Dental implants Harley Street have long been a goal in dentistry with more than 100 years put into their research and development. Just before the first world war, the cage implant was tested; this mesh of iridion with a crown affixed upon it was inserted into the gum in order to replace teeth. Although groundbreaking for the time it was fundamentally unsuccessful.
It wasn’t until work in the 1950s showed how titanium could form a tight bond with bone in a process known as osseointegration that the modern dental implant was truly conceivable. Even then, the act of implanting it was considered the role of a specialist oral surgeon and primarily occurred in hospitals due to the need of a fully operating theatre.
Dental implants Harley Street are no longer performed that way and we regularly carry out implantation in our clinic in Harley Street. The dental implants we use come in two pieces with three distinct components. First the titanium component known as the dental implant that resides completely beneath the gum line, interacts with the jawbone and is essentially a metal screw that acts like an artificial root. Next upon this is a connector and then a prosthetic tooth, which may be temporarily locked onto the end of the titanium implant.
Implantation techniques require only local anaesthetic and although dental implanting is not part of standard dental training, all of our staff who offer it have additional qualifications in implant technology, followed up with significant experience in performing dental implants in the clinic.
How are they fitted?
In the first stage of implanting, the gum is opened and a retaining implant is either placed in a vacant socket, or a new one is drilled if the tooth that is being replaced has been missing for some time and its socket is now closed.
Once the implant is in place, we replace the gum over the implant and either glue or stitch it into place. This allows the soft tissues of the gum to hold the implant still and shield it from being disturbed as it forms close integration with the bone. The time it takes for this integration to occur depends on your rate of bone growth.
After the integration of the implant into the jawbone has been confirmed with an X-ray, a session can be booked to load the implant. During this session, the gum will be reopened and the prosthetic will be fitted via the connector to the end of the implant. As this is only done once the implant is fully integrated into the jaw, there is no risk of the implant becoming crooked or twisted in its socket; it should be fully usable within a few days of the loading.
Long-term care of dental implants
One of the best features of dental implants Harley Street is that their long term care is entirely comparable to your natural teeth; they only require simple brushing and flossing. With the standard 6-monthly check-up at our clinic, it can become second nature to see your implant as just another tooth and for many of our patients this is one of the greatest benefits of dental implants over removable bridges or dentures.