured with bonding materials and resin based, virtually insoluble cements. They should not come loose or have any degradation for 2 to 3 lifetimes according to scientific research.

Recently we saw a patient of ours [who is new to our office within the last 2 years] who has many implant restorarions. Within a couple of weeks he had 2 crowns come loose from implant replacements. Both of these crowns are now secured with resin based bonding materials and he shouldn't have this problem any longer.

It is best to follow the manufacturers recommendations and I believe in keeping up with the latest technology and refinements in dental treatment. I attend many continuing education courses and do a lot of professional journal reading as well as follow my profession in other ways. Our relatively new patient should not have any more problems with the 2 most recently secured crowns on his dental implants.