Implants

Dental implants are small pieces of titanium which are put into the bone and get locked in over time (usually about 3 months) and they are the best way to replace a missing tooth in most cases. Once solid in the bone the dental implant can have an attachment placed on it which can hold a dental crown or a piece which fixes a denture.

Dental implants are better than traditional methods of replacing teeth because they are a direct replacement for the root of a tooth. They preserve the bone in the area of the lost tooth and so the aesthetics are often better than a bridge over time.

The reason we get so excited about treatment with dental implants is we do not need to cause any damage to other teeth in the process of filling the gap, as you have to in making a bridge. A bridge links the two teeth together "splinting them" which means that you can struggle to keep the area clean. We can avoid this by giving you separate teeth, you can floss and this means that the other teeth will last longer too.

Sometimes dental implants are the only way of giving you
a fixed set of teeth as the gaps between natural teeth may be too big to span with a traditional bridge.

Quote Dr Alex McCubbin: "We do so many complex cases here at the practice, which are so exciting to me but if I could pick one time which gives me the most satisfaction it's seeing a patient for a review after replacing a full denture with implants. As humans we can learn to cope and adapt to so many things, and people can't believe they managed for so long with them, as worrying about the dentures was in the background of everything they did".