What Are the Steps to Two-stage Dental Implant Surgery?

The one stage surgery means that the day that the implant is placed a healing abutment is placed and sits above the gums.  With two stage surgery, the day of the surgery is performed the implant is completely covered.  Three to six months later another surgery is done two expose the implant and place the healing abutment.  The type of surgery chosen is determined by the amount and quality of bone that you have at the time of surgery.  One stage surgery is great  when there is good initial stabilization of the implant and minimal risk of infection.   

Normally, the success of an implant is determined by the implant integrating (or fusing) with the bone.  The odds for success increase if the implant is not disturbed while the new bone is forming, so traditional methods are where an implant is placed and the gums are allowed to grow over the implant, covering it all up.  After a period of time, the dentist exposes the implant and places the crown in a series of steps.  This is called a two stage process.

A single stage process is where the implant has a temporary crown placed at the time the implant is placed, and after the integration a permanent crown is placed.  The odds for success goes down statistically by about 2%, so this is still a very successful approach.

There is NO method that means the implant and final restoration is placed at the same time.

Back 20+ years, all implant surgeries were two stage. The old protocol suggest that an implant should be buried under the gums for 4 to 6 months and then the gums would be opened up to expose the implant and allow the crown to be attached. Over time, many of the implants were exposed on their own over the 4 to 6 months of healing. As such, the dental community realized that since there is no deleterious effects of leaving the implants exposed right at the time of surgery, most science and experience led to surgeons now simply doing a ONE stage procedure where implants are left exposed instead of having to go back and expose the implant in a simple second procedure. The only time a TWO stage process might be necessary today is IF you are having an implant placed with extensive bone and gum grafting to correct some defect around the implant. Covering the implant with the gums will allow for complete bone and soft tissue healing and a more predictable long term result.