Restorative

Affordable Implants

Replacing a missing tooth, root and all

An implant replaces the root of a missing tooth as well as the crown, which is why it holds up to chewing in a way a denture does not.

It is the longest of the treatments we offer, spread over months rather than weeks, because the bone has to grow onto the implant before the tooth goes on top. We quote the whole cost, staged across those months, before anything starts.

Why a tooth gets replaced at all

People lose teeth for all sorts of reasons: gum disease, decay that reached too far, a knock while playing sport, or an accident around the jaw. The dentists at Hocking Dental Care provide affordable dental implants in Perth, and we will quote the full cost, staged across the months the treatment takes, before you start.

What a gap does over time is less obvious than what it looks like. Neighbouring teeth tilt towards the vacancy, the tooth it used to bite against drifts out of its socket looking for contact, and the ridge beneath shrinks away for want of anything pressing on it. Ten years on, a straightforward gap has often become a bite problem, and the options for treating it have narrowed rather than widened.

That is the argument for deciding within a year or two rather than at leisure. It is not an argument for rushing into an implant specifically — a bridge or a partial denture may well be the better answer for you — but the decision itself gets more expensive the longer it waits.

What an implant is

An implant is a titanium post placed into the jaw, which the bone grows onto over several months, with a crown fitted on top once it has. Because the post takes the place of the root, the force of chewing goes into the bone the way it does with a natural tooth.

That has two consequences. Chewing feels closer to normal than it does with a denture, and the jaw bone under the gap keeps being loaded, which is what stops it shrinking away over the years. An implant also leaves the neighbouring teeth untouched, where a bridge requires crowning them.

Fixture: The titanium post itself, placed in the bone. This is the part that replaces the root.
Osseointegration: The months during which bone grows directly onto the surface of the fixture. It cannot be hurried, and it is the reason implant treatment is measured in months.
Abutment: The connector that screws into the fixture and passes through the gum, carrying the crown.
Crown: The tooth you see, made by a dental technician and fitted once the fixture is stable.

The timeline, month by month

Most of implant treatment is waiting. Very little of it is appointments.

Assessment
Examination, X-rays and usually an OPG — a single panoramic view of the whole jaw — to see how much bone is present and where the nerve and the sinus sit. This appointment decides whether an implant is possible at all, and it is worth having even if you end up choosing something else.
Preparation, if it is needed
Gum disease treated, a hopeless tooth removed and the socket allowed to heal, or a bone graft if there is not enough bone to hold a fixture. This stage is where timelines lengthen, and we will tell you at assessment whether you are likely to need it.
Placement
Placement happens in one visit, with the area fully numbed beforehand. Patients routinely report it was calmer than having a tooth taken out. There is usually some swelling for a few days.
Integration
A wait, usually three to six months, while the bone fuses to the implant. During that time the gap is covered by a temporary if it is somewhere visible. Nothing needs doing except keeping the area clean.
The crown
Once the implant is stable we take an impression and fit the crown. From then on it is cleaned like a natural tooth and reviewed at your six-monthly check-up like everything else.

The things that decide whether an implant will work

Worth going through honestly at the assessment rather than discovering later.

Factor	Why it matters	What can be done
Bone volume	A fixture needs bone to sit in. Bone shrinks under a gap, so a tooth lost twenty years ago often has less than one lost last year.	Grafting can build it back in many cases, which adds months and cost. The OPG at assessment shows what you are dealing with.
Gum health	Implants can develop the same kind of infection around them that teeth do, and it destroys the supporting bone in the same way.	Gum disease is treated and stabilised first. This is not a formality; it is the single largest risk factor.
Smoking	Smoking measurably reduces the chances of an implant integrating and raises the rate of later problems.	We will be straightforward with you about it rather than tactful. Stopping, even for the healing period, changes the odds.
Uncontrolled diabetes	Affects healing and infection risk.	Well-controlled diabetes is generally not a barrier. Poorly controlled diabetes is worth addressing first.
Grinding	Sustained heavy load on an implant crown can fracture components or the crown itself.	A night guard, and sometimes a different material choice for the crown.
Certain medications	Some bone medications, particularly those taken for osteoporosis, affect how bone heals after surgery.	Tell us everything you take at the assessment. It changes the plan rather than necessarily ruling anything out.

Looking after an implant

An implant cannot decay. It can still be lost, and almost always for the same reason a tooth is.

The titanium will not get a cavity. What it can get is peri-implantitis — inflammation of the gum and bone around it, driven by exactly the plaque that causes gum disease around natural teeth. Unlike a tooth, an implant has no periodontal ligament and rather less defence, so once bone loss starts around one it can progress faster than it would around a tooth.

Brush and floss it as you would any other tooth, with particular attention to where the crown emerges from the gum.
Interdental brushes are usually easier than floss around an implant crown, and we will size one for you.
Keep the six-monthly examinations. We check the gum around the implant, and X-rays every couple of years show the bone level, which is the measurement that matters.
Report any bleeding, swelling or tenderness around it promptly. Early peri-implantitis is treatable; advanced peri-implantitis often is not.
Wear a night guard if you grind.

Common questions