The age profile of patients in dental practices is moving upwards. And patient expectations are also rising just as much. So exactly what questions does the implant dentist have to deal with, and how are our BioniQ Plus reduced-diameter implants of help? Dr Volker Bonatz M.Sc. answers all of these questions in a specialist article.
This article can be found in the prestigious German Implantology Journal “Implantologie Journal No. 9/2021” under the title Implantate und Prothetik für den alternden Patienten (Implants and prosthetics for the ageing patient). Dr Bonatz emphasises that patients today demand both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional results, with a minimum expenditure of both time and costs. Most of these are elderly patients who have other age-related issues to consider, as well as the implant-prosthetic reconstructions that have already been carried out.
In the present clinical case, the damaged tooth 47 and the subcoronally destroyed mesial bridge abutment 45 were removed atraumatically and bone-sparingly in a 70-year-old patient so that the almost complete preservation of the alveolar walls was achieved. To avoid any need for additional augmentation, Dr Bonatz decided to insert particularly slim BioniQ Plus implants with a diameter of 3.5 mm and 2.9 mm into the atrophied areas after healing had taken place. When selecting implants, special attention was paid to using a pronounced machined collar (with a height of 1.7 mm) on both implants to provide the smallest surface of attack for possible plaque accumulation in case of gingiva or bone reduction later on.
An X-ray, taken 14 months later, showed a stable and possibly enlarged peri-implant bone level, distal to the 2.9 mm implant. Some factors significantly influence the success of implantology and implant prosthetics. These include frequent wound management inspections, which can eliminate possible intermediate hygiene deficits at an early stage. The choice of proven implants with large surfaces and, at the same time, hygiene-friendly transitions to the superstructure increase the long-term prospects of success.
You can read the English translation of the case report online, using the following link.
Dr Volker Bonatz works in his practice in Landau/Pfalz and holds an M.Sc. in implantology / oral surgery and an M.Sc. in aesthetic-reconstructive dentistry. He runs his own private practice and is active as a lecturer on implantology at home and abroad.
