Pamper Your Teeth

An implant restoration is made up of 3 main parts. Like crowns that are done on natural teeth, implant crowns need to go over a stump which is also known as an abutment. The procedure for implant restoration always begins with the implant itself.

Implant
This is a titanium “screw” or post surgically inserted into the bone of the jaw. It is expected to function like a replacement root for the missing tooth. Apart from its threaded external surface, the internal aspect of the implant is usually a hollow well with screw threads.

Abutment
This is the equivalent of the abutment of a crown for a natural tooth. A natural tooth is reduced to a stump so that a crown with the normal size and appearance can go over it. In the case of implants, a ready-made or laboratory milled abutment is screwed into the implant well and this acts as the “stump” that holds the crown. One obvious question is, why can’t the abutment and implant be one piece like in natural teeth? As a matter of fact, implants and abutments do come in one piece. However, the safest surgical technique is not to have anything sticking so high above the gums before osseointegration. Furthermore, implant abutments offer plenty of choices and possibilities. Abutments can be straight or tilted to compensate for non-ideal positions of implants.

Crown
This is the visible part of the implant restoration. It resembles a crown for a natural tooth in almost every way. They can be porcelain fused to metal crowns or they may be full ceramic crowns in which case they’ll require special abutments. However, there are usually more options with implant crowns because they can be either made to be cemented onto abutments or screwed into them.