The Advantages of Mini Dental Implants

James A. Vito, DMD, holds a doctor of medical dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. He also received a certificate in periodontics from the school. As the leader of a Wayne, Pennsylvania, dental practice, James A. Vito, DMD, provides patients with an array of services, including both traditional and mini dental implants.

Dental implants allow dentists to replace a tooth’s damaged or missing root with a strong titanium substitute. After the implant fuses with bone, dental professionals can manage a patient’s oral health as if the tooth has simply been fixed with a crown. In some scenarios, dentists prefer to use mini dental implants.

Mini dental implants are especially helpful when dentists are performing procedures in narrow oral spaces. Some individuals have smaller teeth than others, necessitating mini implants, while certain kinds of teeth, like incisors, are smaller for all individuals. Oral spaces may also be crowded, and therefore require mini dental implants, due to the presence of lower jaw dentures or pre-molar teeth.

In most cases, a mini dental implant is about half the width of a normal-size implant. In the event of implant failure, the shallow submersion of a mini implant means dentists do not have to perform any corrective grafting. Additional benefits of a mini dental implant procedure range from oral bone preservation to less pain and recovery compared to traditional implants.