We recently published an article about how dental implants can improve your quality of life and certainly, if you’re looking to replace a missing tooth or teeth, dental implants are as close as modern dentistry can offer to the real deal.

Before you go ahead with dental implants, it’s important to do your research and feel confident about the dentist who will be carrying out your treatment.

To help you do this, we’ve put together five crucial questions we think everyone should ask before dental implants:

1. Who will place my implants?

Here at Blossom Dental Care & Implant Studio, all dental implants are placed by our clinical director and implant dentist, James Harrison. James is an experienced implantologist with a high success rate for implants. He is also a member of the ADI (Association of Dental Implantology), the largest organisation in the UK dedicated to improving the standards of implant dentistry.

2. Can you show me before and after photos of similar cases?

We will certainly be happy to show you before and after images of similar cases, where patients have given consent for their images to be shared. If you are looking for dental implants in Wetherby or the surrounding area, we would be happy to discuss our experience with you.

3. Do you offer any kind of guarantee/warranty?

We are so certain of the quality and craftsmanship of our dental work that we are happy to guarantee dental implants for 10 years. We are one of only a handful of practices in the UK currently offering this guarantee.

We ask that you attend a minimum of two hygiene sessions each year following the completion of your treatment and that you follow the recommended maintenance programme.

4. What is the average healing time for this procedure?

The healing time after dental implants depends, in part, on the number of implants you’ve had and where in the mouth they are placed. Many people find that they can continue with life as usual within a day or two of having a single implant, although there may be some discomfort that can be managed with painkillers. If you have multiple implants, it may take seven to 14 days for your gums to fully heal.

Once your gums have healed, it will typically take four to six months for the jaw bone to strengthen or ossify around an implant. Once your implants are secure, we can then make a minor incision into your gum to fit an abutment to each implant. The prosthetic tooth then attaches to this abutment.

5. How long will it be until I have the final teeth?

As outlined above, dental implant treatment can take approximately four to seven months. We may need to carry out other treatments to ensure that you are orally fit first, in which case we would explain all of this before going ahead so that you understand and are happy with the time frame.

Other questions

Our advice is to write down any questions you have in advance of your initial dental implants appointment and subsequent follow-up appointments. You might also want to ask who will be building your final browns, bridge or implant-retained dentures, how many types of implant cases the dentist has completed in the past 12 months, the most common complication, the type of implant being placed, and what your options are for wearing as a temporary restoration before your final teeth are fitted.

If you would like to find out more about dental implants in Wetherby, and whether they are the right choice for you, please call us at Blossom Dental Care & Implant Studio on 01904 653 356.