What Are the Advantages of One-Piece Implants?

The difference between a one-piece implant and a two-piece implant? Okay, well, think of it this way: if you have a pen with a clicker versus a pen with a cap, the one-piece implant is the one with the clicker. You place the mini implant in, and then that’s it. Then we take a mold and make the crown.

The two-piece implant is like a pen with a cap. The weak part is where the cap goes over, so that part is bendable, and bacteria can go around there because there are creases there. A lot of times, peri-implantitis is a large factor with two-piece implants, whereas with mini implants, we rarely have any peri-implantitis, meaning we don’t really have infections around the gums. The gums tend to like mini implants better than regular two-piece implants because you don’t have that cap or second piece causing creases where bacteria can accumulate.

Also, a one-piece implant is just one procedure. It’s not really surgery. It’s like a pinpoint hole that we put into the bone. With a two-piece implant, you have to flap open the gums, put the implant in, wait 3 to 6 months, sometimes 9 months, for everything to heal, then open the gums again, place the second piece, and then take a mold for the crown. So it’s a little more complicated and cumbersome. Most people want a simpler procedure, and that’s what mini implants provide.