Dental Implants

The first appointment is diagnostic rather than surgical. A CBCT scan captures the bone in three dimensions — height, width, density and the exact position of the sinus and nerve — and an intraoral scan records the shape of the surrounding teeth and bite. Those two datasets are merged into a single planning file, which is where the decision gets made: whether there is enough bone to place an implant now, whether grafting comes first, and exactly what length and diameter of implant the site will accept.

Surgery day is shorter than most patients expect. The site is numbed (with IV or oral sedation if you've chosen it), a printed surgical guide is seated over the teeth, and the implant is placed through the guide at the planned angle and depth. In a straightforward single-site case, the placement itself takes roughly 30 to 45 minutes. Most patients describe pressure and vibration rather than pain, and you go home the same appointment with a small suture line and written aftercare instructions.

The implant then integrates with the bone over the following months. During that period the site is checked at short follow-up visits, and a temporary tooth is used where the gap is visible. Once integration is confirmed, an abutment is connected and the final crown — designed from your digital scan — is fitted and adjusted to the bite.

Days one to three are the peak of swelling and tenderness, managed with ice, over-the-counter anti-inflammatories in most cases, and soft foods. Most people take a day off work and return to normal desk activity the next day. Days four to seven bring the swelling down noticeably and the gum tissue begins to close; strenuous exercise is usually reintroduced at the end of the first week.

By two weeks the soft tissue has healed and sutures are removed or have dissolved. Discomfort at this stage is unusual. What continues invisibly is osseointegration — bone growing into the implant's surface — which typically takes three to six months depending on bone quality, whether grafting was needed, and which jaw was treated. Lower-jaw sites often integrate faster than upper-jaw sites.

Smoking, uncontrolled diabetes and clenching all extend this timeline, which is why they get addressed in planning rather than discovered afterward.

Freehand implant placement relies on the surgeon's judgment at the moment of drilling. Guided placement moves that judgment into the planning stage, where it can be checked against the CBCT before anyone picks up an instrument — and then reproduced by a guide printed to that plan.

Practically, this means the implant can be positioned to use the strongest available bone and stay clear of the nerve and sinus, which is often the difference between needing a graft and not needing one. It also means the crown is designed around the implant position from the start, so the final tooth emerges at the right angle instead of being compensated for later.