Now that your dental implant procedure is being planned, you might have started to do your own research. When it comes to dental implants for rear molars, you might be confused if you've looked at any pictures of the prosthetic tooth that will ultimately be attached to your implant. Why does it look like the tooth has a large hole in its center?
Different Functions
Different teeth in your mouth have different functions when it comes to gripping, tearing, chewing, or grinding food. The way in which a prosthetic tooth will be attached to its implant reflects its specific function.
Bite Force
The titanium implant that will be placed in your jaw will integrate with this bone. Once healed, the implant becomes a tooth root, which allows the prosthetic tooth to achieve the same bite force as a natural tooth. But natural teeth must withstand varying degrees of bite force depending on their location in the dental arch.
Front or Back
The teeth towards the front of your mouth handle the gripping and tearing of food; the teeth at the back of your mouth chew, grind, and pulverize food. They must withstand more bite force (also called occlusal force) than a tooth at the front of your mouth. When a dental implant is towards the front of the mouth, the prosthetic tooth is usually cemented to the implant. This is a perfectly secure connection for a front tooth. A rear molar needs more stability.
Screw Attachment
To achieve the bite force that a molar requires, these prosthetic teeth are generally attached to their implants with a small screw. This is why a prosthetic molar often comes with a hole at its center. This allows your dentist to securely screw the tooth to the implant, achieving the necessary stability for your implant and its prosthetic tooth to function as a molar. Using cement would result in a potentially weak connection between the implant and its prosthetic tooth, hence the screw. But what about that hole in the center of the tooth?
Resin and Porcelain
Of course, your dentist wouldn't leave a large hole in the center of your dental implant's new tooth. This is closed with composite dental resin—which is the same material that's used to fill a cavity. It's the same color as the prosthetic tooth, and you won't be able to see the difference between the resin and the surrounding porcelain tooth.
So there's a clear reason why prosthetic molars to be attached to implants have a hole in their center. It ensures that your finished dental implant will be strong enough to do what it's supposed to do—which is to be a seamless replacement for a natural tooth.
Speak to your dentist to learn more about dental implants.
Share31 May 2023
My son was outside playing with some friends when he accidentally fell down and hit his mouth on the sidewalk. The fall knocked out his front tooth, so I immediately placed the tooth in a small jar and added some milk. I rushed my son to the dental clinic and the dentist immediately took us into the examination room. The dentist placed the tooth back into the socket and saved it. My name is Beverly Tillman and thanks to the quick work of the dentist, my son didn't lose his tooth. Since this was a scary time for me and my son, I wanted to write this blog as a source of information for other parents who are facing a dental emergency. First of all, don't panic and get to your dentist as soon as possible. I hope this blog will help to answer your questions about dental emergencies.