Dental implants

Restored function

You can expect to regain the ability to chew firmly, even on harder foods. Chewing well matters for your overall health, including brain activity and mood.

Restored sensation

Dentures and bridges can feel like a foreign object in the mouth, whereas an implant’s bite and sensation are close to your own teeth, so you can enjoy food more.

No tooth decay

Tooth decay happens when acid from decay-causing bacteria dissolves the enamel. An implant is made from a hard material, so it will never decay.

Natural, attractive appearance

You can aim for a natural look, one that is almost impossible to tell from a real tooth.

Little day-to-day care

Beyond everyday brushing, it needs regular maintenance at the dental clinic, but unlike dentures, there is no removing or disinfecting it, which makes hygiene easier to manage.

No effect on healthy teeth

Bridges and dentures both place a load on your remaining teeth. Implant treatment works only at the site of the missing tooth, so it can be carried out without adding any load to your other teeth.

Requires surgery

Because it involves surgery, it places a corresponding load on the body, so depending on your health, this treatment may not always be suitable.

Takes time

Besides the surgery, you will need several visits for extractions and other procedures, and osseointegration takes at least two months. Treatment inevitably takes a long time to complete.

Costs money

Implant treatment is not covered by public health insurance, so it is paid for privately, and because it involves surgery, it comes at a cost. You can use the medical expense deduction or a dental loan.

Maintenance

Finishing treatment is not the end — regular maintenance is the most important part. Please come in for regular check-ups so we can confirm your bite and how stable the implant is, and prevent problems such as peri-implantitis.

Failure to integrate

Even the most skilled dentist can encounter this. In most cases it is caused by a strong external force before osseointegration is complete, or by bacterial infection or smoking. Because it is a technically demanding treatment, the bone and implant can occasionally fail to fuse due to the implant position or damage during surgery, leading to looseness or loss. To avoid this, you can rely on Hamille’s experience and track record.

Pain, swelling or numbness that does not go away

This is usually thought to be caused by bacterial infection or pressure on a nerve, so it matters that you are treated at a clinic with strict hygiene control and access to detailed diagnosis such as a CT scan.

Risks from human error

Damage to a nerve or blood vessel, nerve paralysis, perforation into the maxillary sinus causing inflammation, or failure to integrate leading to looseness or loss of the implant

Cause 1 — the treatment plan was not based on a detailed height examination and diagnosis using CT

Countermeasure 1
First, check whether the clinic has CT equipment. You should also discuss things fully with your dentist — the thickness and shape of the bone, and whether the length the implant needs can be secured — and, after hearing the risks for each treatment site, decide whether you accept them before deciding whether to go ahead. In the lower jaw, the inferior alveolar nerve, a large nerve, runs through the bone, so when drilling for the implant it is essential to avoid the mental foramen (where the nerve and blood vessel exit) to prevent nerve or vessel damage. In the upper jaw, perforating into the maxillary sinus cavity can damage the sinus lining and cause sinusitis. Sinusitis brings symptoms such as a blocked nose, discharge, pain below the eyes and a heavy feeling in the head, so it is essential to fully assess bone density and whether there is enough bone to avoid entering the sinus by mistake.

Cause 2 — insufficient experience or skill on the dentist’s part can lead to errors in implant position or angle, or insufficient irrigation during drilling can leave the bone in a burn-like state, so it fails to integrate and becomes loose or falls out early.

Countermeasure 2
Be sure to choose a dentist with both experience and skill. This is hard to judge from outside, but check how many cases the dentist handles each year and what risks are involved, and choose one who explains things clearly and whom you feel you can trust. For more than 30 years, our clinic has drawn on extensive experience and a solid track record to provide careful, considered treatment.

Risk of loss (causes other than human error)

Once osseointegration is complete, an implant should let you chew firmly, but sometimes it fails to integrate and becomes loose or is lost.

Cause 1 — a range of factors, such as a strong force from teeth grinding or clenching before osseointegration is complete, or smoking or bacterial infection.

Countermeasure 1
If the implant is lost because it failed to integrate, we will redo the surgery free of charge. We also offer a 10-year warranty, so please check whether your clinic offers this kind of guarantee after treatment.

Cause 2 — neglecting home care and regular maintenance can lead to bacterial infection, causing peri-implantitis, which gradually dissolves the surrounding bone and eventually leads to loss of the implant.

Countermeasure 2
Implant treatment does not end when the surgery is finished. An implant itself cannot decay, but inflammation can still develop around it if the mouth is not kept clean. Having gone to the trouble of getting an implant, home care and regular maintenance at the dental clinic both matter for making it last. Choose a clinic that explains aftercare clearly before treatment and that you can keep visiting easily over the long term.

Appearance risk (mainly in front teeth)

The implanted tooth can look longer than the others, or the metal post can show through and look dark.

Cause 1 — gum recession from brushing habits or peri-implantitis can make the implant more visible, and this can also happen when the bone or gum is too thin.

Countermeasure 1
Do not brush too hard — take proper care of your teeth yourself, and visit the dental clinic regularly to keep your mouth clean. If the cause is insufficient thickness, we graft the amount of bone and gum tissue the implant needs.

Other

〇Please do not undergo implant treatment during pregnancy, if you may be pregnant, or while breastfeeding.

〇Because surgery places a load on the body, this treatment may not always be suitable, depending on conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or osteoporosis. Please also be sure to tell us if you are taking blood pressure medication or an anticoagulant.

〇Depending on the hygiene of your mouth, we may first need you to improve your habits or complete treatment to bring your mouth to a clean state.

〇You may experience pain, swelling, bruising, a foreign-body sensation or bleeding after surgery, but in most cases this settles within a few days.

〇If you have any of the following underlying conditions, please consult your dentist beforehand
: circulatory conditions (ischaemic heart disease, hypertension, congenital heart disease, infective endocarditis, etc.), respiratory conditions (bronchial asthma, aspirin-induced asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, etc.), digestive conditions (liver dysfunction, kidney dysfunction, gastric or duodenal ulcer, etc.), metabolic and endocrine conditions (diabetes, osteoporosis, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, adrenal disorders, etc.), psychiatric conditions (schizophrenia, depression, etc.), cerebrovascular disease (cerebral infarction, cerebral haemorrhage, etc.), autoimmune conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, etc.), allergic conditions (metal allergy, drug allergy), specific infections (HBV, HCV, HIV, etc.), medication-related concerns (patients on bisphosphonates, steroids or antithrombotic therapy, etc.), and other patients with a past history of head and neck cancer or radiotherapy

〇Other occasional reactions: neurogenic shock, hyperventilation syndrome, local anaesthetic toxicity, local anaesthetic allergy, altered sensation, subcutaneous bleeding, swelling, pain, and so on.

Implant case 1

This patient had a tooth extracted after it fractured. Wanting to chew firmly again, they chose implant treatment for the second-to-last tooth. As there was little bone, we first placed a bone graft material to build up the bone needed, then carried out the treatment.