“How many mm of bone do you need for a dental implant?”

The minimum is a width of 3mm but it is also bone dependent as well as which tooth. At this minimum and the use of a mini implant, the bone needs to be a strong cortical bone and the tooth has to be one of the anterior teeth or another tooth with minimal force. Posterior teeth have a tremendous amount of force compared to anterior teeth.

Short implants are available for clinical situations where the height of available bone will not allow a standard length implant to be placed. These are available in 6mm length which means your need a minimum of 8mm of bone height to place those and when using them especially in the molar areas a wider implant is needed to manage chewing loading after the implant is restored with a crown. In the upper posterior longer implants can be used with sinus elevation at the time of implant placement but if less then 6mm of bone height is present there then sinus lift needs to be done and allowed to heal for a few months before an implant can be placed. Gregori M. Kurtzman, DDS, MAGD, FPFA, FACD, FIADFE, DICOI, DADIA, DIDIA General practitioner, International dental author and lecturer Leisure World Plaza Professional Building 3801 International Drive, Suite 102 Silver Spring, MD 20906 301-598-3500 drimplants@aol.com