This page aims to answer the most
common questions that people ask us regarding dental implants.
If your question is not answered on this page, please contact
us and we will be pleased to help.
How long do dental implants
last?
The success rate in our practice for the past five years has been 99+% for
all implants placed.
Although it is impossible to give an absolute guarantee, our aim is that
your implants should last you the rest of your lifetime. With the proper
home care and professional maintenance, there is every reason to believe
that they will.
Nutrition, oral hygiene, genetics, diseases (such as diabetes), and smoking
have an effect on the long-term survival of dental implants. Implant success
also depends very much on where the implants are placed (bone quality and
quantity) and what they will be called upon to do.
The best-case scenario is the placement of implants in the front portion
of the lower jaw. Here success can be as high as 98-100%. In other areas
of the mouth, success rates can be slightly lower, but these are improving
with new materials and techniques, and are approaching 100%.
 top
How long does the dental implant
treatment process take?
In the past we had to wait three months in the lower jaw and six months
in the upper jaw before placing any load on implants. In recent years, however,
there has been a movement within the profession to speed up this process.
Today, with better techniques and implant surfaces, it is possible to shorten
the healing time. In a large proportion of cases we can even load implants
right away!
Nevertheless, one thing to keep in mind with implant therapy is to "respect
nature". It is important that neither the patient nor the implant provider
attempt to rush the treatment or try to advance the various stages faster
than the time required for complete healing and maturation of bone and soft-tissues.
Treatment duration also depends on the complexity of the treatment. Initially
there is a treatment planning stage. Then there may be some time spent on
preparatory procedures as improving gum health, removing any hopeless teeth
and growing bone.
This may take anything from a few weeks to many months. After the implants
are placed they are left to settle in place from six weeks to six months.
The final fitting of crowns or bridges or the attaching of dentures to the
implants takes a month or two. The time depends on your individual situation.
top
Who is a candidate for
dental implants?
Anyone who is in reasonable health and wants missing teeth replaced. You
must have enough bone in the area of the missing teeth to provide for the
anchorage of the implants.
Some people are missing all their teeth and most of those are excellent
candidates for dental implants, but today, we use implants to replace small
bridges, removable partial dentures and even missing single teeth.
top
What is dental implant
surgery like?
The actual procedure to surgically place a dental implant is done under
local anaesthesia and is generally not at all painful. Most of our patients
report that the implant placement was less traumatic than the extraction
of the tooth, and that they only took painkillers for 1-2 days after the
procedure.
When the anaesthesia wears off about three or four hours later, you might
expect some discomfort. The level of discomfort is quite different from
patient to patient, but most patients do not have significant problems.
Some patients do have varying degrees of pain or discomfort, which may last
for several days. Pain medication is prescribed which usually alleviates
this discomfort. Patients generally prefer a soft diet for the healing period
following surgery.
Swelling and bruising may also develop, depending on the amount and positions
of the implants placed.
For more complex treatments or if you are very anxious, we offer intravenous
conscious sedation. A qualified anaesthetist will administer a mild sedative,
which will keep you calm and relaxed for the duration of the procedure.
Conscious sedation is very safe (much safer that general anaesthesia) and
does not leave you feeling awful for days after the procedure!
top
Who is qualified to
provide dental implant treatments?
The question is really who should you see about getting missing teeth replaced?
Before implants, you went to either your general dentist or, if you wanted
a specialist, to a prosthodontist.
It’s the same today. If you want to replace missing teeth, talk to
the people who do that job and they will be glad to discuss the use of dental
implants in that process. If you decide that dental implants are for you,
then your general dentist can either place the implants for you or refer
you to a qualified periodontist or oral surgeon for that phase of the treatment.
Unfortunately, there are dentists out there who, after only a week or two
of training, call themselves "Implantologists" or say that they
are specialists in Implantology or "Board Certified" in Implantology.
While there are people and organizations that would like the general public
to believe that there is such a thing as a dental specialty of Implant Dentistry,
there is NO SUCH THING!
There are organizations that give credentials and awards to dentists that
make it look like these dentists are highly trained implant specialists,
but these credentials are not recognised by the General Dental Council.
It is considered illegal to advertise these credentials.
The specialty areas of dentistry that are most aligned with dental implants
are Periodontics, Prosthodontics and Oral and Maxillo-facial Surgery.
Our suggestion is to check with the General
Dental Council (external website), on the qualifications of a dentist
before allowing him or her to treat you.
Professionals practising implant dentistry should also be active members
of societies involved in continuous training and professional development,
such as the Association of Dental Implantology
(external website), and the Academy of Osseointegration
(external website).
Share a Smile is
not responsible for content on external websites
top
Do dental implants ever fail?
Occasionally dental implants fail or, as some people say, they are rejected.
In most instances, they can be replaced with another implant, usually of
a slightly larger size. Failure rates should be about 1-2%. Each year we
place and restore approximately 200 implants and each year 1 or 2 of them
fail. Failures are considered no more than a temporary setback that can
lengthen the total treatment time.
top
Do I have to go without my "teeth"
while the implants are bonding to my jawbone?
In the past patients had to go without wearing their dentures for at least
two weeks after implant placement. Over the years, this has been modified
considerably and in most situations, patients leave the office wearing their
teeth the day the implants are placed.
In more and more cases we are able to provide temporary crowns, bridges
or dentures on the implants immediately after placement with excellent success
rates! Only in very rare cases may it be recommended that a patient go without
his or her denture for a short period of time.
Every patient and procedure is evaluated separately and you will be informed
of the type of temporary prosthesis that will be used in your case.
top
What is a bone graft/augmentation
and why do I need it?
Sometimes it is necessary to build up the jawbone before, or at the same
time as implant placement. The procedure of building up the bone is known
as Bone Grafting or Bone Augmentation.
Bone grafting is a very common procedure in dentistry and it is often used
for dental implants and in periodontal procedures around natural teeth.
To do bone grafting, we need a source of bone. The bone that we use can
be one of three types. The best bone is your own bone. This bone can be
taken from other areas of the mouth or collected in our suction apparatus
as we prepare the sites for dental implants.
Occasionally this bone is taken from areas outside the mouth, such as the
hip. When bone is taken from the hip, it is usually done in the hospital
by an orthopaedic surgeon and transferred to the dentist doing the implant
procedure in the operating theatre.
Another very common source of bone is bone taken from cadavers. This bone
is harvested under very strict supervision at several bone banks around
the world and it is used in many dental and medical procedures. There has
never been a case of a transmitted disease with this type of bone. It is
very safe and very useful in our work to help patients.
A third type of bone used is taken from a bovine source, and again treated
to eliminate any possibility of disease transmission or allergic reactions.
In our practice we prefer to use human bone, preferably your own.
Contact us today to request additional
information or to make an appointment at our dental centre in
Romford, Essex, where we will be happy to explore your dental implant related
requirements.
|
