When investing in your appearance, whether its a gym membership, cosmetic surgery or even dentistry, we at Clapham South Dental Centre know that you want that investment to be worthwhile. You will also want it to last for as long as possible and with dental implant surgery, your overall oral health and smile aesthetics is our top priority by giving you a new healthy set of teeth that can last 20 years to a lifetime.

What are implants?

A dental implant is a titanium post or screw that is surgically fitted into and fuses with the bone of the jaw or skull to support a false tooth like a crown, bridge, or denture. This fusion that occurs with modern dental implants in Clapham is called osseointegration and is a natural biological process, titanium is something that bones love to attach to as they grow so it is the best material dentists can use for this procedure.

What is the process?

The process from beginning to end is a long one but well worth it, dental implants in Clapham may first require that a decayed or broken tooth be removed; the socket where the root fits into the jaw must be empty and cleaned out before the implant cant be placed.

The tooth extraction and the implant procedure is performed under local anaesthetic so you will not feel anything and after the extraction is complete, your dentist will decide if you will need a bone graft to ensure a solid base is present which is necessary for the implant to fit into. If the bone graft turns out to be a long procedure, you may need to wait 2-6 months for the area to heal properly before the actual implant surgery but if there’s enough bone, to begin with, your dentist can place the implants immediately.

By using specialised equipment, your dentist will place the titanium implant into the bone of your jaw or skull after which the gum is stitched up. Then you are sent home to heal before your next appointment but not before a temporary denture is placed in the gap to ensure your smile still looks good during the healing process. Depending on the quality of your bone, healing time can take 2-6 months, but the process will make the implant strong enough to fit a false tooth to without risking damage.

Benefits

When our natural teeth are missing or have to be taken out because of decay, there is nothing left for the jawbone to hang onto therefore there is nothing to encourage new bone growth; your body can sense this and it simply begins to dissolve away. This is a natural part of ageing but results in the rapid deterioration of the facial structure making you look much older than you actually are as your lips and teeth seem to fold in, wrinkles develop around the mouth and even your chin shape changes but with dental implants in Clapham at the right time, you can take years off your smile by reforming the original structure.