Dental Implant Types, Options & Costs
Have one or missing teeth? Exploring dental implants as a treatment option. Well, there are plenty of types and brands to explore – and the world of implant dentistry can get confusing, especially as several implant systems are dedicated to certain missing teeth cases.
We’ll explain and walk you through them all below so you can feel confident booking a consultation for the type you want. Only after a consultation with a dentist like Dr Gurs Sehmi will you understand what type of tooth implant system will work best.
Overview of dental implant types & costs:
All implants share these similarities
- Dental implants can last up to 30 years.
- They’re one of the few prosthetics that offer the least degree of movement.
- It takes around 1 hour to place a single dental implant.
- All implants require a healing period of around 3 months, but temporary teeth can be used.
As we dive deeper into the types below, it’s important to remember that not all dental implants are immediately loaded. Only specific implant types can be loaded immediately with prosthetics like crowns and hybrid bridges.
Single dental implants
Single dental implants take around an hour per gap to be placed but have an overall treatment time of up to 6 months in some instances, as we allow sufficient time for the implant to fuse with the bone before the final prosthetic can be placed.
- Replace a tooth lost to decay, trauma or extraction
- Can be used to replace multiple singular gaps in the mouth
- Alternative treatment to dental bridges or partial dentures
- Lasts up to 30 years
- Costs £2,450 per gap and available 0% finance over 24 months
Requirements
- Sufficient bone in the area of placement
- Placed 10 weeks after extraction or, in some cases, immediately
- A healing period of around 3 months
Multiple dental implants
If you have multiple gaps, you can replace them with single dental implants if teeth are not missing in a row or with an implant-supported bridge for adjacent missing teeth (as pictured above).
- Implant bridges can replace up to four missing teeth using one to two dental implants.
- Typically used to replace missing molars and premolars impacted by decay, failed root canals and multiple extractions.
- Stronger, more reliable alternative to traditional dental bridges and partial dentures.
- Costs from £3,000, depending on the number of implants being used and available 0% finance over 24 months.
Requirements
- Sufficient bone in the area of placement
- Placed 10 weeks after extraction or, in some cases, immediately
- A healing period of around 3 months
Full-mouth dental implants
Patients have several options for replacing a full mouth or arch of missing teeth, all of which improve traditional dentures that rely on suction or cover the palate.
- Implant denture options are palateless.
- They do not use individual implants per gap.
- Most support immediate loading.
Some full-mouth implants do not require bone
If you don’t know what this means, when you have had a full mouth of missing teeth for some time, bone in the jaw begins to deplete and recede. As dental implants require bone to stay firmly in position, some patients with insufficient bone would require a bone graft before their implant placement, which delays treatment up to a year.
However, some full mouth restorations and rehabilitation treatments can entirely avoid the need for bone, thus saving you from undergoing a bone graft procedure.
Graftless dental implant types:
- All on Four dental implants or All on 6
- Subperiosteal tooth implants
- Zygomatic dental implants
Implant-retained dentures, which are removable and not fixed, require sufficient bone in the areas where the implant is being placed. However, they are more affordable as they only use three dental implants.