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One implant can replace one tooth. Two or more can carry a bridge across a bigger gap, or anchor a full set of implant-supported dentures. Which suits you depends on how many teeth are missing, how much bone you have, and your general health. We check all three at your first visit.
Your teeth hold each other in place. Each one is braced by the teeth beside it and by the tooth it meets when you bite.
Take one away and that balance goes. The teeth on either side slowly tilt into the space. The tooth above or below it can drift into the gap too.
That matters for more than looks. Tilted teeth are harder to clean, so plaque collects in the new angles. And a bite that no longer meets evenly puts more load on a few teeth instead of spreading it around.
The bigger change happens where you cannot see it.
Jawbone is kept alive by use. Every time you chew, the tooth root pushes that force into the bone, and the bone rebuilds itself in response. Remove the tooth and that signal stops. The ridge of bone that held it starts to narrow and shrink.
Most of that shrinkage happens in the first year. It then carries on slowly. Over time, and especially where several teeth in one area are missing, the jaw gives less support to the cheeks and lips.
It also affects your options later. The more bone that has gone, the more likely you will need a graft before an implant can be placed.
An implant replaces the root as well as the crown. That does two things a bridge cannot: it keeps the bone underneath in use, and it leaves the neighbouring teeth alone. A conventional bridge has to be carried by the teeth either side, so those teeth get reshaped and crowned.
Whether an implant is right for you is a clinical decision, not an automatic one. It depends on how much bone you have and its quality, the health of your gums, any medication that affects healing, and whether habits like grinding need sorting out first.
A dental implant is a small screw-shaped post. It is usually titanium, and it sits in the bone beneath your gum where the tooth root used to be.
Titanium is used for one reason: bone bonds directly to it instead of treating it as foreign.
Nothing goes on top straight away. The post is left to fuse with the bone for about three to six months. How long depends on the site and the quality of the bone there. Only once that bond has formed do we fit the abutment and make the final tooth.
What goes on top depends on the gap. One missing tooth takes a crown. Several in a row can take an implant-supported bridge carried on two or three posts, so you do not need an implant for every tooth. A whole arch can be restored with implant-supported dentures that clip onto a few implants.
An implant is a big decision, and it takes months rather than weeks. We would rather you knew the whole sequence — including the waiting — before you commit.
Implants are well studied. Research following single implants over ten years generally reports survival rates around 95%.
Results do vary. Where the implant sits in the mouth matters, as do the health of the gum and bone, smoking, and how well the implant is looked after afterwards. No implant is guaranteed. If we think the odds in your case are less good than that, we will say so.
The idea sounds worse than the appointment usually is.
The area is fully numbed first, so placing the implant should not hurt. Most people describe pressure and vibration rather than pain. A single implant usually takes 30 to 60 minutes. The most common complaint is having to hold your mouth open.
If dental treatment makes you anxious, tell us before we plan anything. Sedation options are available, and the consultation is the time to talk about them — not the day itself.
What the first week is usually like. Expect some swelling and tenderness for two or three days, and occasionally bruising. It normally peaks around day two, then eases. Most people manage on over-the-counter pain relief and go back to work the next day. We would ask you to skip hard exercise for a few days.
You will get written aftercare instructions before the freezing wears off — what to eat, how to clean the area, and which symptoms mean you should phone us.
After that, healing carries on quietly for a few months while the bone fuses to the post. You are not always left with a gap in the meantime. Depending on the site, we can often fit a temporary tooth while you wait.
Your first visit is an assessment, not treatment. We check the gum and bone at the site and look at the teeth either side. A 3D scan lets us measure how much bone is there and see exactly where the nerve and sinus sit. A scan of your teeth shows us the angle the implant needs, so the final tooth meets your bite properly.
This visit is also when we find out whether you will need a bone graft or a sinus lift first. We go through your medical history and any medication that could affect healing. You leave knowing the sequence, the timeline and the cost, before anything is booked.
The area is fully numbed. We make a small opening in the gum, prepare the bone to the exact width of the post, and place the implant. Depending on the case, the gum is either closed over the implant or left with a small healing cap showing through.
Stitches are not always needed, and when they are, they often dissolve on their own. If you are having a graft, it is done at the same appointment. A single implant usually takes 30 to 60 minutes, and you go home the same day.
The implant is then left to fuse with the bone, usually for three to six months. We check on it during that time rather than leaving you to wait unseen.
Once the bond is confirmed, we fit the abutment and take a scan of the finished implant position. The laboratory uses that to build your new tooth. At the last visit we fit the crown, bridge or denture and adjust it so it meets your other teeth evenly. From then on, you care for it like the rest of your teeth.
An implant cannot decay. But the gum and bone holding it can still become inflamed.
That is called peri-implantitis. It behaves much like gum disease around a natural tooth, and it is the most common reason an implant is eventually lost. It is also largely preventable.
Day to day, brush twice a day and clean between the teeth around the implant with floss or an interdental brush — the same as everywhere else. At your exam and cleaning we check the gum around the implant, look at how it meets your bite, and take the occasional X-ray to confirm the bone level is holding.
Two other things help. Smoking clearly raises the risk of implant problems, so if you have been thinking about stopping, this is a good time. And if you grind or clench, a night guard protects the new tooth from forces it was not built for.
A restoration is the visible “false tooth” that covers the implant, making it look like you have a new, natural tooth. It is made separately from the post underneath and fitted once the implant has fused. That means it can be replaced later, if it ever needs to be, without disturbing the implant itself.