A dental implant is a long-term solution for replacing missing teeth. Having missing teeth can really knock your confidence, as well as affect the way you eat and speak. Dental implants offer a long-lasting and discreet choice of treatment for replacing teeth.
A dental implant is a small titanium ‘screw’ like fixture that takes the place of the original root of the tooth. It is gently implanted under local anaesthetic. Once the titanium implant fuses with the bone, this will provide more stability than a natural tooth’s root. All that’s left to do is for the dentist to restore the implant and put in your brand new, permanent tooth or teeth. Implants can support crowns, bridges or dentures, in a similar way that roots support natural teeth so whether you have one missing tooth or several teeth missing, implant placement provides a solution to fill that space.
At Abbey Dental Clinic we have experienced implant dentists who have restored and placed implants for over 20 years and all the dentists are qualified to restore your implants. Our choice is to place and restore with 3 main systems, which are market leaders in the implant field:
If you have any of the following you can get a Dental Implant;
Generally the implant is placed in a surgical procedure carried out under local anaesthetic. Depending on the number of implants placed. Normal painkillers may be required for a couple of days at most. Some patients may swell a little and some bruise but this is very much individual to the patient.
No, thankfully you should never be without teeth. We can usually work with a transitional denture or temporary bridge while the implant heals into your bone.
Implants are not for life. They have a lifespan of roughly 10 years (again individual to the patient). Certain factors, e.g. smoking, diabetes, medications can adversely affect the lifespan of your implant but with proper maintenance and regular reviews, your implant may last longer. At ADC, we recommend an on-going maintenance regime of three monthly visits with one of our hygienist team members.
Like any other tooth, implants can suffer a form of gum disease causing the implant to fail. Hopefully, when they do start to fail the implants can be removed, left to heal and in 3 to 4 months’ time reassessed for implant treatment again.
Placing and restoring an implant takes many visits. We have listed a rough estimate of stages, however there may be more visits required for a more complex case.
* Initial Assessment and Scan
* Implant placement
* 3-4 month healing period
* Prepare the new crown/bridge
* Fit Crown/Bridge
This whole process generally takes 6 – 9 months but can take longer with certain cases.
Initial consultation, at this appointment we will take any necessary x-rays and answer any questions you may have in regards to the procedure.
Impressions for transitional denture, this is a short appointment then you will return within a week.
Extraction of the tooth/teeth and fit of transitional denture, this is a short term option to fill the space before we commence the implant procedure in three months’ time. We allow three months healing time between the extraction and implant treatment.
CBCT Scan to show volume of bone, at this point we can establish of any bone grafts are necessary. Bone grafts are necessary in 90% of anterior dental implant cases.
Placement of implant, this appointment will last approximately 1 1/2 hours and there will be swelling/bruising afterwards for up to 3 or 4 days. After this procedure we will leave the implant to heal and you will return in 1 week for suture removal.
After 9 to 12 weeks the implant will be uncovered, this is short surgical procedure that lasts approximately half an hour under local anaesthetic.
