Fixed replacement
Dental Implants
A permanent replacement anchored into the jaw, for a single missing tooth or as the foundation under a larger restoration.
What an implant is
An implant is a small titanium post placed into the jawbone where the root of the missing tooth used to be. Over the following months bone grows onto its surface and locks it in place, a process called osseointegration. Once it is stable, a connector is attached to it and a crown is made to sit on top. The crown is the part you see, and it is only the last third of the job.
Implants can carry a single crown, support a bridge across a longer gap, or anchor a denture that will not stay put. Unlike a bridge, an implant does not require the teeth either side to be cut down. Unlike a denture, it is fixed and does not rest on the gum, so chewing feels closer to a natural tooth.
At the appointment
Assessment comes first and is the part that decides whether an implant is realistic. It needs enough bone in the right place, healthy gums, and the space and bite to accommodate the crown. X rays or a three dimensional scan show the bone height and width and where the nerve and sinus are. Where bone is insufficient, grafting may be discussed as a separate earlier stage.
Placing the implant is a surgical appointment under local anaesthetic. The gum is opened, a channel is prepared in the bone, the implant is placed and the gum is closed over or around it. It is usually less uncomfortable afterwards than an extraction, because nothing has been pulled against. Then there is a wait while the bone integrates, before the crown stage begins.
Visits, Recovery and When to Call
Visits and timing
This is a treatment measured in months rather than weeks. Placement is one appointment, then commonly three to six months of healing before the restoration is made, which takes a further two or more visits. Bone grafting, where needed, adds a stage and more healing time in front of all of it.
Afterwards
Soreness and some swelling for a few days, managed with ice, soft food and over the counter painkillers. Keep the area clean but gentle. During the healing months the site should not be loaded, so follow whatever instruction you are given about what to chew on and where.
Call sooner if
The implant site becomes increasingly painful or swollen after the first few days, a temporary restoration comes loose, or later on the gum around a finished implant bleeds, is sore or recedes. Implants can develop a gum disease of their own, and it is easier to arrest early.
They still need cleaning
An implant crown cannot decay, which leads some people to relax about it. The gum and bone around it can still become inflamed and be lost, and once that starts an implant can fail in a way a natural tooth might have survived. Daily cleaning around and between implants, and regular professional maintenance, is what keeps them.
Keep reading
Questions About Dental Implants?
Describe the problem on the phone. That conversation is usually enough to work out the first appointment. Mandarin, Taiwanese, English and Japanese are spoken.