Ask Dr. Christensen: How many small-diameter implants are needed for maxillary edentulous arch?

In this week's video, Dr. Christensen talks about small diameter implants. First, he says you need to assume the implants are between 1.8 mm and 2.9 mm in diameter. He shows a picture of a patient with four 2.4 mm diameter implants. For that patient, four was a good number. But he acknowledges that four is borderline and that the company would recommend six implants, then if one fails the patient still has five implants.

He said that a dentist could even do two 3.0 mm diameter implants, and he’s placed many of those with great success. But to answer the small-diameter question, placing four to six implants is adequate. Six is a safe number, four is not quite as safe, but four are quite adequate in a situation where the bone supports them.

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