Korean dental implants Snookon and their key features

Korean dental implants Snucone (Snucone) appeared on the Russian market relatively recently - they are positioned as mid-priced products, and today continue to gain popularity among implantologists who work with them, and among patients who install these implants.

However, for an unprepared person to objectively assess the quality of a given product and the appropriateness of choosing in its favor is not such an easy task. The Snucone implant system has been used in Russia for only about 5 years, and therefore a large number of reviews about it have not yet accumulated, and it may not be immediately clear what exactly is hidden behind advertising formulations and complex terms in various online reviews and descriptions.

Is it really possible in this case, for a relatively low price, you can put an implant, which in terms of survival and durability will not be inferior to expensive premium structures? And is it worth trusting the doctor if he offers Snucone as the best option, while informing that with these implants you can get “German quality at affordable prices”?

Let's figure it out ...

 

General characteristics of products under the Snucone brand

Snukon implants are made by the South Korean company SNUCONE Co. Ltd. using technology acquired in 2005 from the German company Cone. Then, between the companies an agreement was signed on cooperation in the use of technology and joint product development.

On a note

Simply put, Snucone not only bought the technology, but also carries out subsequent developments in cooperation with the German technology center. Consequently, one can really say about Snukon implants that this is a German product made in South Korea.

Here already lies the answer to the question of why the high dental technologies implemented in Snucone products are relatively inexpensive. It was possible to significantly reduce the cost of the final product created using these technologies due to the lower cost of production in Korea.

As noted above, Snukon implants are positioned as mid-priced products. For comparison: the prices for installing one Snucone unit in clinics today start at about 15,000 rubles (including anesthesia, implant placement, x-rays, suturing). The cost, for example, of installing an implant AstraTech (Sweden), Straumann (Switzerland) or Nobel Biocare (USA) will be about 2-3 times higher.

From a practical point of view, it is useful to keep in mind that products under the Snucone brand in the Russian market are just starting their way, and not every city can offer dental blades in every city.

 

Design features of implants

It is important to understand that it is a combination of design solutions and technological developments that turns a seemingly ordinary metal screw into a high-tech product, characterized by a minimum risk of rejection and a long service life. Let's see what technologies are implemented in Snukon implants and what exactly they give to the patient.

All Snukon implants are made of titanium, the survival of the product in the bone can significantly depend on the content of impurities in it. Although the emphasis is made in advertising materials on the fact that the content of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in the metal is strictly controlled in all batches, in fact, a slightly different point draws more attention.

Namely - the company Snukon, in 1997 having the name Jin Heung dental Industrial Inc., itself is engaged in the production of dental alloys. I.e:

• Currently, the company has accumulated more than 20 years of experience in this area;
• and what is very important - the company has the ability to control all stages of production - from the quality of raw materials to the quality of the final product.

Such an integrated approach can be found in some of the leading manufacturers of dental implants (Nobel Biocare, for example).

As for the implemented technologies, the following points can be noted here:

• The implant surface is microporous (the so-called SLA surface, from the English "Sand-blasted, Large grit, Acid-etched", that is, obtained by coarse sandblasting followed by acid etching). The bottom line is that the porous surface of the product significantly improves its biocompatibility and accelerates the integration of bone tissue and implant (osseointegration process). However, it cannot be said that this is some kind of unique technology, since almost all modern classical implants of different brands have a porous structure from the surface;
• The microdesign of any dental implants today is the result of a huge amount of research and clinical trials - and Snukon implants are no exception. The double self-tapping thread facilitates and speeds up (approximately 2 times) the implant placement, while ensuring reliable primary fixation with minimal bone injury (the product will not initially stagger in the hole, but will be held securely in it). In addition, thread with a square profile reduces the load on the bone;
• Elongated inner Morse taper, due to which a hermetic closure of the implant shaft is ensured. This allows you to protect the shaft from getting pathogenic microorganisms into it and reduce the resorption (resorption) of the marginal bone at the top of the implant. For the patient, the use of this technology is important for the reason that the installed implant will not provoke the appearance of halitosis, as is sometimes the case with implants of some other brands;
• Implants can be installed subcrestally (that is, completely "recessed" in the bone, below the level of the mucosa), which helps to prevent resorption of the edges of the bone. The same is achieved through the so-called “switched” platform, due to which the distance from it to the bone increases in the area of ​​the implant-abutment connection, which inhibits the resorption process;
• The Lindemann cutter in a surgical kit accelerates the drilling of a dense bone without overheating it. It is clear that many patients are even scared to think about how they will drill the jaw bone - and so, the presence of this cutter allows you to make this unpleasant procedure as quick as possible and avoid tissue necrosis due to excessive overheating;
• A special torque wrench allows you to accurately set the torsional force when installing the implant and thereby avoid injury to the bone (that is, there will be no situation that the implant is too weakly screwed in, or, conversely, screwed in with such force that the bone turns out to be an excessively compressed thread);

... and some other technology.

It is useful to keep in mind that although all modern implants are generally similar to each other and do not differ in something revolutionary, however, it is the totality of the many technological solutions implemented in a particular product that leads, for example, to the fact that implants of some brands take root with a probability of 97%, and some others - 93%. It would seem that the difference is small. But in fact, it is significant, and the risk of product rejection in the second case will be 2 times higher.

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According to the Department of Surgical Dentistry and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Chungnam National University Hospital (South Korea), in a sample of 176 installed Snucone implants, the survival rate of products for 5 years was 96.6%. At the same time, 122 implants were installed for men and 54 for women.

These figures are close to those for premium dental implants.

 

Main advantages and disadvantages of Snukon implants

The above technologies implemented in Snukon implants can be attributed to their advantages - the fact of their presence is a big plus, bringing the products closer to the level of leading brands. This is also of great importance for the implantologist - the implantation system, thought out to the smallest detail, makes it possible to install implants faster, safer and more reliable than if some of the technologies had not been implemented.

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Dental implantation is a complete surgical operation, and it is difficult to say that some nuance of the implantation system is a trifle. Here, for example, the color coding of ampoules with Snukon implants - reduces the likelihood of errors when choosing a product with suitable sizes and characteristics. It seems to be a trifle - however, if there were no color coding, the doctor would spend additional time checking the compliance of the instruments and the implant used, plus the risk of medical error would increase.

If we single out the main thing, then the advantages of Snukon implants include:

• High percentage of survival (more on this will be discussed in more detail below);
• High quality, including in the "little things";
• Possibility of use in a wide variety of clinical cases;
• Relatively low price.

Now a few words about the shortcomings of Snukon implants.

First of all, it is limited statistics on the use of implants. If the products of leading brands in the field of dental implantation have been used for several decades, the experience of using Snucone implants is generally limited to about 10 years.

The second important nuance is that the experience of Russian doctors working with Snukon implants is small, and today not many clinics in large cities indicate them in their price lists. So, finding the right specialist in a small town can be a problem.

Obviously, the significance of these shortcomings will decrease as the Snukon implantation system spreads on the domestic market and doctors gain experience in working with it.

 

Implant System Features

All implants in the Snucone catalog are divided into several series.

Abiding Fixture Plus I (AF + I) is used for implantation in the soft tissue bone type D3 and D4. Narrow models AF + I 3.5 and AF + I 4.0 are used for splitting the alveolar ridge (for prosthetics of the front teeth):

The wider models with more aggressive threads AF + I 5.3, AF + I 5.8, AF + I 6.3 and AF + I 6.8 are designed for immediate implantation in the field of molars:

Abiding Fixture Plus II (AF + II) are intended for installation in dense and medium dense bones of types D1 and D2:

Thanks to this assortment, the doctor manages to choose the optimal type of implant for each clinical case.

In general, prosthetics on Snukon implants can be performed according to two schemes (protocols):

• According to the protocol of two-stage implantation, the tooth is first removed, then the socket heals within a few months, after which the implantation is performed;
• According to the one-stage implantation protocol, the implant in this case is inserted immediately into the fresh hole of the just removed tooth root (not applicable in all clinical cases). In this case, tooth extraction should be carried out as carefully as possible with the least damage to the bone walls of the hole and gums.

Now let's see how all this may look in practice - hereinafter, as an example, a clinical case of anterior tooth prosthetics on a Snucone implant is given.

This is the initial situation: the crown of the tooth is broken almost under the root:

The most non-traumatic removal of the root with the preservation of the gums and bone walls of the hole is carried out:

Then the gum flap is cut and reclined, an implant is inserted into the hole, and granular bone material is introduced for bone regeneration:

Then the gum flap returns to its place, and is fixed with a suture:

This is how an individual abutment made of zirconia mounted on an implant looks like:

The final result of prosthetics using an all-ceramic crown:

 

Implant engraftment and their lifespan

Snukon implant survival statistics are known only from studies in South Korea. As mentioned above, according to the results of one of these studies, the implant survival rate was 96.6% (more precisely, 98.1% in the upper jaw and 94.3% in the lower jaw).

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In absolute numbers: out of 176 implants installed in the hospital of Chungnam National University, 6 did not take root. In one case, the implant mounted on the lower jaw was mechanically damaged (it is not reported how the patient managed to damage the implant). Three products were installed in patients who had previously undergone chemotherapy, one more in a patient with diabetes mellitus and a patient with chronic renal failure.

The duration of this study is 4.9 years.

According to another study conducted at the Hankook hospital (South Korea), the author concludes the following: analysis of the clinical results of the installation of 41 Snucone AF + implants in 23 patients showed 100% product survival for 5 years.

Meanwhile, statistical data on the results of the installation of Snucone implants in the Russian Federation is practically not available.

It is worth noting that the manufacturer gives a lifetime warranty on the implant. However, in fact, the clinic will give only a few years of a job guarantee. Such a difference is explained by the fact that the manufacturer gives a guarantee on the quality and condition of the implant, and doctors on the final result of prosthetics, which depends on many factors (on the patient’s health status, on the absence of infection at the implantation site, on the doctor’s qualifications and, importantly, from patient compliance with recommendations in the postoperative period).

 

The approximate cost of prosthetics on Snukon implants

For the patient, the final cost of tooth prosthetics on the Snukon implant consists of many components: the cost of the implant itself, the abutment (which can be individual), the crown (it can be, for example, inexpensive ceramic-metal or relatively expensive zirconia), as well as the cost of the removal work tooth, anesthesia, x-rays and some other auxiliary manipulations.

On a note

If significant atrophy of bone tissue is observed in the implantation zone, then a sinus lift operation may be required, which is also charged separately.

It is important to consider that during dental implants additional work and orthopedic constructions can cost more in some cases than the implant itself. For instance:

• Making a zirconia crown in Moscow, depending on the level of the clinic and its “appetites,” can cost an average of about 20,000 rubles (a ceramic-metal crown costs about 2 times cheaper);
• The manufacture of an individual abutment costs about 20-30 thousand rubles (if you want the perfect aesthetics in the area of ​​the front teeth, or just the case will be difficult);
• Closed sinus lift surgery will cost about 25,000 rubles. (if you suddenly need to increase the volume of bone tissue in the region of the maxillary sinus to such a thickness that it will be possible to install a dental implant).

In the simplest case, installing a Snukon implant will cost about 15,000 rubles. (excluding the cost of the crown).

For comparison:

• the installation of the Nobel Biocare implant (USA) will cost about 50-60 thousand rubles (excluding the cost of the crown);
• implant installation Straumann Active (Switzerland) will cost 60-70 thousand rubles (also excluding the cost of the crown).

In conclusion, it is worth noting that, in terms of price and quality, Snucone implants are really a worthy product, and are quite competitive in the Russian market.They may turn out to be a good choice for people who are not ready to pay too much for eminent premium brands, but who want to get a modern, reliable and high-tech implant at an affordable price.

In any case, when prosthetics on implants, it is important not to forget that the success of the entire procedure depends not only on the choice in favor of a particular implant system. Of decisive importance is, first of all, the choice of an experienced highly professional doctor, whose skill largely determines whether the implant will survive without complications. Therefore, it is advisable to start not with the choice of implants, but with the choice of a doctor.

 

An interesting video with an example of installing the implant Snucone AF + I

 

Another clinical case ...