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Implants and Restorative Dental Treatment
Today more and more people are realising the importance of their appearance. As we know first impressions last and an attractive smile builds self-confidence.
Your confidence about your teeth affects how you feel about yourself, both personally and professionally. Perhaps, you hide your smile because of spaces from missing teeth. Maybe your dentures don’t feel secure. Perhaps you have difficulty chewing. With dental implant treatments you can achieve secure, natural looking teeth and the confidence that comes with it.
A dental implant is an artificial tooth root used to support restorations that resemble a tooth or group of teeth. Implants can be used to:
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Replace a single missing tooth
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Form part of a bridge filling larger gaps
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Secure dentures firmly
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Create a full set of new teeth
“A great deal of care was taken and they put me at ease right from the beginning”
Existing Happy Implant Patient - Father Matthew Hayes
Single tooth replacement
Simply missing one tooth can lead to many problems. As well as the obvious issues of appearance and hindering basic functions such as eating and speaking, missing a tooth can cause the neighbouring teeth to drift, which can lead to cleaning issues and gum problems.
Dental implants are the most durable solution for replacing a missing tooth and they are almost aesthetically undetectable from your own teeth. Having a dental implant in between your natural teeth is a very successful dental procedure with success rates around 98%
Four steps to replacing a single tooth
Step 1- Initial Assessment
Step 2- The implant is installed into the jawbone
Step 3- The abutment (or post) is fitted into the implant
Step 4- The new tooth is cemented to the abutment
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Replacing several missing teeth
If you are missing several teeth, implant-supported bridges can be used to replace them. As well as looking and functioning like natural teeth, implant-supported bridges fill the gaps without damaging the adjacent natural teeth in any way.
Replacing all missing teeth
In some cases it may be a better option to consider using implants to provide support for a removable prosthesis, called an Over-Denture. This gives a much greater level of stability when compared to conventional dentures and also helps to prevent long term shrinkage of the jawbone.
If you are missing all of your teeth in the jaw, implants can be used to help you in one of two ways. Firstly, we can use multiple implants to support a full fixed bridge. In addition to looking and functioning like natural teeth, implant-supported bridges are designed to be long lasting and are more comfortable and stable than conventional dentures.
What to expect
At White Dental Practice, our surgeons have a huge amount of skill and experience in the field of implants. You can be assured that you are in very safe hands. Following your assessment visit you will be given a written treatment plan which details all the necessary stages and the associated costs.
As with many things in life, the most important part of the process is the planning stage. At White Dental Practice, we use the latest implant planning software to ensure we get the optimum results. We can often go one stage further with this technology and perform ‘Computer Guided Surgery’. In some cases this can mean that the implants can be placed using ‘minimally invasive’ techniques through small punch holes in the gum.
The surgery to place the implants is carried out under local anaesthesia and the recovery is generally very quick. Most patients will be able to return to work the following day. Patients often tell us that they experience no more pain than after having a tooth removed.
If you have lost your teeth a long time ago we often find that there has been too much shrinkage of the jaw bone to support implants. However, this needn’t be a problem, as our surgeons are skilled in techniques to regenerate the bone before placing implants. We have successfully been able to treat many patients where other implant surgeons have told them they were un-treatable.
After the implants have healed into the jaw we can fit the abutments and then commence the treatment to construct the permanent replacements. This can take several visits to ensure that we get the best possible results. After the new teeth are fitted it is essential that you look after them and keep them spotlessly clean. Our staff will show you how to do this as we want your new set of teeth to last you a lifetime!