What are Dental Implants?
History and Usage
- Dental Implants have been used successfully for the treatment of patients with no remaining teeth for more than 40 years.
- Dental Implants may be used to support crowns to replace individual missing teeth.
- Fixed Bridges retained by multiple implants may be used to replace several missing teeth, or all teeth.
Occasionally, a few implants may be used to stabilise a loose or uncomfortable denture.
Implants used to be thought of as a ‘last resort’ treatment for people who could not get on with their dentures. We would now consider implant replacement to be the ‘standard of care’ approach to replacing missing teeth, for nearly any situation.
Implant placement usually takes place under local anaesthesia in the specially equipped procedure rooms at Dawood and Tanner. Most patients report little or no discomfort either during or after the surgery. Treatment under intravenous sedation may be provided by their consultant anaesthetist for complex procedures or anxious patients.
Implant treatments have evolved to allow us to routinely place implants using minimally invasive techniques, and to provide fixed teeth on the day of surgery, even in situations where there is little remaining bone.
