The questions patients actually ask.

So I think the number one myth about implants is people actually think it's going to be really scary procedures go through, very painful, quite daunting, which you can totally understand it's the fear of the unknown. When you think about it on the face value it could be quite scary but we make sure patients are completely numb, completely comfortable, we look after them, so actually most people walk out thinking it's much better than they expected it was going to be.

Does getting an implant hurt? And that is a great question, patients are obviously scared about dentistry in general, particularly about the thought of implants and having something put into the bone, which you can totally understand, but in a word, no. It's very often easier to numb a patient for an implant than it is to take a tooth out or to do a root canal or a deep filling, for instance. So actually it's a much more straightforward procedure.

Can you be too old for an implant? In a word, no. It normally comes down to other things such as bone volume, medication can be a big one, some medications people are taking. If they're a real chronic smoker they're going to be a high-risk patient, uncontrolled diabetes can be high-risk, but age isn't a barrier itself. We have to look at the whole patient and case as general and look at other risk factors that might influence on implant treatment.

So what's the best option to replace for instance a single missing tooth? Okay that's a great question. So there's always three main options. The first one's going to be a denture and that's really simple to do, can be very quick, can be easy, it's non-invasive, relatively low cost as well. But the major drawbacks are it's very bulky, it's going to move, it's going to trap food, it's going to affect how you can speak and taste and really appreciate the temperature and texture of your food. You've also got to take it out all the time for cleaning which isn't a great thing to have to do all the time. A bridge can be a great fixed option and it often means cutting down the tooth either side of the gap which we don't really want to do. Now in some cases that could be preferred — if a patient's got a crown on the tooth either side already then simply taking those two crowns off and doing a bridge across the gap can be a much lower cost quicker option. Also in cases where there's a real lack of bone or particular medical issues then a bridge or a denture might be a good option. Having said all that, in the vast majority of cases I would prefer an implant. It's a single fixed tooth, this is close to giving you back your own tooth as possible without being detrimental to the other teeth.

Every patient needs to know that whatever situation they're in, however bad they feel their dental condition is, whatever they've been told in the past, we have options to treat them. Whether that's with implants, multiple implants, dentures, implant-retained dentures, all on four, or using more complex procedures such as zygomatic implants, where there's a lack of bone at the back to still be able to give fixed teeth. It's incredibly rare there's a case that we can't treat, so it's really important everyone understands that and ideally comes in for a consultation.

So all on four, broken down into a few basic points. It basically means all the teeth on four implants. In reality, it can be four, five, six, seven, eight, maybe. And when we say all teeth, it's most of the teeth in one jaw. We try and provide as many teeth as possible, depending on your smile, your need for function, and how much bone you have.

So all-on-four dental treatment, the transformation it can provide for you is taking a patient from a real failing dentition or no teeth at all to an immediate set of fixed temporary beautiful straight teeth.

What are zygomatic implants? Okay, so these are highly specialized implants, much longer implants used to anchor into dense areas of bone that may be slightly further away from the jawbone. So this is often where patients have been told there's no bone at the back so they can't have implants. Actually, we can avoid those areas, bypass them, put longer implants in and still get the strong implant on the day of surgery to give fixed teeth. You can utilize them in small areas for smaller bridges, but mainly it's used for a full set of teeth." act 2 "What are the benefits of zygomatic implants? So the biggest one is to avoid areas where there's no bone. Now in the past you might have to do significant bone grafting like sinus lifting, place lots of bone graft and wait six months before you can even place an implant, even then maybe not put fixed teeth on the same day. But now we can place a zygomatic implant on the same day avoiding the area where there's no bone, still get really great stability and still give you fixed teeth." act 3 "One of the big pros of zygomatic implants is being able to avoid some steps beforehand and that's to reduce the number of surgical appointments, reduce the healing time, reduce discomfort, reduce the overall length of treatment, avoid bone grafting, sometimes reducing cost as well and still giving fixed teeth on the same day.

So what does the consultation actually involve? So it's gonna depend whether you're a previous patient of mine or not. Obviously, if I know you're ready, then it's gonna be a much more straightforward process. We've already met, we've already talked, we've already had treatment probably in the past, so it's a more simple process. But we'll go through the pros and cons of each option, analyse the area, look at your options, and see what you're trying to gauge out of treatment. We'll then look at doing imaging, so normally 3D x-rays to measure the bone, and potential 3D scans of the teeth and gums themselves, so we can then combine those two things together to start planning the case for you. If you're a new patient of mine, then obviously we do all those things as well, but it's really important to meet each other and try and find out what makes each other tick, build a rapport, try and get that friendship and that trust before we then move on to treatment.

Patients often ask me how long an implant will last and that's a really difficult question to answer. Now, I always say there's two aspects to this. The first side is to think about the actual implant itself and whatever tooth we put on top of that implant. So, to combat that we make sure we use really strong implants, thick implants, a really strong crown material so it's not going to break, and more importantly a great connection between the two as well. The second probably more important side of things is actually the biological side and that is down to the patient's bone and their gum health. That's bone volume, bone quality and also gum health and gum volume as well. Patients with thick tough gums and much more suitable for implants than people with really thin gums. They're much more tendency to recede or shrink away over time.