Are Dental Implants Painful To Have?

Implant dentist, Dr Hiten Pabari, puts your fears to rest.

More and more people are now aware of dental implants and increasingly, we are receiving more enquiries about this procedure than we have in the past.

The reality is that nobody wants to lose a tooth, and especially when it is one of the visible teeth at the front of the mouth. Most patients are cautious about using dentures to replace the missing tooth though, due to their sometimes unstable nature, and a wobbly front tooth is not a good look! With dental implants, this problem is eradicated as we will explain later.

At Blue Sky Dental, we want our patients to have the best treatment possible, and, for patients that are suitable candidates for dental implants, this is considered to be the best way to replace a missing tooth, or teeth. Despite this, some patients do have genuine concerns about the nature of the procedure, sometimes fueled by exaggerated cases that they may have read about. In today’s blog, we attempt to answer one of the main concerns we often hear about this treatment; namely, is it really painful to have it?

Planning the procedure

Placing a dental implant means precision. It is also important that the implant is placed into an already healthy mouth in order to minimise the risk of infections such as peri-implantitis. Before any treatment starts, we will have a full consultation with you where the treatment will be discussed. We will also assess the available bone structure to determine whether the implant can be placed immediately or requires a prior bone graft. Scans and x-rays will be used in order to determine the exact placing of the titanium implant, taking into consideration important factors such as the position of nerves etc. If, during your pre-procedural examination, we discover issues such as gingivitis, this will be treated before your procedure can take place.

Anaesthetic

As the fear of painful treatment is one of the things that deters some patients from having dental implants, it is worth reminding our Chelmsford patients that modern anaesthetics are very powerful indeed. Whilst we accept that you are unlikely to actually ‘enjoy’ any invasive treatment, pain is unlikely. You may experience some discomfort but this should be manageable. In reality, it is often the anticipation of pain, rather than any actual physical pain, that people tend to experience.

On the day of the procedure

Once you are comfortably seated in our treatment room, we will ask if you have any last minute questions or concerns before the treatment starts. You will then be given a local anaesthetic and the treatment area allowed to fully numb before we commence.

To place the implant, we will first create a flap in the gum so that we can access the jawbone. Using a fine high speed dental drill, aided by scans for precision, a small hole will then be placed into the bone in the jaw. This may sound a little scary, but you should experience no more discomfort than you might with some other invasive procedures. Once the hole has been made, your high quality titanium implant will be placed into it. This is the only real invasive part of the treatment and is soon completed.

As you might expect; as the anaesthetic wears off, there is likely to be some residual discomfort in the area where the implant has been placed. In most cases, this should be manageable by using your usual painkillers. In the rare event that you experience a higher degree of pain, or if it lasts for more than a few days, please do get in touch with us so that we can check that everything is in order.

The healing time, where the implant and bone fuse, takes around three months and it will be necessary for you to take particularly good care during this period. We will provide comprehensive advice for you following your treatment and we are always on hand if you have any questions or concerns.

Post osseointegration

Once the bone and implant have fused (osseointegration), the rest is relatively straightforward. An abutment is first of all attached to the titanium implant, and a dental crown then attached to that to finalise the treatment. In some cases, minor surgery may be needed to place the abutment as the gum will need to be opened to access the implant. You will be given a local anaesthetic for this, but it is a minor and straightforward part of the procedure.

Once this last part of the treatment has taken place, your procedure is over and you will have a strong and secure tooth replacement that can last for twenty years or more.

All in all, the vast majority of our Chelmsford dental patients who have had this procedure have told us that it was nowhere near as bad as they had anticipated. Fear can be a powerful thing and we are more than happy to talk our patients through the procedure, answering any questions that they may have, so that they can receive the most effective treatment to replace their missing tooth – and with minimal discomfort.

If you have a missing tooth, or perhaps a partial denture that is unstable, why not contact Blue Sky Dental to see if you are a suitable candidate for implant placement? You can arrange a no obligation free, non clinical consultation with one of our team by calling us on 01245 211070 in Chelmsford.