Which Dental Implants Are Best? A Quick Guide

If you’ve lost one or more teeth, the effects are devastating. Your smile is no longer the same, and you may become more self-conscious. Mealtimes require careful negotiation, and many longstanding favourites are suddenly off the menu. Added to this, there are several health complications associated with losing teeth. 

There are several options for replacing your missing teeth. You could have a bridge where your replacement teeth are held in place on either side by your natural teeth. Another option is to have dentures. Here, your new teeth fit around your gums and are removable. While these other options have their benefits, dental implants are the gold standard replacement tooth option.

With several different types of dental implants available, it’s hard to know which is the right treatment option for you. 

Here’s a brief comparison of the various types of dental implants placed at Love Teeth. 

The Benefits of Dental Implants

Dental implants are a popular solution for supporting replacement teeth. They give you a firm and confident bite, look completely natural, and prevent a range of oral health complications such as:

• Dental drift – An issue where your remaining teeth slide into the gap left by those you’ve lost
• Bone loss – When you lose a tooth, the jaw that once supported it can deteriorate, and this can affect your facial structure

What Are Dental Implants?

Dental implants are titanium posts that support replacement teeth. The implants are embedded into your jaw, where they’ll gradually fuse with the bone creating a tight bond. This fusion of bone and titanium gives your bite strength, allowing you to live your life as though you’d never lost a tooth at all. 

Often, we’ll replace a single tooth using an implant; however, in the case of All-On-4 and zygomatic implants, we can replace an entire row of teeth simultaneously. 

How Are Dental Implants Placed?

Traditional dental implants are placed in stages. Before doing anything, we’ll assess your jaw to determine whether it’s strong enough to support the dental implant, 

To make your implant placement procedure comfortable and pain-free, you’ll be given an anaesthetic. 

Once the implant has been placed, it will take some time for the bone to heal. Until this time, we’ll place a temporary crown. After the bone is ready, the final crown is placed. 

What Is the Recovery Time for Dental Implants?

In the days following your procedure, you will struggle to bite and chew. For this reason, it’s important to stick to soft foods. After a short time, you can gradually start to swap your yoghurt, soup, and mashed potatoes for food that requires some chewing. At this stage, any pain and swelling can be managed easily with painkillers. 

Full recovery from dental implant placement can take several months. This is because your jaw bone takes time to heal and fuse with the titanium. We’ll monitor your jaw to see how it’s healing. 

What Are All-On-4 Implants?

All-On-Four implants are often called “Same Day Teeth” or immediate-load implants. 

With this type of restoration, we’ll use four strategically positioned implants that will support an entire arch of replacement teeth. Not only will these implants give you a whole new row of teeth, but the treatment also takes just one day. 

Your new smile will be custom-made for your mouth. This means that your teeth will look completely natural. 

Like traditional single implants, All-On-4 implants are titanium, making them lightweight and durable. 

How Are All-On-4 Implants Placed?

Unlike traditional implants, we can place All-On-4s in a single day. Like with standard single implants, we’ll need to assess your jaws before the procedure to ensure you’re a suitable candidate and plan the placement. 

Your comfort is important. Before your procedure, we’ll give you an anaesthetic so you don’t feel any pain. 

What Is the Recovery Time for All-On-4 Implants?

For the first few days after your All-On-Four placement procedure, you’ll probably need to take medication to reduce any pain or swelling. During this time, you will find it difficult to chew so you’ll also need to stick to a soft food diet. You can expect a recovery time of around three weeks. 

When placing your implants, we’ll give you a temporary set of teeth. Although these are only designed to be worn for around six months, they’ll look and feel great. After we’re satisfied that your implants have settled into your jaw well, we’ll place your permanent teeth.

What Are Zygomatic Implants?

Sometimes, when placing dental implants, the jaw bone will deteriorate, meaning it can’t support the titanium posts. Although bone grafts can help, if you’re replacing your upper teeth, zygomatic implants could be the best option for you. 

The name of these implants comes from the zygomatic bone, which is better known as the cheekbone. Usually, dental implants are placed into the jaw bone. But if you lack bone density in your upper jaw, we can use longer implants which extend up to access your cheekbone. 

We use the cheekbone because it offers lots of healthy bone to support your new smile. Just like with All-On-Four implants, we’ll place four or more implants to hold an entire row of teeth. 

What Is the Recovery Time for Zygomatic Implants?

Although the gum tissue may heal within the first couple of days of treatment, it can take several months for the bone to heal. That said, the whole treatment and recovery time using this option is less than if you were receiving a bone graft before your implants are placed. 

As with other dental implant options, you must avoid anything chewy or crunchy after your surgery. Any initial swelling and discomfort can be managed with paracetamol or ibuprofen. 

Dental Implants at Love Teeth

At Love Teeth, we have dental implant treatment options to suit everyone. With clinics across Surrey, getting life-changing dental implant surgery has never been so easy. 

Call today to arrange a consultation and find out for yourself how much of an impact dental implants will have on your life.