A dental implant is an artificial tooth root replacement and is used in prosthetic dentistry. There are several types. The most widely accepted and successful is the osseointegrated implant, based on the discovery by Swedish Professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark that titanium could be successfully incorporated into bone when osteoblasts grow on and into the rough surface of the implanted titanium. This forms a structural and functional connection between the living bone and the implant. A variation on the implant procedure is the single tooth implant, implant-supported multi-units fixed bridge, or implant-supported removable denture. From WIKIPEDIA, the free encyclopedia.

Single tooth implant:
A treatment option to replace single missing tooth is a single-tooth implant. For years, patient were advised to place their desires aside and accept the limitations of a fixed bridge. However, many dentists feel the most natural method to replace a tooth is to use implant, rather than preparing adjacent teeth and joining them together with a prosthesis. The primary reason suggesting the fixed bridge were its clinical ease and reduced treatment time instead to the best possible long-term solution.
From “Dental Implant prosthetics- Dr.Carl E.Misch”

Single tooth replacement with Fixed bridge
- Estimated mean life span of fixed bridge(50%survival) is reported to be 10years.
- Caries most common cause to fixed bridge failure.
- 15%of fixed bridge abutments require root canal treatment.
- Failure of abutment teeth of fixed bridge is 8-12% at 10years and 30% at 15years.
- 80% of teeth adjacent to missing teeth have minimal or no restoration

Single tooth Implants: Advantages
- High success rates (better than 97% for 10years)
- Decreased risk of caries of adjacent teeth.
- Decreased risk of root canal problems on adjacent teeth.
- Improved hygiene
- Decreased cold or contact sensitivity of adjacent teeth
- Psychological advantage
- Decreased abutment tooth loss

From “Dental Implant prosthetics- Dr.Carl E.Misch”\

Implant supported removable denture:
The use of dental implants to provide support for removable denture offers a multitude of advantages compared with the use of removable soft tissue borne restorations.

Decreased Performance of removable denture
- Bite force decreased from 200psi to 50psi (psi= pound/square inches)
- Bite force of 15-year denture wearers reduced to 6psi
- Masticatory efficiency decreased
- Increased drug use of gastrointestinal disorders.
- Possible decrease in life span

Advantages of Implant –Supported removable denture
- Bone maintenance
- Restoration and maintenance of occlusal vertical dimension
- Maintenance of facial esthetics
- Esthetic improvement
- Improved phonetics
- Improved occlusion
- Improvement or allowance of regaining of oral propioception
- Increased prosthesis success
- Improved masticatory perfomance
- Reduced size of prosthesis (eliminate palate and flanges)
- Improved stability and retention of removable denture
- Increased survival times of prosthesis
- Elimination of need to alter adjacent teeth
- Improved psychological health