Overview of Dental Implant Placement
The Surgical Procedure
The procedure to place an implant takes 30-to-60 minutes for one implant and only 2-to-3 hours for multiple dental implants. The number of appointments and times required vary from patient to patient. The surgeon will bring great precision and attention to the details of your case.
Before surgery, you may receive antibiotics and, for greater comfort, intravenous sedation or nitrous oxide (laughing gas). These options are discussed with you at your consultation appointment. A local anesthetic will be administered to numb the area where the dental implant will be placed.
When you are comfortable, the surgeon makes a small incision in the gum tissue to reveal the bone, creates space using special instruments, and gently inserts the titanium implant. The top of this implant is often visible through the gum. Sometimes it is better to have the dental implant covered by the gum tissue in the early stages of healing.
Interested in Restoring Your Smile?
Don’t suffer from missing teeth any longer! Dental implants are natural-looking replacement teeth that can preserve your facial structure and improve your smile.
Interested in Restoring Your Smile?
Don’t suffer from missing teeth any longer! Dental implants are natural-looking replacement teeth that can preserve your facial structure and improve your smile.
1. Normal
2. Tooth Loss
3. Healed Bone
4. Implant Placed
5. Healing
6. Implant Restored
The Dental Implant Healing Phase
Now the healing begins. The length of time varies from person to person, depending upon the quality and quantity of bone. In some cases, dental implants may be restored immediately after they are placed. The surgeon will advise you on follow-up care and timing. After the initial healing phase, the surgeon places an abutment (support post) or a healing cap onto the implant during a brief follow-up visit. This allows gum tissue to mature and provides access to the implant.
Occasionally, impressions are made at the time the dental implant is placed. This enables the crown to be ready when the implants have healed. How long your mouth needs to heal is determined by various factors. Follow-up care (one to four appointments) is usually needed to ensure that your mouth is healing well and to determine when you are ready for the restorative phase of your treatment.
It may be beneficial to perform a soft tissue graft to obtain stronger, more easily cleaned and natural appearing gum tissue in the area around the implant. This process involves moving a small amount of gum tissue from one part of your mouth to the area around the dental implant. Most often, it is a brief and relatively comfortable procedure.
Whether it’s one tooth or all of your teeth being replaced, your dentist will complete the restoration by fitting the replacement tooth (crown) to the dental implant.
Dental Implants Presentation
To provide you with a better understanding of dental implants, we have provided the following multimedia presentation. Many common questions pertaining to dental implants are discussed.
When are dental implants placed?
Dental implants are often placed several months after extraction. At times, an implant may be placed immediately after tooth extraction. This may involve a little more risk, but it simplifies the process — you won’t have to wait for another appointment to place the dental implant. When infection or other problems with the bone are present, immediate implant placement is not the best treatment.
If your tooth has been missing for some time, the adjacent support bone will likely grow thinner and shrink. This occurs because the natural tooth’s root must be present to stimulate the bone. As much as one-third of your jaw’s thickness can be lost in the year following tooth extraction. If you are missing enough bone, you may benefit from having additional bone grafted into the area. This ensures the implant is adequately supported when placed in the jaw.
How many dental implants do I need?
Most frequently, one dental implant per missing tooth is placed. Because many of the larger teeth in the back of your jaws have two or three roots, replacing missing back teeth with larger implants is the most common approach.