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Improving patient outcomes with dental implants

A single-tooth solution to a single-tooth problem

The American College of Prosthodontists estimates that 178 million Americans are missing at least one tooth and about 40 million Americans are entirely edentulous. Today, approximately 30% of adults ages 65-74 have no natural teeth and one of the most common reasons for losing one, multiple or even all teeth is periodontal disease, decay and trauma.

Introducing: the dental implant. Dental implants have had a long history. Around A.D. 600, the Mayans used seashells to replace missing mandibular teeth. Today, implants are made from alloplastic materials and patients who were once missing one or multiple teeth could now smile with confidence, chew their food and enjoy an overall improved quality of life thanks to the advent of implants.

Demand for dental implants grows

As more patients become educated about the longterm benefits of implants, it makes sense they’re quickly becoming the preferred standard for treatment over dentures and bridges. In addition to looking and behaving like natural teeth, the benefits of implants include improved speech, further tooth loss prevention, reduced risk of periodontal disease and stability of adjacent teeth. They can also help deter facial sagging and premature aging.

Fortune Business Insights previously valued the global dental implants market at $3.9 billion in 2021 and projected it to grow to $6.34 billion by 2029. PDS-supported practices have seen a five-year average trend of 28% growth in dental implants. It’s been projected that the PDS platform will outpace industry growth reaching an annual minimum of 50,000 implants by FY24. As the standard of care, supported dentists and specialists continue to complete more of the implants they diagnose year-over-year.

Driving that growth will be technological advancements, patient acceptance and more GPs actively placing and restoring implants within their practices.

In the last year, 40,000 implants were placed within PDSsupported practices, a 60% increase from 25,000 implants placed in 2019. There has also been a noticeable shift in the types of implant crowns dentists and patients prefer over the last 10 years with estimates showing roughly 90% of implant crowns being screw-retained as opposed to cement-retained.

Methods for implant crown restorations

PDS-supported dentists have several options for implant crowns, but two of the most common options are CEREC® CAD/CAM and Nobel Biocare’s exclusive lab, Mahwah Labs. Since the preferred standard of care leans more towards screw-retained crowns, many clinicians opt to send these crowns out. Integrating CEREC remains a triedand-true part of that process for many PDS-supported dentists. “I prefer CEREC’s digital scanning and angled screw channel (cement-free abutment) crowns to the older technique of PVS impressions,” said Steven Alvarado, DDS, owner dentist of La Jolla Village Smiles Dentistry and Implants (office 91). “It offers great improvement in patient comfort as well as expedience and accuracy for the clinical team. There are very few reasons to revert to impressions.”

“Implants are the best treatment we have in the industry,” said Periodontics Health Group Owner Dentist and periodontic specialist, Zulema Valdivia, DDS. “Patients understand implants are a permanent solution to what should be a temporary issue, whether they’re missing a single tooth, multiple teeth or are completely edentulous. It’s a straightforward procedure and the results are long-lasting.”

Clinicians who send their implant crown restorations to Mahwah Labs know they can expect digital scanning and genuine Nobel Biocare parts. Clinicians can count on a 7-8 day turnaround (depending on whether it’s a single unit or multiple units) as well as generous cost savings with the average PDS-supported practice saving approximately $2,000 a year (or $200 per case savings) versus other labs.

The future of implants

With continued clinical education made available to dentists encouraging them to become familiar and confident with restoring and placing implants and with more patients understanding its long-term benefits, it’s realistic to say that implants are a permanent fixture in the industry. The demand for implants will continue to spur its growth within the industry as they become more accessible in cost and accepted as the standard of care for missing teeth.

PDS continues to develop clinical education specific to implant restoration and surgical placement with two new courses available as of this year through the PDS University® Institute of Dentistry, “Implant Restorative Continuum” and the “Implant Live Surgical Preceptorship.” Contact your regional training teams to learn more.