Dr Rick Lazar – Prosthodontist

Dental implants can be used to replace one, several or all of the missing teeth.

Whilst implants are not teeth they are usually the next best thing to having your own natural tooth/teeth.  Implants consist of a titanium post (i.e. anchor) which is placed within the jaw and a crown or bridge which is attached to the implant.

The crowns or bridges are similar to crowns or bridges on natural teeth, with several advantages:

• they are usually screwed in place onto the implant and cannot be dislodged;
• unlike teeth they cannot decay;
• they help maintain the existing bone and gum levels in a similar way to a natural tooth;
• unlike bridges they also leave the other teeth untouched and thus they do not compromise them.

Implants also have the highest success rate for tooth replacement of any treatment modality in dentistry.

Bridges v Implants

In our range of treatment options we utilise both bridges and implants, so once your case has been assessed we can provide the best solution for your individual requirements. We also discuss your needs and goals with you in detail so you will be able to make an informed decision regarding your final treatment plan.

In a large number of cases we are able to carry out the implant treatment such that you will receive a temporary crown or bridge – this is usually within a day or so for smaller cases or within a week or so for larger cases. Once the implant(s) has fused to the jaw bone we will construct the final restoration. This is usually a few months later.

Often the implant treatment can be carried out in stages over a period of time and this can also be helpful for some people in terms of making payments over a number of instalments.