Frequently asked questions

Unfortunately, you have no teeth left and your prosthesis is making your life miserable: you feel insecure when in the company because it does not hold well, you only feed on soft food, your palate is covered and hence your feeling of taste is diminished? Or maybe you are aware that these problems are just behind the corner because you realize that the few teeth you have left should be pulled out soon? What to do?

Very rarely are the universal solutions the ideal ones – You are an individual and you deserve an individual and personalized solutions. The solution proposed will depend on your character and expectations, time and money you are ready to invest, bone and soft tissue dimensions and the expected aesthetic result. Here are some of the most common solutions:

Four implants, a bar and skeletal prosthesis

It is a classic, standard solution for a patient who wants something simple and verified. It is almost always a possible solution, even when the bone is considerably atrophied. The therapy requires 4-6 months and 5 visits to be completed. Both the complexity of the surgery and the price are moderate. The fact that it is a so-called “mobile” prosthesis is nothing to be concerned about. Nobody apart from you and your doctor will ever notice it – the palate is free, there is sufficient room for the tongue and skeletal prosthesis are so solidly fixed on the implants that you can laugh and chew freely.

Implant supported fixed denture

You have your mind set on fixed dental prosthesis? You have no desire to even try a classic or skeletal prosthesis firmly fixed on implants? In that case, it is necessary to place 8 implants per jaw. Usually, it is also necessary to reconstruct the bone in certain places. When the denture is done, the happiness of the patient is touching! Once again as it used to be! However: a full aesthetic analysis is required prior to the beginning of the therapy so that we can be sure that you will have not only firm teeth but also a pretty smile. In cases where the bone atrophy is at an advanced state (usually in patients who had been wearing the total prosthesis for years previous to the treatment) this kind of solution is not possible or is only possible after a series of bone reconstruction surgeries. Implant supported fixed dentures are the most demanding solution financially and, depending on the initial situation, the treatment requires 5-14 months.

All on four – All on six

You are in a hurry and you would like to have your fix teeth straight away, in 48 hours? This kind of fixed denture solution is one of the most recent ones, however, controlled monitoring of the patients has shown excellent results after 10 years of such denture being in function. The denture is fixed but thanks to the fact that the border implants are placed angularly, it is sufficient to use 4 implants in the lower jaw and 6 implants in the upper jaw. The downside: it is not an ideal solution for the aesthetically demanding areas or more precisely for the upper jaw in patients with short upper lip whose gingiva is exposed when smiling. However, it is of excellent function in the lower jaw. The advantage: You can have fix teeth within 24-48 hours, no major bone reconstruction is required and it is usually possible to place the implants as soon as the few remaining teeth had been removed. After 3-6 months, the temporary bridge is being replaced with a permanent. Financially speaking, this would be a middle solution.

This, however, is not all

There are also mini implants that are of preference in patients limited because of their health condition or their financial situation. It is good to know that in a great number of cases provisory implants that fix the prosthesis or the bridge can be used as well as the remaining teeth.

Don’t forget: Your therapy has to be dictated by your personal anatomy, your wishes and your needs, and your being ready to invest time and money and must not be limited by the preferences of the team of dental medicine doctors. The team you have chosen is there to guide you and help you make decisions, it may sometimes even make a decision for you, but while doing this, it also has to offer and have complete knowledge of the whole spectrum of possible therapies.

There is a fixed work on eight implants, or conditionally fixed work on four implants usually. Here is our proven, standard protocol.

1st step

During your first visit, we will make a clinical examination and clear snapshot of the jaw. Depending on your expectations and preferences, and individual anatomy, we will propose the best possible solution for you. With a help of the animated movie and demonstration models, we will provide you an accurate presentation of the solution.

First visit after the initial agreement includes extracting teeth and taking an imprint for a temporary dental prosthesis ( eg. temporary crown or prosthesis, depending on your situation ) that you should wear on the same day – so don’t be afraid of going back home without teeth, your temporarily prosthesis will be taken care about before you leave our Clinic!

Depending on your clinical situation and the information read from transparent X- ray scanning, we will recommend an accurate three­dimensional jaw snapshot (CT) yet during your very first visit, or 2­4 months after dental extraction. CT scan is required in order to assess the dimension and quality of the jaw bone. Based on CT scan, we plan total number and arrangement of implants, and if needed, possible appropriate measures for jaw construction ( augmentation ).

2nd step

We have made some CT scans, together we decided to select a prosthetic solution that suits you the best. We begin to work. We will prepare you for the surgery room – one of our specialists in oral surgery and implantology will wait for you there. After a detailed description of the procedure, we will start to operate. Surely, you must be asking yourself whether placing the implants is painful? The procedure itself isn’t painful, eventually, you may feel the tingling sensation of anesthesia, as well as the surgeon’s hand movements, but nothing more than that. You will be provided with detailed written instructions how to behave after the procedure, including all necessary medications and all little things you may need after the surgery.

Written instructions are also available on our web­site.

After the procedure is over, again you will meet your prosthodontist to arrange the continuation of your therapy with.

3rd step

Next term and next step to continue with the procedure, counts after 2­6 months from initial putting the implants. The surgeon will open implants and put the secondary screws for healing that will shape gingiva in your jaw.

4th step

One month after putting the secondary screws, we will take the definite imprint of your final teeth.

5th step

Two weeks after the imprint is taken, in consultation with dental technicians, we will perform the rehearse of your definite teeth.

6th step

There’s nothing else left for us to do, yet to enjoy with you in your new smile! Bon appetit!

Dental implants are nothing else than artificial roots – titanium screws. But, how do they keep tight in the bone? Mechanically, such as nails, screws or dowels, or like our natural teeth?

Primary, mechanical stability

Shortly after placing the implants, and a few weeks after the insertion, dental implant stability inside the bone is purely mechanical. The implants are threaded, implant ledge is prepared according to the hardness of the bone so that the implants are installed by a certain force.

Naturally, after implant insertion, the reaction occurs in the surrounding bone, decreasing mechanical stability already after two weeks from placing the implants.

But, roughly at the same time with the loss of mechanical stability, biological stability rises up.

Secondary, biological stability

Biological stability rises up thanks to the biocompatibility of titanium and dental implant rough surface. “Rough” surface of the implant is an adjective – decades of intensive research and experimenting are hidden behind of which, all in order to obtain the implant surface that will optimally interact with the bone. Great progress in improving the design and implant surface has been made recently. The aim is in realizing the best possible ingrowth of vital bone cells in the microstructure of the dental implant’s surface, as soon as possible. What we mean is the osseointegration – intergrowing of dental implants with the bone.

Tertiary stability

Tertiary stability happens after loads on dental implants and their full functional integration. That means, after the dental crowns/bridges or partial denture was placed properly on implants and when subjected to chewing forces.

Good news: there aren’t any allergies to titanium, and dental implants are, in cases of 95%, titanium crafted.

Titanium has a great affinity towards oxygen, so that immediately after the titanium ions are been released, they create an oxide layer. Oxides are unable to tie­up any proteins, so subsequently, titanium cannot cause an allergic reaction.

Slightly less good news: approximately 2% of all implants do not accrete with the bone, being thrown away from some reason. None of the dental implants experts, or none of the implantological studios are 100% successful. Statistical information from our Polyclinic is showing that 1% of our built­in implants do not accrete with the bone. Our experienced surgeons, applying only certified implants and performing very strict sterility measures, are likely the ones to give a credit for such excellent results.

Why don’t we have 100% success rate?

Dental implants should not be placed in the following patients:

• children and young people before the completion of their growth
• persons suffering from severe cardiovascular diseases
• persons with severe blood coagulation disorders
• post radiation head or neck condition, chemotherapy
• any bone diseases
• bone tumors
• autoimmune diseases
• immunosuppression after transplantation
• severe metabolic diseases
• unstable “diabetes mellitus”
• Morbus Paget
• drugs and alcohol addiction
• heavy smokers
• bisphosphonates
• psychiatric diseases, the patient’s non­cooperability

However, it’s only 1% of failure to patients without any absolute contraindications we’re talking about. Research is suggesting smokers and patients with low quality/quantity of bones, as the most frequent implant losers. If too hard, bone is suffering from poor blood circulation, simultaneously overheating whilst preparing some implant ledge. If too soft, a bone will provide very poor anchorage for dental implants.
Here are some of the reasons with simply mechanical background: implants are overloaded by chewing, keeping the pressure on implants with a prosthesis, or prosthetic construction micromovements before dental implants acquire full mechanical stability.

In certain cases, a satisfactory answer cannot be found.

What if an implant does not accrete with the bone, or gets rejected?

A dental implant has to be removed, and the new implant will take its place after the healing process. Reimplantation failure is measured by “parts per thousand” and it’s extremely rare. It goes without saying that our patients should pay for successfully osseointegrated dental implants ONLY.

I need to have a jaw operation! What to do now?

No panic.

Surely there are more desirable situations than lying helplessly in a dentist chair with your mouth wide open listening to background noises. Oral cavity operations are indeed unpleasant, however, they are painless. Still, caution is needed: local anesthesia does not rule out the feeling of pressure. However, pressure is not pain and if you are prepared to that particular sensation, you will cope more easily with the operation. After all, it’s all in the head, right?

How to get prepared?

• Depending on the difficulty of the intervention, keep in mind that several days prior to the operation as well as for several days after the operation you should not strain yourself physically or talk excessively.
• Fill your fridge: baby food, soups and any kind of food that can be cut into tiny pieces or mashed.
• Add an extra pillow. The Higher head position will help diminish the swelling.
• Prepare some cooling compresses. Post-operative cooling diminishes the swelling and alleviates the pain. Apply the compresses at intervals and don’t put cold objects directly on the face – wrap them in a cloth.
• Pay a visit to the pharmacy: during the consultation interview write down the advice during the post-operation period. You can find written instructions for certain interventions on https://rident.hr/ask-the-doctor/ . Buy a 0,12% CHX rinsing solution and some painkillers (Ibuprofen or Analgina e.g.). Pick up a lip care cream as well – vaseline or similar.
• Supply yourself with some gauze swabs. After the operation, there is a hemorrhage risk, and it can be stopped easily by putting some pressure on the bleeding spot. The longer the pressure, the better. Paper tissues are not suitable because they tend to fall apart and tiny pieces can get to the wound. Oral cavity hemorrhages usually appear more serious than they really are: blood mixing with saliva can give a sensation of a much more substantial hemorrhage. In no case should you rinse your mouth if it’s bleeding!
• A week before and after the operation you shouldn’t take any painkillers containing ASS (typical ASS based painkiller: Aspirin) since they increase the risk of hemorrhage.
• Bring a list of medicines that you usually take to the consultation interview.
• DO NOT SMOKE! You can only smoke if it truly doesn’t matter to you whether the operation should have a successful outcome or not.
• Organize your transport. Not only do local anesthesia and painkillers diminish the concentration but the stressful situation itself has a negative effect on psychomotor abilities.
• Wear simple and comfortable clothes.
• After the third day, an improvement is to be felt. If the pain and the swelling should continue, don’t hesitate to contact your doctor.
• And trust us: after the surgery had been done, almost every patient claims that the worst aspect was the fear prior to the surgery!

At the Dental Clinic Rident, each patient has his own doctor of dental medicine that plans, follows and coordinates the entire treatment and controls the patient’s status at every visit. Hence, you will receive the care of a personal doctor as well as different areas specialist services, all in one place.

At the Dental Clinic Rident, we want to have satisfied and faithful patients, provide quality service and offer treatments at affordable prices. Most of our patients come to us through a personal recommendation, while a lesser part of our patients are those who get attracted by our Internet pages. Why? We are a large dental clinic, success is guaranteed, and every, even the smallest mistake, is taken personally and seriously, and is subsequently analyzed in a team. We care about our patients. Our professional responsibility, human compassion and emotional empathy towards patients get wings once these same patients return to us and recommend us to their families and friends.

“Therefore, anyone who knows what is right but fails to do it is guilty of sin”. New Testament

Bone defects that are a direct consequence of periodontitis can be regenerated. This is achieved by restructuring the lost bone. However, this approach is only valid for certain types of defects.

The procedure is done using microsurgical techniques, after an appropriate preparation of the patient and only if the actual inflammation had been previously removed.

The defect is cleaned and disinfected. After that, the biologically active substances are placed in order to favor the creation of new bone substance and other supportive tissues. Artificial bone can be added if needed.

When dealing with larger defects, the procedure includes filling the defects with artificial bone and covering them with membrane subsequently.

Regardless of its number, when it comes to implant placement, only one visit is needed. Generally, before determining and proposing prosthetic therapy, a patient needs to perform CT scan of the jaw to determine the condition of bone structures in the regions where implants have to be set. Thereafter, the patient is processed in the surgical room, which usually takes no more than 2 to 3 hours. Mostly in the period of 2-3 weeks after implantation, the patient is obliged to get to the control and removal of stitches. Period of osseointegration strongly depends about the jaw that was treated ( or in layman’s terms – time that is needed for the bone to accept the implant ). Typically, this is a period of approximately 3 to 4 months. Thereafter, the patient comes to the prosthetic treatment that includes 3 to 4 visits, depending on the selected prosthetic solutions, what takes about next 2 months.

Halitosis can be caused by a number of different agents. In most cases (80-90%) bad breath originates in the mouth itself. Mouth anaerobic bacteria are to blame (bacteria able to live without oxygen). They produce detectable foul gases that are a result of breaking of certain amino acids. These gases are associated with oral malodors and bad breath. The bacteria are generally positioned in the sub-gingival niches and on the upper surface of the tongue.

Stomach diseases rarely cause halitosis.

With an optimal oral hygiene and targeted therapy for inflamed gums and periodontitis, problems with bad breath will be resolved automatically, if of course, there is no other cause of bad breath.

Veneers are thin layers of restorative material placed over the tooth surface. Veneers are minimally invasive and are generally used for front teeth treatment. Being entirely made with dental porcelain veneers imitate the tooth surface faithfully.

Veneers represent an aesthetic solution that allows us to restore the missing part of the tooth; to provide a brighter and more uniform tooth color, shape and symmetry and to make teeth appear straight.

They are the ideal solution for resolving problems such as minor spaces between teeth but also for people whose teeth edges have worn off.

Veneers are resistant to coffee, tea and cigarette stains. Veneer application is one of many prosthetic solutions that our Clinic offers.