At Winning Smiles we provide dental implants for single missing teeth, or for full sets of teeth on one or both of your jaws, or arches with Implant Retained Dentures.
If you are worried you may be about to lose all or some of your teeth, please come and talk to us. Things are probably not as bad as you think, and we are always happy to talk you through the range of solutions that will help, as quickly or slowly as you need to go.
Below is as much information as we can muster with some photos and costs.
Implant Retained Dentures, Advantages
For the replacement of multiple teeth, we feel that dental implant retained dentures represents the best value for comfort, appearance and function.
Dental Implant Bridges are a fantastic alternative to traditional methods of replacing missing teeth:
- Implants look better, and work better than traditional dentures
- They feel like your own teeth
- Implants last a lot longer than alternative treatments
Implants are based on a titanium ‘root’ which is immune to decay and ultra strong. The implant provides a secure base on which we can fit either porcelain or acrylic teeth to replace the ones you have lost.
Our three treatment options to replace all teeth in upper or lower jaw (or a complete set):
Our three options for full arch (or whole jaw) dental implant treatments (and who they are suitable for) are described below.
Option 1: Implant retained dentures
Cost from £3800 (Lower Jaw)
Cost from £7,500 (Upper Jaw)
Using implants to secure a special type of implant-denture is the most cost effective way of replacing all the teeth in one jaw. Implant-dentures rest on the gum but have 2 or 4 implants to hold them in place addressing one of the major problems that patients talk about with normal dentures – the fact that they simply won’t stand still!
NB: The difference in costs between the lower and the upper jaw is because we need to fit twice as many implants in the upper jaw. The bone isn’t as thick, and the denture does need more support.
Implant dentures stay firmly fixed in place and allow you to eat hard foods again and talk with the confidence that they won’t fall out mid-sentence!
Option 2: Titanium-Acrylic permanently fixed implant-bridge teeth
Cost from £10,500 (single jaw)
3D digital imaging and CNC titanium fabrication mean that nowadays it is quite straightforward to manufacture custom titanium frameworks with a full set of acrylic upper or lower teeth fixed permanently to them. The full set is then screwed into place onto your implants.
Advantages
• This is a very cost-effective option, because the additional strength provided by the titanium bar means that fewer implants are required than for a full set of porcelain teeth.
• We use off-the-shelf acrylic teeth which are far less expensive than custom-made porcelain ones but still look very natural (see photos)
• A full set of porcelain teeth will take more than a week to replace or repair in the event of an accidental breakage: with acrylic teeth they can be fixed same day.
Option 3: Porcelain implant bridge teeth on implants
Cost £18 – 22,000
In this treatment option, Winning Smiles use Harley Street technicians to create a top of the range, bespoke set of porcelain teeth for you. In our view, cheap porcelain bridge teeth are not worth considering. They actually look far less attractive than well made acrylic teeth, so if money is an issue, acrylic teeth (which can look stunning nowadays) are well worth considering. Custom-made porcelain teeth rest on 6-8 implants. This provides each jaw with enough strength to support a full set of 12-14 teeth.
Advantages
As well as looking beautiful, there is only a very small area of contact with the gum. This makes cleaning easy and can look very realistic if the gums are in good condition and there has not been a lot of bony shrinkage
Does it hurt?
The most suprising thing about Dental Implants is that there is very little pain. It looks like it should hurt, but the reality is that most dental pain is caused by touching a nerve on a live tooth. In this instance, we’re removing teeth entirely, so whilst there is some discomfort, we are extremely careful with all of our pain management at Winning Smiles. We take the time and give all our consideration, and never rush.
While the operation is being carried out your jaw is numbed so that you don’t feel any pain. You can also choose to be sedated if you wish. In our experience, if you have one or two implants inserted, you will be able to go back to work or to resume normal activities on the same day.
If you have multiple implants, or a full jaw is being treated, you will need a couple of days’ recovery time as you would with any other operation.
What material should you choose?
Acrylic dentures have made this option more affordable, and at the same time they now last longer, are less likely to sustain damage and are more easily repaired.
The reason acrylic teeth are less expensive than porcelain, is something to do with material but more importantly acrylic is easier to manufacture, it requires less manual input and is more forgiving in terms of damage.
In other words, it is that porcelain has so much manual labour input that makes them expensive, it is a difficult material to repair, and replacement is the more likely result of damage.
However, porcelain does retain an incredible lustre for long periods of time, so as always, it is a balance between appearance and function.
What does the treatment involve?
After an initial free consultation to find out whether dental implants are the right treatment for you, we carry out a detailed assessment and x-rays using our specialist low dose dental CT scanner. Having the CT scanner in house prevents costly hospital CT referrals (up to £600!)
Before surgery, we try a mock up of your final teeth on a wax base. The next step is to come back for a surgical visit where we insert your implants into your jaw. In an ideal situation (about 30% of the time) we can also put temporary teeth on your new implants straight away (immediate implants also known as ‘teeth in an hour’)
The final step is fitting your final teeth. This takes a few further appointments. We usually wait around two-three months to give your gums and bone time to heal.
Who is the treatment suitable for?
Dental implants are the perfect solution in a range of situations. They may be just what you are looking for if:
- you have just lost one or more teeth;
- you know you are about to lose one or more teeth;
- you are frightened you may be about to lose some or all of your teeth;
- you have recently lost / started to lose your teeth but don’t want dentures (false teeth);
- you currently have dentures and don’t like wearing them;
- you can’t wear dentures because they make you gag or choke
Why choose Winning Smiles?
Winning Smiles have been doing private adult cosmetic dentistry for 15 years. We have fitted around 700 dental implants. We place the health of your teeth at the heart of every decision we make and we are always explain and talk through all your options with you.
What’s the next step?
If you would like to know more about Dental implants and find out whether they are the right treatment for you, please call us to speak to one of our staff or book a short consultation.
Our consultations are currently free!
Case Studies
Follow the links below for examples of Andrew’s recent dental implant cases:
- Tooth replacement and smile makeover: Case Study
- A full set of replacement teeth: Case Study
- Implant bridge: Case Study
- Implant retained dentures: Case Study
