If you know anything about dental implants, you’ll understand that a dental implant procedure involves placing a metal post into the jaw bone at the missing tooth site to serve as a foundation for a fixed tooth restoration.
Patients can opt for single, multiple or full-mouth dental implants, depending upon the number of teeth requiring replacement. But irrespective of the number of teeth replaced, the procedure is still carried out over several months. This post will discuss the dental implant process and what you can and should expect.
Step #1 – Consultation and treatment planning
It’s important to note that not everyone is a good candidate for dental implant rehabilitation. At least, not immediately, anyway. Typically, you’re an ideal candidate if you:
- Have a good oral and general health
- Have an adequate healthy bone to support any dental implants, and
- Have healthy gum tissue that is free from disease
Therefore, an initial consultation with the implant team will quickly determine if this is the case.
If not, the dentist may suggest additional procedures to improve bone health or deal with gum disease issues before getting dental implants.
In some cases, it might not be possible at all to undergo a dental implant procedure, and when this happens, the team will discuss other alternatives to restore your smile.
If you are eligible for dental implants and would like to proceed, the next stage would be to have a second consultation, where the dentist will devise a treatment plan for you. This may involve taking a series of X-rays or scans so that the team can build up an overall picture of your mouth, including the position of other anatomical features such as the sinus cavity and nerves.
Once they have all this information, the team will create the treatment plan detailing treatment specifics, timescales and costs. You might also meet with a treatment coordinator to discuss payment plans or financing.
At the end of the final consultation, you can expect a good understanding of how dental implants work, the procedure, and how long the process will take in your case.
Step #2 – dental implant surgery
This is the part of the dental implant procedure that people are most nervous about, but in truth, they needn’t be. Implant dentistry has been honed over the last fifty years. With advancements in technology and techniques, placing a titanium implant into the jaw is relatively quick and comfortable. In most cases, it is carried out under a local anaesthetic, but conscious sedation techniques are also available should a patient request it.
The result is that most people are surprised at how easy this aspect of the dental implant procedure is. In essence, you can expect the surgery for dental implants to be comfortable and relatively quick.
Once dental implants are in place, your dentist may fit you with a temporary restoration depending on where the implant site is. Once that’s in position, that’s phase one of the procedure done!
Step #3 – Recovery and bone fusion
The next stage of the process is recovery. After getting dental implants, the first 24-48 hours are crucial. It’s essential to avoid excessive movement or exercise and to stick to eating the right foods to build up strength.
Because implant dentistry involves a surgical procedure, you may experience bruising or swelling around the area. Typically, this starts to occur 24-48 hours after surgery. Your dentist may suggest a combination of hot and cold compresses to ease it. Also, you may experience some discomfort in and around the implant site. This can usually be controlled using over-the-counter medications like Ibuprofen or Aspirin.
After 7-10 days, you should be back to normal, although you may need to avoid overly sticky or chewy foods for a while.
During the recovery phase of the dental implant procedure, a natural process occurs known as osseointegration. In implant dentistry, osseointegration (bone fusion) is a natural process whereby bone tissue at the surgical site fuses with the dental implant over time (usually between 3-6 months). This step is crucial and creates a super-strong structure where a tooth restoration can be placed.
The osseointegration process should be pain-free. In fact, you won’t even know it’s happening, so you can expect to resume normal activities during this time. You will, however, need to attend regular appointments as part of your dental implant procedure so the dentist can keep monitoring the process.
Step #4 – Final fitting
Once your dentist feels that the implant is fully integrated with the surrounding bone, you’ll be called back to receive any permanent restorations. In implant dentistry, a small socket-like joint known as an abutment must be fitted before tooth restorations are applied. The abutment sits between the titanium implant and the tooth restoration and holds them together but also acts as a shock absorber when you bite down on the tooth.
Sometimes the abutment is fitted several weeks before the restoration tooth, but once in place, any permanent teeth can then be bonded. All that’s left to do is to check for bite and aesthetics, and that’s it; your dental implant procedure is complete.
The process typically takes four to nine months to complete, but you can be sure it’s well worth the wait.
If you want to learn more about getting dental implants or any aspect of implant dentistry, talk to the team at No Gaps Dental. Across our 15 locations, we take your health and safety very seriously and take all protective measures, including hand sanitiser, to keep you safe. We use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser containing either Ethanol or Isopropanol as our preferred choice for hand hygiene. Moreover, all our hand sanitiser products are TGA approved for rapid disinfection and hand cleansing.
Are you ready for a new and long-lasting smile? Get in touch today! Or call us now on (02) 8007 6727.
Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
References
Perio.Org – Full Mouth Dental Implants
https://www.perio.org/for-patients/periodontal-treatments-and-procedures/dental-implant-procedures/full-mouth-dental-implants
Hopkins Medicine.Org – Bone Grafting
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/bone-grafting#:~:text=What%20is%20bone%20grafting%3F,ribs%20to%20perform%20the%20graft
NCBI – A Brief Historical Perspective On Dental Implants
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4040928
Click4Teeth – What Is Dental implant Osseointegration?
https://www.click4teeth.com/feature-articles/what-is-dental-implant-osseointegration