What to Expect From Your Dental Implant Procedure

Before the Procedure

Consultation

Before an implant even comes near your mouth, your Sydney implant dentist will need to examine you and make sure you’re a good candidate. A good candidate for dental implants is a non-smoker with healthy gums and good jaw bone density, among other things.

At this time, we’ll answer all your questions about dental implants, so don’t hesitate to ask. Based on the surgical details of your implant procedure, we’ll prepare a specific treatment plan and a comprehensive cost estimate. We can walk you through all the steps and every item on the estimate if you like. 

Once you feel you fully understand the procedure and its costs, we will start getting ready for the procedure. 

Preparation

While some dentists will start by taking x-rays and impressions, your Sydney implant dentist at My Hills Dentist takes the accuracy of your implants one step further with a comprehensive suite of 3D scans for our state-of-the-art digital dental implants. These scans allow the construction of a detailed, precise digital replica of your mouth. This model allows Dr. Lee to put together the best possible surgical plan and even perform mock surgeries to ensure that the procedure is efficient and accurate when your actual mouth enters the equation.

Finally, that model will be used to 3D print a surgical guide that will enable a fast, exact surgery.

Optional Preparations: Gum Disease Treatment and Bone Grafting

Some people need additional treatment steps before we can place dental implants. Gum disease is a threat to your dental implants, just as it’s a threat to your natural teeth. If you have serious gum disease, we will want to treat it before placing your dental implant(s). 

Dental implants depend on your natural bone for support. If you don’t have enough bone at an implant site, your Sydney implant dentist might recommend a bone graft. Using either artificial or natural materials, your implant dentist will encourage the growth of additional bone at the implant site. 

These additional treatment steps might take from a few months up to a year to complete, depending on your oral health. 

During the Procedure

Placing the Dental Implant

A traditional dental implant surgery will take between one and two hours. Luckily, thanks to that 3D-printed surgical guide, Dr. Lee can perform your implant surgery in approximately 15 minutes without even making an incision.

You will still be under anaesthesia, and you won’t feel any discomfort during the implant placement procedure. 

Immediate Restoration

In the past, dentists placed an implant or implants, then waited months before placing the restoration (a natural-looking dental crown or bridge). The logic was that the bone needed to heal before the implant could support a restoration. While you waited for the implant to heal, you had a gap in your smile and had to wear a denture or spacer to keep your teeth from drifting. 

However, the modern procedure used by the Sydney implant dentists at My Hills Dentist lets us proceed more quickly in most cases. Your implant dentist can provide your temporaries within a week, and some patients may even walk out of the office after their procedure with their smile completely restored.

We can do this because our detailed imagery lets us know when we are putting an implant in sturdy bone. Then we can test the stability of the implant once we place it. If it’s stable enough, the restoration will provide stimulation that improves bone healing. Stimulating the bone is one of the benefits of dental implants–we should take advantage of it from the beginning. 

Of course, in some cases, your implant might not be stable, and you have to follow the traditional procedure. 

After the Procedure

Normal Healing after Surgery

There are many components to the body’s healing response after surgery. Here are some of the things that you may experience that are perfectly normal:

• Bleeding–You will likely have a small amount of blood in your saliva for at least the first 24 hours after surgery. You can reduce it by gently biting down on a gauze pad over the implant site.
• Pain–After you get home, you may notice discomfort start as your anaesthesia wears off. You can begin taking over-the-counter pain medication at any time, according to the label or more specific instructions we give you.
• Swelling–This is normal and will likely increase for up to 48 hours after surgery. The application of an ice pack can help minimise swelling.

If you have excessive bleeding or if the bleeding persists, please contact your Sydney implant dentist. Also, contact us if you have excessive swelling, swelling that doesn’t go down after the first three days, or excessive pain that doesn’t respond to over-the-counter medication.

What You Should Do

In order to facilitate recovery from your dental implant surgery, you should follow all post-operative instructions carefully. Here are some things to be aware of:

• Medications–If you are prescribed medications, you must take them according to the instructions we gave you, especially antibiotics.
• Diet–Initially, you should eat a diet of soft foods, but you can progress to other foods as you feel comfortable.
• Hygiene–Brush and floss normally in the rest of your mouth, but stay away from the implant site at first. Make sure you rinse your mouth, and especially the implant site, with salt water and/or an antibacterial rinse we prescribed.

Again, you should contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

Start Your Dental Implant Procedure in Sydney

If well cared for, your dental implants can be a permanent solution to tooth loss. In fact, when kept in good condition, dental implants can last 30-50 years or more before needing to be replaced.

If you’re in the Sydney area and ready to try dental implants, call (02) 9686 7375 or contact us online to request an appointment at My Hills Dentist, located in Baulkham Hills near Crestwood Reserve.