5 Common Myths About Dental Implant Treatment
- I’m worried that dental implants are painful!
Simply put: no! We use strong local anaesthetics with gentle injection techniques, together with microsurgical techniques (read: tiny stitches, precision instruments and gentle tissue manipulation, all under magnification). Intravenous sedation can be used for if you are very nervous. Typically the vast majority of patients are able to drive home (unless you’ve had sedation) and can resume normal duties and light exercise the following day. Similarly, post-op discomfort is usually minimal and uneventful.
- Won’t I have a gap whilst the implant is healing?
If the missing tooth is not visible and at the back of your mouth, the vast majority of patients manage whilst the implant is healing. If the gap is visible, there is often the option of a removable partial denture, or alternatively a fixed adhesive bridge (we use these a lot for front tooth implant cases).
- Don’t implants take 12 months to heal?
More like 12 weeks! In most cases, the bone has grown into the implant after only 3 months, and then a tooth can be made to attach to it. Sometimes we may need to wait longer – these cases are the more complex ones where a lot of grafting was needed or if the patient has a complicating medical factors.
- I have a big gap/lots of missing teeth – won’t I need 1 implant per tooth?
Multiple implants can be placed to replace missing teeth across a gap – for example it is often possible to replace a gap of 3 or 4 teeth using only 2 implants. If you have no teeth, then a minimum of 4 implants per jaw are all that is required to have a full set of teeth (we prefer to use 6 implants where possible, especially in the upper jaw, but 4 is the minimum).
- I’m worried I’ll need a lot of bone grafting
Modern implants can be made narrower and shorter than they used to be. This reduces the need for complex/extensive grafting in a lot of cases. If we don’t have to graft the bone, then we won’t! Gum grafting is actually becoming more common and you’ll be amazed at how minimal the post-op discomfort can be.
Remember at MSG Dental Care we here to help you, to look after you as one of our own and to make sure you have a comfortable experience. We consistently receive positive feedback from patients about their experience with dental implant treatment – many of whom return for more implants later on – and always check the healing at the review appointment 7-14 days post-op.
NB: The above text was composed entirely by Dr Chris Burton, without the use of any AI technology.