Most of an implant is waiting, not surgery. Here’s every step in order, from the first visit to the day the new tooth goes on.
The implant itself goes in at one surgical appointment. Around it sit the visits that plan it, the 3–6 months the bone takes to fuse with it, and the lab work for the final tooth.
Any patient can book a free 10-minute session to talk about implants or cosmetic treatment. It’s an information session about the options and your goals, not an examination, diagnosis, suitability check, treatment plan or quote. Availability and booking conditions apply. Read the current offer details before booking.
After we’ve examined you, we’ll tell you which of the six stages apply to you, and roughly when.
Not every plan uses all six, and the order sometimes shifts. Once we’ve examined you, we’ll mark which ones are yours.
We look at the gap, the teeth and gums around it, your jaw and your health history, and take X-rays if they’re needed. Then we talk through every way of replacing the tooth, not just implants.
Some mouths need work first: treating a gum problem, letting an extraction site heal, or building up bone. More detailed imaging only comes in if the usual X-rays leave questions.
The implant goes into the jawbone at a booked surgical appointment, and you go home with aftercare instructions. Most people are back at work in 1–2 days, unless the job is heavy labour.
Soreness settles within about a week. The bone takes longer, fusing with the implant over 3–6 months, and longer again if the site needed preparation. We see you at reviews along the way.
We design the crown, bridge or denture that fits onto the implant. It’s made in a dental lab, so it’s fitted at a later visit, with a temporary in the meantime if you need one.
We check the implant, the crown, your gums and your cleaning at regular visits, and adjust anything that shifts.
We look at the gap, the teeth and gums around it, your jaw and your health history, and take X-rays if they’re needed. Then we talk through every way of replacing the tooth, not just implants. You leave knowing what we still need to find out before a plan can be settled.
Some mouths need work first: treating a gum problem, letting an extraction site heal, or building up bone. More detailed imaging only comes in if the usual X-rays leave questions. We’ll tell you whether any of this applies to you, and how it would move your dates.
The implant goes into the jawbone at a booked surgical appointment, and you go home with aftercare instructions. Most people are back at work in 1–2 days, unless the job is heavy labour. Before you leave, you’ll know how to look after it for the first few days and when we’ll see you next.
Soreness settles within about a week. The bone takes longer, fusing with the implant over 3–6 months, and longer again if the site needed preparation. We see you at reviews along the way. At each review we’ll tell you how it’s coming along, and when it’s ready for the final tooth.
We design the crown, bridge or denture that fits onto the implant. It’s made in a dental lab, so it’s fitted at a later visit, with a temporary in the meantime if you need one. This is where we talk about how it’ll look, how it’ll bite and how you’ll keep it clean.
We check the implant, the crown, your gums and your cleaning at regular visits, and adjust anything that shifts. Most adults come every 6–12 months. We’ll tell you if your implant needs a different interval.
Two people each missing one tooth can still need different preparation, different timing or a different kind of new tooth. It’s the mouth that decides, not the gap.
Gums, bone and the shape of your jaw
Gum disease is usually treated first. Sometimes the X-rays show the site needs a closer look or more bone before an implant can go in. A graft comes up for some people, but it’s never a given.
Your health, medicines and the new tooth
Your medical history, medicines, smoking, how many teeth are missing and where, and how easily you can clean the area all shape the risks, the timing and the order. Sometimes part of the treatment is referred elsewhere.
These answers are general. Which of them apply to you depends on what your dentist finds when they examine your teeth, gums and bone.
Usually several: a first visit with X-rays, sometimes a preparation step such as treating the gums or letting an extraction heal, the surgery itself, reviews while the implant fuses, then the crown stage. The crown is made in a lab, so that last stage takes more than one visit. We’ll map out your own sequence after we’ve examined you.
We start with what you want to replace and why. Then we examine your teeth, gums, jaw, bite and the soft tissue of your mouth, go through your medical and dental history, and take X-rays if they’re needed. We’ll talk about the alternatives too. If something is still unclear by the end, such as whether you’d need a graft, we’ll say so and explain how we’d find out.
Usually, yes. Our digital X-rays come up straight away and use less radiation than older film, and they show us the jaw so we can plan where the implant should sit. Not everyone needs the same images. We’ll tell you what each one is for and whether it changed the plan.
Sometimes. It comes down to the socket, any infection, how much bone is there and the plan for the new tooth. Otherwise it goes in a little later, or once the site has fully healed. We’ll explain which timing fits your mouth and what you’ll have in the gap while you wait.
Then a bone graft might come up. Whether you need one comes down to the site, how much bone there is and where, and the tooth being planned. A graft adds its own healing time, and it’s far from automatic.
It’s the word for bone growing around the implant and holding it firm. It’s much slower than the healing you can feel: the gum settles in days, the bone takes months. Your health, the site and any preparation all change the timing.
Once we’ve checked that the implant and the gum around it are ready. A small connector called an abutment, or a healing cap, usually goes on first, then the crown, bridge or denture is made in the lab and fitted. Some people wear a temporary tooth in the meantime.
Yes, and we’d want you to. A bridge, a denture, an implant or leaving the space alone can each make sense for different mouths. We’ll set out what each one involves, which teeth it leans on, how you clean it, how many stages it takes and what could change the cost.
Dental implant treatment involves surgery and can involve extra procedures. Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner. Results, risks, complications and recovery times vary between individuals. This page is general information and doesn’t replace advice from your dentist. Whether an implant suits you, the order of the stages, the timing, the cost and the design of the new tooth are confirmed only after your own examination.
