What to Expect When Getting Dental Implants

Visit one begins by determining that your natural tooth can not be maintained and typically takes around 90 minutes. When your natural tooth has had extensive damage, like decay, fracture, cracks, or bone loss, and can no longer be repaired with dental treatment, extraction is necessary. After careful removal of your natural tooth, a bone graft and covering is placed at the time of surgery to help rebuild a good foundation and preserve the bone you have. The typical healing time after extraction is 3-4 months.

About 2 weeks after your extraction, we will remove your sutures, which usually takes around 30 minutes. Suture removal is a quick visit in which the surgical area is evaluated for proper healing and the stitches are removed.

At your third visit, which is typically another 30 minutes, we will then evaluate your mouth to check how your extractions healed and begin surgical planning. It takes twelve weeks for the bone graft to solidify and become strong enough to support a dental implant. This visit is scheduled around the halfway point to monitor your bone/gum healing. A CBCT (3D X-ray) is taken for the dentist to select the custom implant size for your future tooth and to discuss any additional procedures that may be necessary either before or during your implant surgery (including additional bone grafting, sinus lift, or gum tissue procedure). An impression will be taken to create the implant guide, which is used by the dentist on the day of surgery to guide the implant into a good position.

On the day of your implant surgery (90-min procedure), the implant (titanium root) will be placed below your gums. After it is placed, no tooth will be added since it needs time to heal (12-16 weeks) and become sufficiently anchored into position. If you receive additional bone or sinus grafting at the time of surgery, the implant requires a longer healing time, which will be told to you by your dentist. Depending on your case, the dentist may either cover the implant with your gum tissue or may place a “healing abutment” (small covering) onto the head of the implant. If the healing abutment is placed, visit six is skipped. Healing time is typically 2-3 months.

Visit number six will happen 3 months after your implant surgery for around 40 minutes and is the beginning of “Stage 2” of the process which is implant “uncovery”. Once the implant heals underneath the gums, it needs to be uncovered in order to build the tooth or crown component. At this visit, the dentist uses local anesthesia (“Novocain”) to anesthetize the gums and expose the top of the implant. The “healing abutment” is placed onto the implant to help form the gum in preparation for the new tooth. The healing abutment protrudes slightly above the gum’s surface and you will be able to feel this with your tongue. Healing time after visit six is around 1 month.

The time has come to meet your new tooth! At this visit, usually 60 minutes, your healing abutment is removed and your new tooth is placed. It’s time for implant crown insertion! We always check that you are happy with the look and bite of your new tooth and demonstrate how to properly clean around the implant.