Is it painful?
The association with pain and the dentist is an historic collective memory! More than any other field of medicine, advances with pain management in dentistry have improved out of all sight… Methods of managing pain will be discussed at your appointment, but the overall goal of removing teeth that are failing and currently giving you pain will outweigh any short term discomfort during the procedure.
For most people, some type of pain relief will be needed on the day of surgery to keep you comfortable. However, by the next day or two most people find they don’t need any pain management at all.
How much will it cost?
Costs vary from person to person, because every case is individual. The first stage of the procedure, the assessment, will uncover the issues that are unique to your particular case, and the necessary requirements to ensure the best outcomes. They will be developed into a plan of action which will in turn generate an estimated cost for the total procedure.
You will be able to discuss all of this with the team at this stage. The estimate may vary slightly at the end, since there may be one or two factors that vary from the predicted outcomes. However, these can also be identified at the planning phase and will be discussed with you.
Will I be toothless?
You will have no teeth for a few hours – between the implants being placed and the temporary teeth fitted. But you won’t even have to leave the building if you choose. A few hours later, after a set of temporary teeth are custom-made for you, they will be fitted and you will be able to head home. There will be a time of healing, as with any medical procedure, but you will be back to eating relatively normally within a few days.
How long does take?
Before anything is done we will probably need to see you 2 or 3 times, to do our assessments and for you to ask questions! On the day of treatment you are there for most of the day, and we’ll need to see you and check healing a couple of times along the way. When it comes to making the permanent teeth a few months later, there are 4-5 visits and this part of the process can take 2-3 months.
Care and Maintenance?
This is vital to the success of your new mouth. The biggest danger to this technology is the lack of maintenance. Smoking, neglecting to clean or look after your mouth can lead to problems down the track. Teeth need looking after, and so do implants! Proper attention to brushing, flossing and normal dental care are always important.
With implant-supported teeth there is a higher rate of chipping the teeth themselves, and they may need repair from time to time. This is usually simple, as these teeth can be unscrewed from the implants, serviced, and put back in! Full care and maintenance will be discussed as part of the process.