Click on pic to enlarge.

  Temporary bridge removed.

     Implants with "healing caps" just under the gum.

  Implants with healing caps replaced by "healing abutment/cuffs".

       New temporary bridge bonded on.

  Note straightness of implants.

    You see here an exact replica of Dr. Ted's upper teeth, with replicas of the
                                fixtures/implants embedded. Dr. Arguelles screws in the unsculpted abutments
                                and  carefully carves them with diamond sanders (They are extremely hard.). The pic
                                below shows the sculpted abutments screwed on to the real fixtures in Dr. Ted's mouth.

    The sculpted abutments, which were shaped on the model above, are screwed into
                                 the fixtures and tested for proper size, shape and position. Temporary crowns were
                                 prepared and placed (but not cemented) on to the abutements. (see below).
                                 in onto place

    You can see the temporary crowns in place on the abutments.  At the final visit
                                  the temporaries will be easily removed (because they are not cemented on) and the
                                  underlying abutments will be screwed on to the fixtures at a precisely determined
                                  degree of tightness. Finally the all-porcelain crowns that were made by Dr. Arguelles in
                                   his lab will be cemented on to the                                
The above X-ray shows the abutment crowns screwed onto the fixture/implants. Having verified that the abutments are straightly seated the screw that joins abutment to the  implant is mechanically tightened by a special tightening instrument to a specific level of tightness.


Dr. Ted (9/7/00) overjoyed with his new porcelain crowns permanently cemented on to the abutments/implants.