Dental Implants

What are dental implants?

A dental implant is a titanium screw that acts as a substitute for the tooth ‘root’, creating a stable platform for crowns, bridges or dentures.

Prior to treatment, careful planning is required and impressions and scans will be taken. The condition of your jaw bone will need to be assessed to determine whether there is enough bone, and whether it is healthy enough to support an implant. In some cases, a bone graft is required to strengthen the jawbone prior to placing an implant.

In cases where a single tooth is missing, one implant can replace the tooth site, however, where multiple teeth are missing, bridges or dentures can be used to connect implants and replace multiple teeth. The root is embedded into the bone and osseointegrates, which means that the bone of the jaw accepts the implant and allows it to fuse with the bone. This process usually takes a few months, but once the implant has fused with the bone, it will be ready to support dental prostheses, such as a crown, bridge or denture.

The whole process can be quite lengthy, so you may find you are fitted with a number of temporary solutions as part of your ongoing treatment. This may consist of temporary dentures or bridges.

Your entire process, from initial consultation through to aftercare, will be with your consultant dental surgeon of choice. The surgery takes place in our dental theatre under a local anaesthetic and the recovery time varies, depending on the patient.

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