DENTAL IMPLANTS IN CHERMSIDE

Dental implants are one of the most exciting things to have happened to the Dental Profession over the last 25 years. When I was studying at Dental School, I went on an elective study abroad to Japan, and did a project on their studies into dental implants. Indeed King’s College Dental Hospital in 1986, where I trained, were at that time starting to place titanium dental implants invented by Brannemark.

I have chosen to use Nobel Biocare’s titanium dental implants, because they have the longest research history and track record. These implants are among the most expensive on the market, but are definitely the implants that I would want to have placed in my mouth after all my studies. There are many brands of implants on the market that are cheaper but it never pays to compromise on cost. https://www.nobelbiocare.com/content/patient/au/en/home.html

All those years ago Professor Branemark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per-Ingvar_Br%C3%A5nemark discovered that pure titanium is biocompatible, that is bone and connective tissue actually join onto the surface of a prepared titanium surface and treats it as body tissue!

In the surgery, under local anaesthetic we prepare a ‘socket’ in the bone and shape it to receive the titanium ‘root analogue’. This is usually buried under the gum for at least three months and then later exposed once more and a healing connector placed and the gum replaced around it. After a short time a crown can be placed on the implant and “hey presto” you have a fully functioning ‘new tooth’!

It is important to note that any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. We see you for consultation appointments before any implant surgery to discuss the process, and to help you understand that we do all we can to minimize these risks and to make the procedure as straightforward as possible.