ADA Annual Meeting & MiniDental Implants

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Published: October 11, 2010 at 11:12 am

There were several mini dental implant manufacturers at the American Dental Association's Annual Meeting. I was quite impressed to see so many new ideas being incorporated into the mini dental implant.

Some of these features include: new surface coatings to help integrate the mini implant to the jaw bone faster, better thread patterns to create immediate stabilization, cement over abutments from OCO Biomedical, Intra Lock Lab analogs to help dental labs to create well-fitting crowns over the minis, and pivoting O-ring caps from Zest Locator Anchors.

With more General Dentists getting trained to place and restore mini dental implants, I expect to see happier patients. These patients who once only had the option of a traditional dental implant can now consider another option...the mini dental implant. It can be used to secure a loose upper or lower denture, replace a single missing tooth with a crown, or even to connect multiple mini implants to make a bridge.

I did have a few disturbing moments at the ADA meeting. Most of them were from dentists who would come by the mini dental implant booths to state: "Minis don't work," or "minis don't integrate into the bone," or "I can twist them out with my fingers."

I hate that such a well-designed product is causing such a divide in dentistry. Minis do work, they do integrate into the bone, they have the same surface technology, and they can be used in thin bone. I could go on and on. My suggestion to those who don't believe this would be to review some of the articles by Gordon Christensen.

There are over 30 million Americans without teeth. Only 3% of these patients have dental implants. With so many people who can benefit from traditional implants or mini implants, we in the dental profession should use this energy to help move patients forward with implant treatment.....not to divide and confuse patients on their choices.

But as I left the meeting, I still remain positive that mini dental implants will change the lives of patients and dentists alike.

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