Dental implant treatment provides a genuine life-changing solution to many dental problems and is one of the most exciting areas of modern dentistry to work in.
Replacing missing teeth
The loss or damage of even a single tooth can have a huge impact on everyday life, teeth function and self-esteem. People lose their teeth for many reasons, sometimes due to an accident, illness or poor maintenance. Other people simply inherit poor teeth. Whatever the reasons for tooth loss, it can have a negative impact on your quality of life. You may no longer eat many of the foods that you once enjoyed, you may be self-conscious about your appearance, you may stop smiling or you may experience pain from ill-fitting dentures.
Dental implants are a lasting solution to tooth loss and can be used in both aesthetic and functional treatments. Whether you are missing a single tooth or multiple teeth, or would like a secure option to anchor dentures, dental implants could be the best solution.
What does the treatment involve?
- A titanium post is placed in the jaw bone to support a replacement tooth
- This acts like the root of a natural tooth
- The implant is usually left for some weeks to allow the bone to form a strong bond to the implant
- Once the implant has integrated with the bone, an artificial tooth is attached for a natural look
- The artificial tooth is custom made to ensure the ideal colour, shape and size
Dental Implants offer some really exciting benefits to patients:
- Restoring the mouth as closely as possible to its natural state
- Increasing comfort by eliminating loose fitting dentures
- An end to restricting food choices due to loose fitting dentures
- Avoid filing down healthy neighbouring teeth (as with a conventional bridge)
- Preserve facial structure by virtually stopping deterioration of the jaw
- Providing a more natural smile and improving appearance and self-esteem
Dental Implant results before and after
Before Dental Implants
After Dental Implants
Thank you Dr. Dhami for a very straightforward and professional approach to my tooth implant. The explanation and the procedure were first class.
Z. Flores
Before Dental Implants
After Dental Implants
Service was excellent from start to finish. Everything was explained from the start and what to expect. The staff are friendly and welcoming. Highly recommend getting new teeth! Thank you for your help. I can smile big again!
Patient J
Dental Implant FAQs
- Prevention of bone loss, implants preserve facial appearance in many patients.
- No need to cut down or damage adjacent teeth to support the new teeth. Dental implants are therefore a non-destructive dental procedure
- Improved confidence in chewing: no more embarrassing moments with loose dentures, no more dental glue or soft liners. You can, once again, eat those foods that you love but may have been unable to eat.
- Comfort: dental implants feel like your natural teeth.
Dr Satinder Dhami is a specialist in Dental Implants and leads a team of highly qualified implantologists with many years experience fitting and placing dental implants.
Satinder’s treatment portfolio includes; all types of dental implant treatment, bone grafting, sinus augmentation and nerve repositioning to create adequate bone for implant placement in the very difficult and failed cases. Satinder treats all conditions ranging from the replacement of a single tooth to full mouth teeth replacement in upper and lower jaws (even in cases where they were removed many years ago). Long lasting success that includes optimal function and appearance is the main aim in every case.
Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, is committed to continual professional development in the area of dental implants and Satinder regularly speaks and attends dental implant conferences around the world; keeping abreast of all the latest training and techniques in placing dental implants. He’s familiar with every dental implant system available and insists on using only the very best, high quality, cutting-edge implant systems.
It’s important when patients research dental practices offering dental implants, as a solution to missing teeth, they look carefully at the training and levels of experience each practice has to offer. At Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, you’re guaranteed the very best dental implant service, including, first class post-operative care from our team of highly skilled dental implant specialists.
Dr Satinder Dhami keeps fully updated, audited records of every dental implant placed and fitted. To date this number exceeds 2500 making Dr Dhami one of the most experienced dental implant specialists in the UK. This should give any patient looking for either a single implant or multiple dental implants reassurance when it comes to choosing the right dental practice for dental implants. It’s also why so many referring dentists on the Reading and the wider area refer their patients to Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants.
We’re often asked how long it takes to place a dental implant? The short answer is; it varies. If the treatment plan indicates a straightforward case, it can be a little as eight to ten weeks from placement of the implant to fitting the final crown. In some cases treatment can take longer depending on the level of complexity, with some patients not finishing for up to a year. We’ll be able to give you a more precise timetable after your initial assessment at Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire. You can book an appointment here or arrange for a free dental implant video consultation. Natural teeth need regular maintenance with a hygienist and dentist - the same is true of dental implants. Our treatment plans will include information about your personalised maintenance needs. This will include brushing twice a day and cleaning with floss and interdental brushes. Most scientific studies show that the majority of implants are still functioning very well after 10-15 years, so long as they are well looked after like natural teeth. Assuming you strictly adhere to our maintenance regime, your implants should last a long time.
Such is our experience in placing dental implants at Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, it’s extremely rare for one of our dental implants to fail. Our success rate in placing dental implants is exceptional at around 99%. As with any surgical procedure there are rare occasions when complications arise. When we place an implant, bone needs to grow onto and fuse to the implant. This process is known as ‘osseointegration’, and it provides a solid foundation for the crown. In rare circumstances bone can sometimes fail to grow on the implant. We offer the choice of either a full refund, or to replace the implant completely free of charge. We’ve found patients usually wish to try again and that a second failure is exceptionally rare.
At Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, we continuously audit our results, assess our performance, and invest in continual professional development for all our team. This has led to audited successful implant integration rates of over 99% and we’re always happy to share our figures with patients at any time.
These are the same as normal dental surgery: possible bleeding, bruising, swelling, discomfort and infection. Any tendency for bruising or swelling is reduced by the use of ice packs after the procedure. Any discomfort is usually well controlled with mild pain-killers such as Ibuprofen. Infection is extremely rare. Most patients are fine to go back to work, study, life, within about 2-3 days. Failure of the dental implant soon after it is placed is very rare (1%) assuming a premium-branded implant is used. Patients who are smokers and those with a history of gum disease or diabetes are at a slightly increased risk of failure. We will design a personalised plan to minimise this risk.
In general, everyone is suitable for dental implants as long as you have stopped growing, so over 18 years of age. There is no upper age limit. Some medical conditions e.g. bleeding disorders such as haemophilia make all surgery very difficult. As long as you have a stable medical history, are a non-smoker and are fit enough to keep your mouth open, dental implants are possible. We may need to increase the amount of bone present at the position the implant is to be placed, called Bone Grafting. This can usually be done when the implant is placed or occasionally before placement.
How painful is dental implant treatment? is one of the more common questions we get asked. The majority of implants are placed under a normal dental local anaesthetic and the straightforward cases take only about 10 to 15 minutes of actual surgery time. Although the local anaesthetic injections can sting a little, once your mouth is numb, you won’t feel anything sharp or painful at all throughout your treatment. You will feel some pressing and pushing during the procedure, as well as some vibration during the drilling stage (no more than a normal filling), but this won’t be sharp or painful in any way and your Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants dentist will check to make sure you’re completely anaesthetised before surgery starts.
For more complex procedures, such as multiple implants or cases requiring large bone grafts, sedation can be provided. Sedation is not a general anaesthetic, but makes patients feel very comfortable and relaxed, and they rarely remember much about the procedure afterwards. Dental sedation is particularly popular with nervous patients seeking dental implants. Please ask about sedation options at your first assessment.
We have more trained and experienced dental implant specialists than most dental clinics and this experience results in quicker, less painful dental implant procedures and is why we’re proud to say we have had many many satisfied dental implant patients passing through Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, over the years. At your consultation for Dental Implants in Reading, one of our team will discuss with you in detail, your particular concerns about your tooth or teeth and will carry out a thorough examination with appropriate x-rays, if necessary, in order to arrive at a proper diagnosis. The dentist will then discuss with you in detail, different treatment options and associated costs and the time commitments involved with different implant treatments, if dental implants are applicable to your case. This discussion will be summarised and sent to you for your further consideration.
You’re not required to have the tooth extracted before seeing us. Where possible, we’d like to assess the area first, in order to work out the best treatment plan to replace your teeth. This allows us to plan treatment around protecting and maintain as much bone as possible. We can then plan your timetable for treatment much more easily. However, if you’re in pain, you can ask your dentist to carefully remove the tooth, and to clean the area carefully with consideration of implant protocols which we’ve taught to many of our referring dentists in Reading and beyond.
There are a few factors which can make it necessary to wait for healing after tooth removal, before an implant can be placed – the main factor being whether there is any sign of infection. If infection is present, we need to allow a healing phase of eight to twelve weeks before we can place the implants. However, you never need have a gap if you don’t wish to have one. There are all sorts of temporary solutions to make sure there is no embarrassment at any stage throughout the implant process. For example, we’re one of only a handful of practices in Berkshire who offer sameday or teeth-in-a-day implants. We can extract teeth and immediately place implants into the extraction sockets, sometimes called “Instant Implants” and we can even add temporary teeth on top of these implants so you need never have any gaps. We have vast experience in placing dental implants in every conceivable complex case and are often referred such cases by dental practices less experienced in dealing with patients who’ve been told they don’t have enough bone left to support dental implants. Once we’ve completed your assessment, including detailed x-rays and the latest in 3D imaging CBCT scanning to assess the bone available, we can give you an accurate treatment plan. We actually specialise in multiple dental implants at Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, and can even offer a full mouth reconstruction, the most complex of dental treatments available. You don’t need one implant per tooth and we can actually offer four implants to replace all of the upper or lower teeth, known as a dental implant bridge.. There are a variety of options for the type of bridgework we can offer including removable or fixed bridges and you can find out more information on our website or by contacting us directly. This is a procedure where teeth are extracted and a crown, bridge or denture is attached to the implant on the same day. Note that this term can be misleading as there would usually be a number of appointments before surgery for consultation, impressions and x-rays and other preparatory procedures. Teeth-in-Day refers to the day of surgery. We offer this type of treatment.
Absolutely. Dentures are now considered old fashioned when it comes to replacing teeth. Patients no longer need to put up with loose fitting dentures and having to put their teeth in a glass over-night. Dentures can have a negative effect on your quality of life.
Small dentures can be replaced with just a few implants, or complete (full) dentures can either be held in position with implants or replaced with implants altogether. Dental implants represent the most significant advance in dentistry in the last 50 years and transform patients lives.
Once your final crown has been fitted on your implant, then it’s possible for you to eat straightaway. However, it’s often the case the tooth or teeth have been missing for a while, so eating again takes a bit of getting used to so we advise to start slowly to begin with.
We often hear from patients looking for a second opinion on dental implants who’ve been told they need a bone graft before they can have dental implants. Using an experienced dental implant team like Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, means, in many cases, we can circumvent the need for bone grafting as there are new techniques we can use as an alternative to bone grafts.
When required, we use many different materials for bone grafting, which are chosen on a case-by-case basis as the best material for each patient. However, we now use synthetic, laboratory-made materials more and more, replacing the need for cow-derived products almost completely. These synthetic bone graft products are rapidly replaced by the body’s own bone so they disappear completely from the body within a few months. Titanium is the material almost all implants are made from as other materials just do not work as well. This is completely biocompatible material so the body sees it as part of its own and will grow bone directly onto the surface rather than reject it, as would happen with a bit of steel for example. Because of this, there is no harmful side effect and there is no issue with people who have other metal allergies.
Having placed over 2500 dental implants the team at Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, can confidently state there should be little or no pain experienced by patients under our care. Dental implants should not be painful if carried out by experienced surgeons. Standard local anaesthetics are used in the majority of cases, so you should feel no discomfort at all throughout the procedure. You’ll be aware of the treatment being carried out, but every part of the procedure should be very gentle in skilled hands. We offer sedation if you are a nervous dental patient to further aid your comfort. Click here for more information on dental bone grafts We tend to use use a couple of different bone substitutes at Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, depending on the individual requirement. The majority of the time we don’t need to add any bone at all as we specialise and have many years experience working with patients who’ve minimal bone and often who’ve been told they’re unsuitable for dental implants.
Synthetic bone graft is a term used to describe a procedure using a hydroxyapatite or other naturally occurring and biocompatible substance with similar mechanical properties to bone, to “build” bone so that dental implants can be placed. These procedures typically involve grafting (adding) these bonelike materials to the jaw, and waiting for the grafted material to fuse with the existing bone over several months. We now know that smoking does affect both natural teeth and implants. For natural teeth, smoking increases the risks of gum disease. For implants, smoking very slightly increases the risks of complications at every stage of your implant treatment.
We offer mouth cancer screening in Reading at Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants and the good news is that this increased risk is very slight and we successfully treat patients who are smokers every day at our dentists in Reading. There’s no maximum number of dental implants any one patient can have as all implant cases are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Some patients we see will need all their teeth replacing but that depends on the health of each tooth. We try and keep as many natural as possible but if this isn’t viable in the long term then we’ll advise a full mouth reconstruction and we’re one of a few dental implant clinics in Reading capable of providing this level of implant treatment. The replacement of all teeth will, of course, provide an exceptional level of stability and will have life changing benefits.
So, we can replace twenty-four teeth with dental implants when treating the whole mouth and have very well-developed protocols to make this as easy as possible for you and successful outcomes run to 99% of cases. We expect to be able to remove the remaining teeth and roots, place the implants and make a temporary set of teeth for you to go away with, all at the same time so you leave with a full set of new teeth. At Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, we would have no concerns about placing implants where grafting has been done elsewhere, but of course would need to assess the area and the rest of your mouth before considering this.
Because we use Titanium implants which are bio-compatible, there’s no risk of infection or allergy from the metal in the dental implants. Your soft tissue sees the metal as part of its own and will heal the bone onto the surface.
With regard to chipping, the crown of the implant is made of ceramics or exceptionally strong zirconia materials. While it’s impossible to chip the zirconia, it is possible to chip the ceramics, as with any crown. At Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, our highly skilled and highly trained dentists only fit crowns of the highest quality so t’s extremely unlikely you’ll experience any chipping. Regardless, we guarantee our crowns and would always replace at no additional cost to the patient.
Yes, we highly recommend you consider tooth-whitening, especially if the implant crown is for a missing front tooth. Tooth whitening is a simple non-invasive process which will enhance and bring life to your smile.
Impressions are taken to make the trays you wear during the whitening process. They are worn up to three hours at a time, either while you sleep or during the day. After two to three weeks you’ll start to see the results with a whiter, brighter smile.
A lateral sinus graft is needed when a patient does not have enough bone for an implant at the back of the upper jaw where your upper molar teeth are located. The sinus sits above your upper molar teeth and, when these teeth are lost, there can sometimes be very little bone beneath the sinus in which to place dental implants. A lateral sinus graft builds back this missing bone to allow implants to be placed and the missing upper molar teeth to be replaced. There are many different graft materials that can be used, and you should discuss this with your dentist at Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, at your assessment.
With modern short implants, lateral sinus grafts are needed much less often than in the past. A careful examination of your mouth and special x-rays and CBCT scans can determine both whether the lateral sinus graft is required and if your sinus is healthy enough for it. For example, chronic sinusitis would need to be cleared up before a lateral sinus graft could be performed. Often these x-rays reveal sufficient bone to enable other less invasive techniques than a lateral sinus graft to be used.
Your Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants dentist will give you written advice and instructions on how to look after your mouth when a graft is carried out, and you will be provided with all the medication necessary to make the procedure safe and your recovery smooth.
Most lateral sinus grafts are carried out under a normal dental anaesthetic, although some patients prefer to be sedated for the procedure to make it even more comfortable. For the lower jaw, implant overdentures are commonly held in place by either two conventional implants or 4 mini implants. The procedures for these are very similar though the costs are very different as conventional implants cost much more to manufacture than mini implants and the components that attach them to the denture are also more expensive.
What the treatment would cost you will depend on whether your current lower denture can be used to clip onto the implants or not. The lower denture needs to be almost perfect, so if you’ve had it for a long time, or if it is poorly extended, then a new denture will need to be made.
For your upper jaw the implant options for a full-arch treatment are either a fixed or a removable bridge. Although most patients initially think that a fixed bridge is preferable, a removable bridge stays in all the time except for the two times each day when you take the bridge out to clean it and the underlying implants. The answer depends on what exactly has gone on before; e.g. What type of graft? What material was used? How did it fail? What’s been done since?
We can find out at your assessment exactly what your situation is and then will advise on what can be done and when the best time for that would be.
There are a few implant systems we use and some do have a mix of titanium and other metal s as an alloy (aluminium etc). We also use Ankylos as a major excellent system and this is surgically pure titanium so would suit your situation.
We also have to be careful to look at the components that fit onto the implant including the crown. We have dealt with a number of patients who have such sensitivities and are well practiced in this to reassure you.
We’ll need to take some x-rays before we can tell you what is involved in replacing these two missing teeth with implants. X-rays are part of your initial assessment. Without first taking x-rays, there is no way of telling how much bone you have in these regions and what would be involved in implant treatment, i.e. whether you have enough bone to place implants or whether you need some bone-grafting first.
There are over six hundred different makes of implants currently available and each one has its advocates. Straumann and Nobel Biocare are great implant systems that have been around for a long while. However, there are many other great implant systems that have also been around for a long while.
No single implant system can do everything – there is no single “Best Implant System”.
We use a number of implant systems at Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, Berkshire, which means we can choose the one which we feel is most suitable for the case being treated.
We place hundreds of implants each year and have a 99% success rate.
Mini-implants can only be used to hold a lower denture in place, so keeping it stable and much more comfortable. This is a life-transforming procedure for many patients with loose lower dentures.
Fortunately, the answer is ‘no’.
Just as a patient’s metal fillings do not set off the detectors, neither will your dental implants.
Unfortunately not – the crown we use on your implant is very different to the one you have on your tooth. We are able to screw the special custom-made implant crown directly into the implant which ensures the most secure fit – no more risk of your crown coming off. As you will see at your assessment, the implant crown therefore is very different to the hollow shell that relies on cement fixing it to the tooth.
It’s perfectly normal to consider carefully the cost of any serious investment in your teeth and oral health. The investment is not just in your teeth but also quality of life, function, confidence, and your appearance. We only ever prescribe treatment that is necessary. If you are searching for a bargain, please keep in mind that we regularly have to repair many cases from other clinics that have gone wrong due to inadequate planning, skills, or materials.
After your initial visit or during your dental video consultation a plan of treatment will be devised and fees determined. The great news is we have many payment options available for our patients including dental implant finance options. Do you want more information about Dental Implants in Slough, Berkshire?
Download our free information guide.
The Association of Dental Implantology (UK) https://www.adi.org.uk provides a lot more information.
To see if implants are appropriate for you, and to answer any questions you may have, please arrange an implant consultation at Puresmile Earley Dental & Implants in Reading, .
Booking a Dental Implant Consultation
Book a Dental Implant Video Consultation or book an in-practice appointment with our Slough dental team by calling: 0118 966 9134 or email: [email protected]
