Dental Implants

If you are missing a tooth or multiple teeth, your dentist or specialist prosthodontist may refer you to one of our OralMax Surgeons to assess your suitability for implant surgery.

Dental implants are titanium screws that are surgically inserted in the jaw, a procedure routinely performed by all of our OralMax Surgeons. The implants fuse to the bone and allow stability for the artificial crown of a tooth to be attached and simulate a tooth. In cases of several missing teeth, or an entire jaw missing all the teeth, multiple dental implants may be placed to facilitate an entire prosthesis. The artificial prosthesis or crown is made by your referring dentist or specialist prosthodontist. Our surgeons will always work with you and your referrer to ensure the best functional and cosmetic outcome for you.

Occasionally, the jaw bone first needs to be reinforced and grafted to facilitate placement of dental implants. This will be determined by your OralMax Surgeon during your consultation. Sometimes additional scans are required before a final decision can be made.

Different options exist for grafting; these include using your own bone or other medical bone products that have safely been used for this purpose for many years. The suitability and type of graft needed will be discussed with you in detail during your consultation. In some instances, a graft needs to be inserted first and allowed to fuse with the jawbone for some months before an implant can be inserted. For most patients, though, using modern techniques and equipment, our surgeons are able to provide simultaneous grafting and implant placement to reduce the overall treatment time.

Dental implants may be used as a foundation to replace all missing teeth in the upper and lower jaws. In these instances,  four to six implants may be placed in each jaw to help support the artificial teeth. The implants can usually be loaded with the new teeth within days in suitable candidates.

In patients with severely deficient upper jaw bone, our surgeons are able to offer graftless solutions and placement of zygomatic implants (longer implants placed through the mouth but anchored into the cheek bone) to help support the artificial teeth.

Using these advanced implant techniques, we have been able to treat many patients who have previously been told they would require extensive grafting and extended treatment time. Your suitability for such procedures will be discussed with you during your consultation.

Single implant surgery can be carried out at our OralMax practice, with most patients tolerating this procedure very well under local anaesthesia alone. However, we also offer treatment under IV sedation and general anaesthesia in a hospital if required and if compatible with your specific clinical scenario. The duration of the procedure for placement of a single implant is usually 30 minutes, but we recommend that you allocate additional time before and after the appointment.

For patients undergoing implant surgery to replace multiple teeth or grafting procedures, we recommend treatment under general anaesthesia in a hospital. This is usually carried out as day surgery. You can expect to spend approximately half a day at the hospital as admission takes place before surgery and a period of observation follows before you will be safely discharged.

Some patients undergoing implant surgery to replace all missing teeth in the jaws have in the past requested an overnight stay in hospital. This can be arranged and may depend on many factors, including other medical conditions you may have and whether anyone is available to look after you immediately after the surgery. Our OralMax surgeons will discuss this with you during your consultation.

The time needed to recover from surgery after placement of a single dental implant is minimal. The majority of patients report functioning as usual after 1 to 2 days. Patients undergoing extensive grafting procedures and/or implant surgery to replace multiple missing teeth need to allow longer recovery periods. Our OralMax Surgeons will discuss your individual scenario with you in more detail.