Some dental treatments are done in a matter of minutes. Others take as much as a year to complete. The treatment is a journey of several stages and sometimes long periods between those stages. But the destination is well worth the trek. One of those treatments is dental implants, the modern way to replace lost teeth.
Let’s take a look at the stages involved in getting dental implants here at Farnham Road Dental Practice is Guildford:
Consultation
This is much more than a chat. We take an in-depth look at your mouth and particularly at your jawbone. We need to make sure that your jawbone is robust enough for treatment and to sustain the dental implants once you start chewing on them with full power.
Preparatory work
If we think your jawbone has deteriorated, we can suggest getting bone grafts, or sinus lifts, or, if it’s the upper jaw, having extra-long dental implants that anchor into your cheekbone.
If you have had gaps for a while, your remaining teeth may have wandered a bit and you may need to wear braces for a while to put them back into alignment so there is enough space to fit your implants.
All this can extra months to your treatment journey.
You may also need to have other failing teeth extracted.
Implant surgery
This is a minor surgical operation that takes place under local anaesthetic. We are usually done in a morning or an afternoon.
Healing time
This is the important bit. You need to allow 2-6 months, depending on your individual healing speed, for your dental implants to integrate with your jawbone. During this time, the jawbone grows new bone tissue, including blood vessels, all over the surface of the dental implant.
Fitting the crowns
The final part is fitting the hand-crafted porcelain crowns. Once they are in place, you can eat whatever you like.
Maintenance
This is the easy part. A diligent oral health care routine and regular hygienist sessions to remove plaque is all you need to take care of your dental implants.
Want to know more? Why not book a chat with our implant dentist?