Dental Implants

It is perfectly normal to consider carefully the cost of any serious investment. It is a lot to spend on your mouth and it is down to each individual patient to decide if the improvements to the quality of life, function, confidence and appearance are worthwhile. We only ever prescribe treatment that is necessary and would like to reiterate the fact that we are always there for you for the very important after care and maintenance of the implant treatment which is very important.

This is one of the most common concerns for people thinking about having an implant. The majority of implants are placed under a normal dental local anaesthetic. Though the local anaesthetic injections can sting a little, we have systems in place to reduce the pain by using very thin needles and warm anaesthetic. We also have a computerized injection system which is called the wand which can provide painfree injection. Once you are numb, you will not feel anything sharp or painful at all throughout your treatment. You will feel some pressing and pushing during the procedure as well as some vibration during the drilling stage, but this will not be sharp or painful in any way and your dentist will check to make sure you are completely numb before they start the surgery. For bigger procedures such as multiple implants or complex cases, sedation can be provided. Sedation is not a general anaesthetic, but makes patients feel very comfortable and relaxed and they rarely remember much about the procedure afterwards which is an advantage for many nervous patients. Once the anaesthetic has worn o you may need to take over-the-counter painkillers but is not unusual to have a very minimal level of pain or even no pain whatsoever. During the first few days after surgery, it’s possible the gum may feel a little sore as it heals and you might wish to stick to soft foods that are easy to eat. With a single dental implant, you should be fine to go back to work the next day.

There are a few factors which can make it necessary to wait for healing after tooth removal before an implant can be placed; the main factor being if there is any sign of infection. If infection is present, we need to allow a healing phase of 8-12 weeks before we can place the implants. There are some cases where we can go for Immediate Implants and then cover with immediate crowns or teeth, but that will depend on the suitability assessment done in the planning stage. Don’t worry because you never need to have a gap if you don’t want one – there are all sorts of temporary solutions, both fixed and removable, to make sure there is no embarrassment at any stage through the implant process.

Normally the treatment times can be a little as 8-10 weeks from placement of the implant to fit of the final crown. However, sometimes treatment can take longer depending on the level of complexity of your case, with some patients not finishing for up to a year. The exact time frame will be ascertained from your comprehensive assessment including the CT scan done at the practice.