Implants

How Dental Implants Work

Dental implants have been used successfully for the last 40 years. Implants are like substitute tooth roots, except they are made from titanium (which is biocompatible) and are carefully placed into the jawbone to support artificial teeth.

Dental implants integrate entirely within human bone; living bone grows around the titanium surface to fix them firmly in place. These implants can then be used to support fixed crowns and bridges. They can replace one tooth or up to a whole arch of missing teeth. They can also be used to stabilise a loose or uncomfortable denture.

How Dental Implants Work
Bristol-Dental-Implants-Cost

Replacing a Single Tooth

Replacing a single missing tooth with an implant is a hugely successful procedure at the The Bristol Dental Practice. Treatment is highly conservative as it is not necessary to prepare neighbouring teeth to support bridges, and the implant tooth can be looked after just like your own natural teeth. The implant restoration (crown) itself is usually made with a combination of computer-aided design and 3D manufacturing technologies (in Sweden), and then hand finished by our dental laboratory technicians (in Torquay) to produce a beautiful natural looking final tooth.

Replacing Several Teeth

Groups of missing teeth can be replaced with bridgework supported by dental implants. For example, two implants can support a bridge replacing three or four teeth, with more implants added if the biting forces are particularly heavy, or a larger bridge is required.

Once again, treatment is highly conservative as it is not necessary to prepare natural teeth to support bridgework. The implant construction simply replaces the missing teeth without further compromising any remaining teeth. We use state of art 3D imaging, software simulations and guided surgery to assist with planning and implant positioning.

Dental-Implants-Practice-Bristol

Why Choose The Bristol
Dental Practice?

7-Days-new

Open 7 Days

We are Bristol’s
only 7 day dental
practice

Evenings-new

Evenings and
Weekends

We are available
when it suits you

payment-options-new

Payment
Options

Interest free finance
available

Specialists-new

Specialists

Highly trained multidisciplinary
team of dentists

Experienced-new

Experienced

Established for over
35 years

Implant Retained Dentures

Removable dentures are used as prosthetic replacements for lost teeth, and to provide support to the lips and face when underlying bone has also been lost. Using dental implants to retain dentures offers increased stability, comfort, retention and helps to retain your jawbone, thereby supporting an attractive and full facial profile.

With assistance from our exceptional technicians, we will meticulously construct your new dentures to complement your facial features. Typically, dentures rest on the gums and hook around remaining teeth. However, dentures will usually adversely affect these neighbouring tissues until eventually more teeth are lost. The jawbone under the gums loses bulk, and the gum covering the jaw reduces in quality. As these supporting tissues are degraded, the dentures become more unstable and uncomfortable to wear.

Your gums were never designed to support dentures. Placing implants to support and retain a denture will offer increased stability, improving comfort, retention, but most importantly helping to retain the jawbone. We believe that providing dental implants to support full dentures should ideally be the standard of care we would like to offer all our patients – although when teeth are still present, a partial denture may also be an effective way to replace a few missing teeth.

An important advantage of implant retained dentures is that good oral hygiene is easy to maintain. Brushing and flossing around implants is simple once the denture or bridge has been removed. This may be important where access is problematic, for example where there is a lot of bone loss, or when a patient has limited dexterity.

How Dental Implants Work

See some of our cases,
before and after

How Dental Implants WorkHow Dental Implants Work
How Dental Implants WorkHow Dental Implants Work

Referrals for dental implants

We’re always happy to receive referrals for any of our dental services, we treat routine to very complex cases and we also help extremely nervous patients who require sedation in order to access dental treatment.

How Dental Implants Work