How do Dental Implants Work?
Dental implants are a great option if you have missing teeth, as it is very difficult to tell between implants and the real thing!
A dental implant is usually a cylindrical or tapered post made of titanium, which is surgically placed, into the jawbone.
After surgery, the implant fuses with your natural jawbone, and the two of them start growing together to form a strong and long-lasting foundation for your replacement tooth or teeth. The healing process can take from as little as a few weeks up to several months, depending on the individual case. But this process should not disturb your everyday life or be any nuisance at all.
As soon as the implant bonds with the jawbone, a small connector (known as an abutment) is then placed on top of the dental implant. This connects the implant to the replacement tooth or teeth. Lastly, a dental crown is fitted, meaning the implant resembles a white tooth.
How Do Dental Implants Look?
This can depend on who treats you. Here at SameDay Teeth Suite in Loughborough, where high-quality technicians with strong artistic abilities make an implant look like a tooth, the final result is superb and nothing can giveaway that you are wearing an implant.
However, not everyone can create the similar characteristics of a missing tooth or teeth, and we do see less aesthetic crowns that look either too dark or too wide. We feel that people deserve much better than this.
The crowns we often see have no depth of colour or validity in them whatsoever. Even worse, we sometimes see crowns where the patient smiles and there is a visible metal margin that is immediately apparent.
These issues are usually for one or more of the following reasons:
• The materials used
• How the implant has been designed
• The artistic ability of the technician
This is why we always make sure we work with high-end technicians (especially when doing front tooth implants) with a wide array of skills and a postgraduate education. Our technicians know what they are doing, so we deliver amazing results when constructing that front tooth or teeth.
At SameDay Teeth Suite in Loughborough, we arrange for the patient to meet our technician, whom we have worked with for many years and whom we trust, so our technician can get a computerised shade match of the patient’s teeth.
This technology will not only help get an accurate shade match but also produce a tooth shade map, where different colours of the different parts of the tooth are mapped. This is a very important stage when doing a front tooth.
A lot of clinics, unfortunately, just use a couple of ready made shade tabs to review against the teeth, but there are different shades on each tooth that also need to be incorporated when designing the colour, and the tooth itself.
Are Dental Implants Painful?
Here at SameDay Teeth Suite, we are very experienced at treating anxious patients, and we are a Dental Phobia Certified Practice. Of course, you can have your treatment done under sedation if you wish to. What’s most important to us is that you are relaxed and comfortable.
We also offer an excellent after-care service, so if there is any discomfort whatsoever, we will always be available to help and advise you.
Are there any failure risks?
In order to avoid failure, it is of the utmost importance to have a very experienced dentist and choose superior quality dental implants.
Needless to say, you will need to take care of your implant(s), and see a hygienist every 3 to 6 months after the dental implants are completed. These are critical steps in increasing the longevity of your implants.
A good hygienist, like the one we send our patients to see, will teach patients how to keep their implants clean, and offer advice, as care will be slightly different from keeping natural teeth clean.
Did you know that, according to research, brushing your teeth, using mouthwash, and flossing is only 40-50% effective in removing bacteria? It highlights the importance of visiting a hygienist regularly, so your implants last as long as possible.
What is the Cost?
Prices vary from one patient to another, and each patient gets an individually tailored treatment plan.
There are many factors that affect the cost of such treatment, including the quality of the final crown or restoration, and whether there is sufficient bone or not.
See below for example guidelines:
SameDay Teeth Suite offer flexible finance plans, so once you have decided on the type of treatment you want, we can find the best repayment options depending on your budget.
For more information or to book your FREE initial consultation contact us HERE