Teeth in 1 Day

One of your biggest questions is about placing implants and teeth on the same day.

Obviously, when we talk about cases where we need to rehabilitate a full upper, lower, or both arches, and we have to extract teeth to place the implants, we cannot allow the patient to leave the clinic without teeth. This is one of the biggest concerns of patients!

So how do we ensure that doesn’t happen?

Before the surgery, a consultation is held where the case is properly planned using radiographic and photographic studies.

The implant placement consultation is done in the morning, and the patient stays with us throughout the day, comfortable and monitored.

After placing the necessary implants, an impression of the mouth is taken and immediately sent to the lab. By using digital scanning, we can send the impression to our dental technician with just one click, so they can begin working on your new smile right away. These teeth are made individually for you, according to your preferences and the aesthetics of your face.

In the late afternoon, we place the fixed provisional teeth on the implants.

Another question that comes up frequently is why we place provisional teeth instead of the permanent ones right away.

The tissues need time to heal; both the gums and the bone will be remodeled, and you will notice a “shrinking” of the gums, which results in a space between the teeth and the gums.

We proceed with the permanent teeth once the healing is complete and the gums are stable, which typically occurs around 4-6 months after the implants are placed.

You can breathe easy, you won’t leave our clinic without teeth!

Written by Dr. Mónica Miranda

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Ceramic Implants, White?

With the evolution of techniques and biomaterials in oral rehabilitation and the increasing demands of patients, the use of dental implants to replace lost teeth has been on the rise. In addition to biofunctional aspects, aesthetic considerations have become more relevant, leading to the emergence of ceramic implants (mainly zirconia) as an alternative to titanium implants (metal). These are white implants, the same color as our teeth.

Zirconia is used in Dentistry due to its ability to mimic the optical characteristics of enamel and dentin, its biocompatibility, durability, and mainly its chemical stability. The mechanical properties of this ceramic are highly attractive to the field of Implantology, where robustness and aesthetics are key parameters.

Another advantage of this ceramic is its reduced affinity for bacterial plaque, thus lowering the risk of inflammatory changes in the surrounding soft tissues, making implant treatment safer.

The implant brand we use, Straumann, increasingly offers more options in this regard, which gives us the utmost confidence and security in these more aesthetic implants.

Written by Marisa Zenha

New Smile in 24h. Truth or Myth?

In recent years, technological advances have revolutionized Dentistry, particularly in the field of dental implants. The placement of implants and immediate rehabilitation with fixed prostheses, aimed at restoring aesthetics and function in a precise, comfortable, and predictable manner, reflects the innovation and development of new protocols designed to optimize oral rehabilitation and provide a new smile.

Dental implants can be considered in different situations, from the lack of just one tooth to the complete absence of teeth. Both immediate load treatments (same-day teeth) and conventional implants (standard approach) can be successfully performed, despite different techniques and indications.

The procedure is similar to the conventional protocol. In the first phase, the treatment plan is designed based on an initial assessment complemented by all the necessary diagnostic exams to analyze, for example, bone availability and determine whether the patient meets the necessary conditions for this type of rehabilitation. After the planning, the surgical procedure to place the dental implants is carried out.

Once all necessary adjustments are made, the prosthesis will be screwed onto the implants, providing a fixed rehabilitation, as intended. For approximately six months, this is used as a provisional prosthesis while osseointegration occurs, and then it is replaced with a definitive prosthesis.

A new smile, quality of life, and function through this fixed, fast, and lasting solution are possible, but it is important to remember that implants and prostheses also require hygiene care, and periodic consultations are essential for their maintenance.

Dr. Marisa Zenha

The Transformation of Maria Isabel Lima

Isabel is a 46-year-old woman and mother of three girls. Despite facing several adversities throughout her life, she is a warrior, always energetic and ready to help others.

When evaluated by the ZENHA team, she already had lower orthodontic braces and an active chronic periodontal disease, as well as a completely ill-fitting upper fixed rehabilitation with black exposed roots. Based on this, an appropriate treatment plan was outlined after careful study and planning.

Firstly, Isabel underwent non-surgical periodontal treatment to control the disease she had. This was followed by retreatment of the root canal-treated teeth with crowns, as they presented chronic apical lesions (infections), accompanied by root whitening. To further rejuvenate her smile, an intensive in-office external whitening was also performed.

After completing this first stage, a new upper fixed rehabilitation was designed to replace the previous one, and to complement it, aesthetic composite restorations were performed on the lower teeth to harmonize the entire smile.

As a result, Isabel regained confidence and self-esteem to smile again.

See Isabel’s transformation:

Written by Marisa Zenha

Does getting a dental implant hurt?

One of the main stigmas regarding implant treatment from patients is the pain it might cause.

After all, what is pain? According to the International Association for the Study of Pain, it is “an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.”

When performing an implant surgery, as with all treatments involving vital tissues, local anesthesia is applied to the area to be treated.

This local anesthesia is safe and tailored to each case and patient.

Now you’re probably thinking: how do we avoid the pain from the anesthesia needle? The truth is, we manage this discomfort by applying a topical anesthetic gel before administering the actual anesthesia.

What many patients don’t know is that it’s the volume of anesthesia entering the tissues suddenly that causes the discomfort. Therefore, we choose to apply the anesthesia slowly to minimize discomfort.

Once adequately anesthetized, our patients report no pain during the procedure. We often say that, in terms of comfort, placing an implant is more comfortable than extracting a tooth.

So, to answer the crucial question: does placing a dental implant hurt? No.

Dr. Mónica Miranda

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How long does a dental implant last?

A very common and relevant question from our patients concerns the durability of dental implants. *”Do they last forever?”*

The answer is not simple. Studies on the survival of dental implants show a high rate of longevity, and they can indeed last a long time (possibly forever), but this prediction depends on a few factors:

• Host factors: Why was the tooth lost? Is there a history of periodontal disease? Smoking habits? Quantity and quality of bone, among many other factors…

This point helps us determine the cause of tooth loss and check if there are any risk factors for implant failure.

• Dental implant: There are many brands of dental implants today, and they vary greatly in characteristics. Some well-studied brands have been on the market for long periods, while others lack this type of long-term study. This does not mean that they are better or worse, but rather that they need more evidence.

• Post-operative care: It is essential to avoid/reduce complications and ensure short- and medium-term stability.

• Oral hygiene: This is very important, not only in the first few days after surgery but especially in the long term. Oral health should be maintained with basic oral hygiene care, as poor practice or lack of hygiene measures is associated with a higher rate of biological complications in dental implants, which inevitably increases their failure rate in the long term.

• Periodic check-ups: These are essential, as any issues that may compromise the long-term survival of the implants can be identified as early as possible.

Dr. Raquel Brandão Carvalho

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What is the difference between an implant and a crown?

Dental implants provide an effective treatment for replacing missing teeth. Since Brånemark’s pioneering work in the 1960s, millions of titanium implants have been manufactured and placed in patients, with reports indicating that their number will continue to increase year after year.

This increase is due to the growing trend among us, Dentists, to recommend **the placement of dental implants to improve our patients’ quality of life in terms of aesthetics, chewing, and long-term stability**.

One of the biggest questions when discussing implants is understanding the difference between an implant and a crown.

Let’s try to explain this difference in a simple way.

**Implants serve as a fixed replacement for the tooth root, meaning they are the part that remains embedded in the bone and is not visible to the naked eye—only through X-rays.**

**The crown is the visible part that replaces the natural tooth crown in terms of aesthetics and chewing—essentially, the white part.** When a tooth is missing and we want to restore it, the crown requires the support of the implant.

To make an analogy with something from our daily lives, imagine a painting screwed to a wall. The screw that goes into the wall provides support (in this case, the implant) for the painting that attaches to the screw (the crown).

Does that make sense?

Dr. Mónica Miranda

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Doubts about Dental Implants?

Every day at the clinic, we receive patients dissatisfied with their smile for various reasons.

There are numerous procedures aimed at preserving teeth. However, in some cases, tooth loss is inevitable, and the only solution is the placement of dental implants.

Although not a novelty anymore, there are still many doubts about dental implants, so let’s clarify the 5 most frequent questions.

1. Can anyone get dental implants?

Not all patients have the ideal conditions for this treatment, so there are situations where dental implant placement is not recommended. However, all cases require prior evaluation and planning.

2. Does it hurt to place dental implants?

The surgical procedure for placing dental implants is performed under local anesthesia, so this procedure is not associated with pain. After the procedure, some discomfort and even swelling (edema) are normal.

However, these symptoms are anticipated by the dentist, who always provides the necessary instructions/recommendations for managing them.

3. Are dental implants permanent?

It is very difficult to assign a number because the durability of dental implants is strongly related to various factors (daily hygiene care, maintenance, type of dental implant, pre-existing conditions, post-operative care, etc.).

But yes, dental implants have a very long lifespan.

4. Is it possible to reject dental implants?

When it comes to dental implants, the rejection rate is practically zero.

However, like all medical procedures, there are favorable and unfavorable conditions for placing them, and thus there may be a risk of the implant not integrating with the bone. Nevertheless, there are alternatives and solutions for every case.

5. How long does it take to place a dental implant?

The surgical procedure for placing a dental implant is relatively quick. However, it all depends on the specific case, and all cases need to be evaluated and planned appropriately.

Drª Raquel Brandão de Carvalho

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