Harbour Dental Care

27 High Street,
Ipswich, Suffolk
IP1 3HQ

Tel: 01473 253599
Fax: 01473 212680

Monday - Thursday
8:30am - 6.00pm

Friday
8:30am - 5.00pm

We are closed for lunch between 12.50pm-2.00pm every day.

Want to book an appointment? Or do you need some advice? Whatever your request, we’ll do our best to help you. Either call us on 01473 253599 or fill in the form below and we’ll call you back.

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For those have not visited us before our free verbal consultations are an opportunity to come in, meet the team and talk to the dentist. Just call us on 01473 253599 to arrange a suitable time.

Dental Implants

A dental implant is an artificial replacement for the root of a tooth, which supports a false tooth in place. The implant is a small metal rod which is anchored into a pre-drilled socket in the jaw bone. Titanium is used to make implants because it is well tolerated by bone and integrates easily with bone tissue – therefore the bone heals quickly and correctly around the implant.

Before any implants can be placed, it is important to have the health of your teeth and gums assessed by the dentist. If there are any signs of gum disease or decay, these must first be treated. After x-rays and tests to make sure your bone quality is suitable, the treatment course can be planned. If there is insufficient bone material to accommodate the implant, a bone graft may be required, or smaller-sized mini implants could be used if suitable.

There are often long periods of time between appointments, to enable the implants to heal and integrate with the bone tissue so that they can fully support the false teeth. It may take anything between six weeks to six months. During this “healing period”, patients are given temporary teeth (bridges) or continue to wear dentures, which won’t interfere or put pressure on the implants. Once the gum has healed around the implant, then the final restoration tooth can be fitted.

Alternatives to implants include dentures and bridges. However implants have several advantages:

• Reduced bone loss – if you lose a tooth there is usually a hole where the root should be, and the surrounding bone can slowly degrade and disappear. An implant in place of a lost tooth can actually stimulate bone growth and production, preventing this loss.
• Improved function – once fully integrated implants function just as well as your own natural teeth: you can eat the foods you want and speak with complete confidence. With dentures however there can be several problems; hard foods can be difficult to eat, and dentures can rub and cause soreness or irritation.
• Improved dental hygiene – implants can be cared for in the same way as you would care for your natural teeth, whereas dentures and bridges require special cleaning routines.
• No need to drill or remove any healthy tooth structure – teeth need to be ‘prepared’ for bridges and crowns, by removing healthy tooth from adjacent teeth so that the restoration can be fitted. However with an implant is independent of any other teeth so no healthy teeth need to be prepared at all.
• Better aesthetics - Dentures can come loose and look unnatural if they do not blend with your gums, and some bridges and dentures have unsightly metal clasps to hold them in place. If done correctly, a dental implant should be indistinguishable from your surrounding natural teeth.

Implants are suitable for people of almost all ages; it just requires a sufficient quantity and quality of bone tissue available. For more information on whether this would be an appropriate treatment for you, come in for a free consultation or give us a call.