By Dr. Azim Malik Specialist Periodontist and Implant Surgeon

DENTAL IMPLANT PROCEDURE

The first thing to say is that an implant is the closest thing you're going to get to a natural tooth. It's a titanium screw that's embedded into the bone.

The bone usually accepts it.

And then on top you make a ceramic, or metal ceramic, restoration that looks like a tooth.

And when you chew, it doesn't move.

Dental implant complications

It's a bit of engineering.

And, so long as you look after it, it can function quite well and work well for you.

Like anything, it can fail and it will have a lot of complications.

And the complications around implants are much more difficult to handle than complications around teeth.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DENTAL IMPLANTS

So what I tell my patients is the best implant you're going to get is the one that nature has already given you, which is the tooth. So you try and save the tooth as much as you can wherever possible.

And where you can't win the battle, you extract the tooth and then that patient can become a candidate for an implant.

Now, if you have gum disease or you have had gum disease, you can lose teeth.

And implants were made for patients who have lost teeth.

Gum disease and dental implants

Unfortunately, however, patients who've lost teeth as a result of gum disease – although they’re candidates for dental implants – are also the worst candidates for dental implants.

And that’s because you can actually get gum disease around dental implants.

And that becomes extremely difficult to manage.

And that’s my specialty because that's what I do most of the time.

Benefits of dental implants

In terms of transformations in their lives after implants, I think patients can expect very good aesthetic results.

They can also expect to have good function – they can expect to chew steak with implants.

They can expect to live their normal lives and be able to smile.

These are certainly the things most people come looking for and also what they get.

I mean, that's certainly what most people come looking for and get.