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Our dentists at St John’s Wood offer dental implants as a way to help improve your smile, these can be a good option if you are looking for something more permanent. The dental implants replace the root of the tooth with a strong foundation for your new teeth to be placed on. If you didn’t want a permanent option, we also provide removable teeth to be attached to these new roots. Whether you have one tooth missing or multiple, dental implants could be for you.
Benefits of dental implants
The first benefit of these implants is that once our dental hygienists fit your new teeth, they will look just like your natural teeth. The implant is fixed into your jaw bone meaning that no one would be able to tell the difference between your natural teeth and the prosthetic ones.
As well as looking like your natural teeth, they also act like them. Your false teeth will have a very good level of stability, which means you can worry less about eating certain foods, and this has been very beneficial to our patients.
Due to these implants being permanent, you will not have to change them on a regular basis meaning lower costs for your new smile. The main focus after your implants would just be to maintain your oral hygiene to prevent any future problems. With the right dental hygiene routine, your implants can last a lifetime!
When you lose teeth, this brings loss of bone mass, which can increase the chances of more problems in the future. When you replace these missing teeth with implants, it encourages the bone to grow, and will actually grow around your implants in the gum to improve stability.
The dental implant process
After our dentists have a couple of consultation appointments with you, we will begin the process. In the first appointment, we will insert the implant post into the jawbone. We then close this up with sutures and you will return to us 10 days later to allow our dentists to examine the surgical site. After this, we will leave it to heal for several months to allow for bone to grow around the post so it is all firmly connected.
After these months are over, the implant will then be reassessed to check if it is fully ready and fused to the jawbone. If all goes well, then another type of post is added into the implant, this extends into the gum line and an impression will be taken. This allows us to create your custom bridge, crown or denture.
The final stage involves your customised tooth/teeth to be screwed or cemented permanently to the previous post that was added to the implant. If you are having a denture, a removable option can be made for you if you choose.
Aftercare
As well as maintaining your usual oral hygiene routine as you would with normal teeth, it is important to also have some re-examination appointments to allow us to make sure that your implants are holding up how they should be.
Some of our patients have a habit of clenching or grinding their teeth, and if you do this then we will recommend a night guard for you to wear whilst you sleep to make sure there is minimal damage to the implants.