Does an oral surgeon typically affix the abutment?

Hello,The answer to your question depends on the oral surgeon and restoring dentist's relationship and agreement as to who places the abutment after the implant is placed. A common practice we use is we place the dental implant and what is called a healing abutment after 4 months. The restoring dentist then will place an impression post, most commonly have his dental lab make a custom abutment, (the best way to go), and the dentist will then make the crown. It works beautifully.

because its the part of the prosthetic component. in some complex cases (like allon4 or allonx) oral surgeons put the abutments (multiunit abutments). best regards

You seem very knowledgable on the steps/procedure. It can get confusing, especially because there are two types of abutments placed throughout the process. One is by the oral surgeon and one is by the general dentist. After the implant is placed and heals within the bone, the oral surgeon uncovers the implant and places a healing abutment. This abutment gets your gums ready for the crown so it looks natural. You usually see the general dentist 2 weeks after the healing abutment is placed for an impression to have a custom abutment and crown made for your implant. This abutment is the connector between the implant and the crown.

Different dental practices work in different ways. Some practices have an oral surgeon who does the surgical aspect and places the implants and another dentist will do the restoration (the abutment and crown). In other practices the same dental surgeon will place the implants and do the restoration as well.It is not necessary for an oral surgeon to do the surgical work, but dentists who don't place implants may refer their patients to a surgeon who does, either at another practice and to a visiting surgeon at their own practice.The advantage to the patient of the same dentist carrying out all the work is that if there is a problem, although this is rare, there is no confusion as to who should deal with it.So in answer to your query, look into who will be doing the treatment and satisfy yourself that the dental surgeons involved are knowledgeable and experienced.I trust that this helpsBest wishesDr Ian Hallam MBE

The probable reason why you can't get a straight answer is because it depends on the relationship between the oral surgeon and the restoring dentist. Sometimes the surgeon places the abutment and sometimes the dentist places the abutment. I work with various oral surgeons, some of them place the implant and the abutment, some place the implant and send the abutment for me to place and some only place the implant and leave the rest up to me. This is also why cost of implants is widly variable. Be careful that you are not paying a bargain rate for an implant because it probably does not cover the cost of placing the abutment. An abutment that has to be custom made is also going to be more expensive than an abutment "off the shelf".

Good luck!