What are dental implants?

Dental implants are titanium posts, that are carefully placed onto the jawbone, to act as artificial roots of teeth. These are used to support crowns, bridges or to retain a denture and are now considered to be the ‘gold standard’ solution to replacing missing teeth. The success rate of dental implants are as high as 98% and provided that they are maintained and cared, the treatment should provide a reliable and longstanding solution to replacing missing teeth.

What are the benefits of dental implants?

They look, feel and function like your natural teeth.
Healthy teeth do not need to be filed down
The dental implants help preserve facial structure, preventing bone deterioration that occurs when teeth are missing.
Dental implants can provide a secure, permanent tooth replacement.
Dental Implants prevent neighbouring teeth from moving.

If you have missing teeth, even one, or have lost all your teeth then you should consider the exciting possibility of dental implants. It may seem an impossible dream but advances in dentistry mean that missing teeth can now be replaced.

Why should I come to Kidsgrove Dental & Implant Centre?

Our implantologist, Dr Gary Wu has many years experience in implantology and has received his training from world leaders in the discipline. As one of the fastest developing specialties in dentistry, it is extremely important that you receive the treatment from someone who always keeps up to date with world leaders in the field of implantology and learn the latest techniques available. He is happy to treat all complexities from a single implant to a full mouth reconstruction with extensive bone augmentation.

We have our own CT Scanner– Yes we have our very own Rolls Royce dental equipment and we mean business!

Equipment – We are equipped with the most advanced technology used for dental implanotology. This gives us more options in performing your treatment and can make your the procedure less invasive.

3D Planning – Most of the surgeries carried out are planned digitally and the surgery is simulated on the computer. This ensures we have better accuracy with the placement of the implants and helps avoid any complications before we begin the surgery. The positioning of your dental implants is critical to the longevity of the treatment and we are utilising the most accurate method of placing them.

What else can you do with 3D planning?

Implants can be placed by key-hole surgery under 3D planning. No stitches are required for this process so will give you minimal discomfort.

I’m interested, shall I book a consultation?

Yes the initial consultation is very important. We have to check to see whether you would be suitable for dental implants and also how many dental implants you will need. That way we can provide you with a written estimate.

How many implants will I need?

If it is one missing tooth then you will require one implant. If you are missing several teeth then it depends on how many teeth you are missing and the location of the spaces.

What if I don’t have enough bone?

If there is a possibility that there is inadequate amount of bone then we may request a CT scan, which will provide a 3D image of the jaw bone. This will allow us to detect local anatomy such as the thickness and density of bone as well as major nerves and air spaces.

In the majority of cases, we can perform a small bone graft procedure during implant placement.

In certain cases, we would have to rebuild the bone first prior to implant placement. The timescale for the bone to heal before we place dental implants ranges between 3-6 months.

What do you use for bone grafting?

The bone graft material can be derived from another human, animal or it can be synthetic. The products we use have been chemically and thermally rendered inert and free from pathogen. All products used have a long safety track record.

Can I have sedation during treatment?

The procedure can be performed with local anaesthetic only, however sedation can be provided to help put you at ease.

How long does the process take?

The treatment may take anywhere between 3-12 months depending on whether you need the bone rebuilding or not?

Usually it would take about 3-6 months for the implants to heal. Then it may take anywhere between 1-3 months to complete the rehabilitation.

If you require a bone graft to rebuild the bone prior to dental implants then this may increase the treatment time by another 3-6 months.

How much will it cost?

The price to replace one single tooth with an implant costs between £1800-£2200. If you have several missing teeth then the costs would be less per implant.