Dental Implants

Following your dental implant fixture placement, you’ll be given detailed instructions about how to take care of the surgical site to keep it comfortable and to promote healing.

Instructions provided to you by your dentist will be specific for you, and should be followed even if they differ from the information posted on this page.

Please note that this post-surgical care information contains general guidelines only. If you are unsure of how to proceed, please call the practice for specific instructions.

The surgical site will need time to heal, so you need to avoid doing anything that is likely to disturb or put pressure on this area.

• For the first few days, it’s wise to stick to a soft diet, avoiding hot, crunchy or sticky foods.
• Later in the week, you can eat more solid foods, but avoid chewing hard, crunchy or sticky foods on the side that has just had surgery
• If food does settle in the surgical area, remove it gently, without disturbing the surgical site. You might find gentle rinsing is the best approach.
• Your dentist may recommend a warm salt-water rinse in the first few days. Rinse gently, not vigorously. You may also be given a syringe to help you direct the saltwater gently onto the surgical site.
• If you have stitches in place, please avoid doing anything that is likely to pull or snag them.
• Your dentist will remove these in about one week.
• Maintain normal tooth-cleaning activities on teeth distant from the surgical site. Your dentist will probably suggest that you avoid brushing and flossing close to the surgical site until you have returned for your 1-week review appointment.
• Once the surgical site has closed over and the stitches have been removed, you can eat, drink and clean normally

• If your dentist has prescribed antibiotics, please take them according to directions and please complete the full course.
• Your dentist will recommend over-the-counter analgesics (pain killers) for pain management.
• Please take these only as recommended.
• If you are experiencing severe or significant pain, please contact your dentist.
• Never use another person’s prescribed analgesics

• Severe pain
• Swelling of any kind
• Persistent bleeding
• The appearance of pus or other signs of infection

One of the most frequent questions we receive about dental implants is “how much do dental implants cost?”. The honest answer is, “That depends.”

We can, of course, provide a ballpark figure over-the-phone if dental implants are on your radar. But each individual’s case has the potential to be unique, and final costs vary greatly from person to person.

It is impossible to give an accurate estimate without the individual attending the practice for a consultation.

Situations which may increase the cost of a dental implant placement include;

• The number of fixtures required
• Whether any special fixtures or abutments will be needed
• The type of prosthesis that will be placed onto the fixture/s
• Whether additional treatments are required to prepare the surgical site for fixture placement (for example, will the site need a bone graft so that there’s enough bone to hold the fixture firmly in place?)
• Whether a specialist’s involvement will be required for one or more parts of treatment
• Whether additional services are required after the dental implant is finished (for example, the construction of a nightguard to protect implant/s and teeth from the forces of clenching and grinding)

It’s often helpful to know that, since implants are placed in several stages, the fee is split into several corresponding stages, so you won’t need to pay for the service up front all at once.

If you are considering a dental implant to replace one or more missing teeth, please call the practice to make an appointment for a consultation.

Once again, it depends.

Dental insurance policies vary quite a lot when it comes to coverage of services relating to the placement and maintenance of dental implants.

If you are considering dental implants, we can provide you with an estimate of fees and the associated item numbers after the consultation and planning process. To find out how much your insurance policy will cover, you can take the list of item numbers and ask your insurer to let you know your likely out-of-pocket payment.

We have HICAPs facilities in our rooms, and can process your claim for you as you pay for each stage of treatment.