Dental Implants

Dental implants offer a long-term solution for your missing teeth. Convenient, natural-looking and comfortable, a dental implant gives our patients a stable solution that feels like one of their own teeth.

What is a Dental Implant?

Dental implants are a fixed solution when you’re missing one or more teeth. Dental implants are small metal screws that are placed in the jaw in place of a missing tooth. Once established, crowns, bridges and dentures can be fixed onto the implants, creating a natural-looking and stable restoration.​

Benefits of Dental Implants​

When you lose your natural teeth, the nearby jaw bone and surrounding supportive tissues start to resorb or disappear over time. When implants are placed in the jaw, the bone structure is maintained, preventing bone loss.

Implant restorations help to preserve a natural functioning bite, preventing your natural teeth from drifting, tilting or over-erupting if the spaces were left. Implants help restore function so you can eat, chew and bite as usual, resulting in a natural-looking way to replace missing teeth.

Dental Implants May Require Tooth Extractions

Natural teeth may need to be removed due to decay, disease or trauma. These instances may be the result of periodontal disease, an injury to the face, or other reasons. Our dentists do everything they can to preserve natural teeth before they recommend pulling a tooth out. However, in some cases, tooth extraction is the healthiest solution for a patient’s overall oral health.

Immediate Dental Implants

Traditional dental implants required two separate surgeries, one to extract the decayed tooth and one to insert the implant months later (after the socket healed). Now, the implant can often be placed at the same time as we remove the damaged tooth.

Implants with a screw-thread on can be twisted into position. Implants without the screw-thread are usually tapped into place. The main aim during installation of any implant is to achieve immediate close contact with the surrounding bone. This creates an initial stability, which steadily enhances over time. As the implant heals, there is further growth of bone into the implant’s surface, essentially fusing them together.

Are You a Candidate for Dental Implants?

Many of our patients are able to get dental implants without an issue. There are three big factors when determining whether our patients are suitable candidates for dental implants.

  1. They need to be in good general and oral health.
  2. They must have healthy gums, as this procedure is intimately connected with your gum tissue.
  3. They must have enough bone in the jaw to support the implant.

Implant Treatment at our Brentwood Dental Practice

Every dental treatment at Hutton Village Dental Practice starts with a consultation and examination. For dental implant treatment, we take X-rays of your head, jaw and teeth. This helps us determine if implants are the right decision for you and helps us precisely plan where to place the implants.

On the day of surgery, We will always numb up the area with local anaesthesia so you won’t feel pain in the dental chair. If you are anxious about the procedure then discuss this with a member of the dental team so we can give you advice and reassurance. We may plan a conscious sedation to help manage your anxiety and help you to feel more relaxed.​ .

During surgery, we place the dental implant into your jawbone, beneath the gum tissue then stitch the tissue back into place. Over a few months, the implant should bond with the jaw bone and attach to the gums seamlessly. We may require patients to heal from this part of the surgery before moving on with the second step – unless it’s safe for us to complete the second part of the surgery on the same day. During the second stage of dental implant surgery, we attach the abutment to the implant.

We customise a replacement tooth (or teeth) for you that fits your mouth just right and we colour-match it to your natural teeth. Once this crown, fixed bridge, or dental implant is ready, we attach it to the abutment. By following these stages we can achieve a functioning and natural looking implant retained restoration.​

Dental Implant Surgery Aftercare

The pain and discomfort from surgery lasts around four days. After surgery, please ensure you follow the instructions from the dentist.

  • Have somebody drive you home as the effects of the anaesthesia will start wearing off.
  • Do not touch the implant area.
  • Avoid vigorous mouth rinsing. Gentle rinsing is okay and will help keep the area clean.
  • Bleeding or redness in the saliva is normal for up to three days following surgery. It can be controlled by carefully biting down on gauze with gentle pressure for about an hour to stop the bleeding.
  • Manage pain with over-the-counter NSAIDs as needed.
  • Minimise swelling and bruising by using an ice pack on the area of the face that’s most affected.
  • Stay hydrated.
  • Sleep in a propped up position and make sure you get enough rest.

Caring for Dental Implants

Following surgery, please ensure standard oral hygiene continues. This consists of brushing twice a day, flossing at least once a day and making sure you see your dentist for your regular check-ups. Taking care of dental implants is just like taking care of your natural teeth, so your morning and evening oral health routines can stay the same.

Are You A Candidate for Dental Implants?

If it’s time to replace some of your natural teeth, implants look and feel like any other teeth in your mouth. It’s the next best thing to your real teeth. If you’re in Essex, and you’re interested in dental implant treatment, please talk to one of our friendly dentists.