Single / Multiple
Implants

Most people are surprised by how mild the recovery is. It’s often easier than having a tooth taken out.

For the first few days you can expect:

• swelling around the area, usually at its worst on day two or three
• tenderness when you chew
• light bruising on the gum or cheek
• a little bleeding on the first day

Paracetamol or ibuprofen and a cold pack on the cheek are usually enough to keep you comfortable. Stick to soft foods, rinse gently with warm salt water from the day after surgery, and avoid smoking and alcohol while the gum heals.

How you feel depends on what we’ve done. A single implant into healthy bone is a small procedure, and many people are back at work the next day. If you’ve had several implants or a bone graft at the same time, plan for a couple of quieter days.

The implant itself is designed to stay in place for life, and in a healthy mouth it often does. Titanium can’t decay, and once it has bonded with your jawbone, it’s very stable.

The crown or bridge on top works harder. It takes the full force of every bite, so it wears over time just as a natural tooth does. Most need replacing at some point, typically after 10 to 15 years. That’s a simple appointment with no surgery, because the new crown fits onto the same implant.

Implants have a high success rate, with long-term studies showing well over 90% are still in place after ten years. When implants do fail, the most common reasons are smoking and gum problems that weren’t kept under control.

Your part is much the same as with natural teeth. Brush twice a day, clean between your teeth, and keep up with your hygiene visits and check-ups. At every check-up we’ll look at the gum and bone around your implant, so any issue is caught early.

Yes, and most of it is in your hands.

Stop smoking. This is the single biggest thing you can do. Smoking cuts blood flow to the gums, slows healing and makes it harder for the implant to bond with the bone. If you can stop before treatment and stay stopped while you heal, you give your implant a much better start.

Get your gums healthy first. Gum disease is the main reason implants fail over time. If there’s any inflammation, we’ll treat it before placing an implant.

Keep it clean. Brush twice a day and clean around the implant with interdental brushes or floss. Our hygienists can show you which tools suit your mouth.

Keep your appointments. Regular check-ups let us spot early changes around the implant before they turn into problems.

Tell us about your health. Diabetes and some medications can affect healing, so mention them at your consultation and Paul or Vish will plan around them.

It depends on how many teeth you’re replacing, the condition of your bone, and whether a tooth still needs to come out.

For a straightforward single implant, treatment usually follows this pattern:

• a consultation and CBCT scan, where Paul or Vish plans your treatment
• placing the implant, under local anaesthetic in a single appointment
• healing for around three to six months while the implant bonds with your bone
• fitting your final crown over one or two short visits

Sometimes we can fit a temporary crown or bridge on the same day the implant goes in, so you never have a gap. Whether that’s possible depends on how firmly the implant sits in the bone when it’s placed.

Treatment takes longer if you need a bone graft first, or if a tooth has to be removed and the area left to heal. More complex cases can take 9 to 12 months from start to finish.

At your consultation, you’ll get a clear timeline along with your costs, so you know exactly what to expect before anything starts.

An immediate implant is placed at the same appointment your tooth is removed. Instead of taking the tooth out, waiting months for the socket to heal and then coming back for surgery, both happen in one visit.

That brings real advantages. You have one surgical procedure instead of two, the overall treatment is shorter, and placing the implant straight away can help preserve the bone and gum shape around the tooth. In the right cases a temporary crown goes on the same day, so you leave without a gap.

It isn’t suitable for everyone. It works best when:

• there’s no significant infection around the tooth being removed
• there’s enough healthy bone to hold the implant firmly from day one
• the gum around the tooth is in good condition

If those conditions aren’t met, we’ll usually remove the tooth first and place the implant once the area has healed, sometimes with a bone graft in between.

Your CBCT scan shows us whether an immediate implant is a safe option for you, and Paul or Vish will talk you through the pros and cons before you decide.