In the mid-1980s, dental implants began to be placed in patients and since then there have been many advances.
Today, thanks to technological developments, it is possible to perform an implant surgery being as non-invasive as possible, that means, damaging as little as possible the periodontal tissues around the implant.
Techniques to perform dental implants
There are different techniques to perform this surgery, such as guided surgery or flapless surgery (no flap is raised).
The flapless technique
The flapless technique is a procedure that is usually used when there is sufficient keratinized gingiva (a minimum of 2 mm is required) and bone.
This technique consists of, as its name says, placing an implant but without raising any flap. Normally, what is done is a circular incision, thanks to the punch, to remove the gum where the dental implant is going to be placed.
One of the advantages of this technique is that by not raising a flap, healing is faster and there is less risk of infection.
Guided surgery technique
Another option to place an implant is through guided surgery. In order to perform this technique, it is necessary to do a very good digital planning where it is essential to have a 3D X-ray of the patient (CBCT), and some models of the patient’s mouth. Based on all this information, the dentist is able to plan the surgery and see which is the best option to place the implant, thanks to a software.
Once the dentist has been able to determine where he wants to place the implant with the software, a dental splint is made which will fit perfectly in the patient’s mouth and will help the clinical to place the dental implant where it was planned to be.
The main goal of this technique is to help the implantologist to preserve the anatomical structures, but it also allows him to perform an immediate aesthetic and be less invasive.
The advantages of performing this type of surgery is the increased precision when placing the implants, the incidence of human error is reduced, it is faster and easier to place the implants, the results can be anticipated, and the postoperative period is faster and comfortable, especially in those where it is not necessary to raise a flap.
As for the postoperative period, the more conservative the dentist has been, the more likely it is that the recovery will be better and faster and may even be painless.
To have a good postoperative and reduce pain as much as possible, it is essential to follow the instructions that the professional gives.
