Who do dental implants suit?
If you're an adult with one or more missing teeth, healthy gums, and adequate jawbone — the answer is almost always yes. Beyond that, the deciding factors are smaller and more interesting than people expect.
We see implant patients in their twenties (after sports injuries), in their forties (after a long-failing root canal), and well into their eighties (replacing dentures with something fixed). What every successful case has in common isn't age — it's gum health and bone volume in the jaw. Both can be improved if they aren't there yet.
"The deciding factor isn't age. It's gum health and bone — both of which we can often improve before placing the implant."
When should you wait — or not have implants at all?
Active gum disease is the single most common reason we ask patients to wait. Placing an implant into inflamed tissue is asking it to fail. We treat the cause first — usually with a course of hygienist work and home routines — and reassess in three months.
Heavy smokers heal more slowly and lose more implants. We don't refuse to treat smokers, but we ask for a pause around surgery and the first few months afterwards. It makes a real difference to the long-term success rate.
Patients still growing — typically under 18, occasionally up to early twenties — are asked to wait until the jaw has finished developing. An implant placed in a still-growing mouth will end up sitting too low as the surrounding teeth continue to erupt.
What are the alternatives, honestly?
A bridge replaces a missing tooth by anchoring a porcelain crown to the two healthy teeth either side. It's faster, cheaper, and a perfectly good answer for the right mouth — particularly when the neighbouring teeth already need crowns. The trade-off: you're cutting healthy enamel from teeth that don't need it, and a bridge typically lasts 10–15 years against an implant's 20–30+.
A denture — partial or full — is the third option. We've seen patients live with dentures successfully for decades. We've also seen patients hate them from the day they were fitted. Modern dentures are far better than the loose plates of the eighties, but they remain something you take out at night and worry about at dinner.
If implants are right for you, they are usually the best long-term answer. If they aren't, one of these often is — and we'll tell you so without making the conversation feel like a sales pitch.
What does the procedure actually involve?
It's smaller than people imagine. A single implant placement is around sixty minutes under local anaesthetic. Most patients describe the recovery as 'less than an extraction' — a few days of mild swelling and tenderness, easily managed with ibuprofen.
Then a healing period — typically three to six months — while the titanium fuses with the bone. You wear a temporary tooth in the meantime; routine life resumes the same evening. The final porcelain crown is fitted in a single follow-up appointment.
What does it cost — and is it worth it?
Single implants at our practice start at £2,495, including the implant itself, the abutment, and the porcelain crown. Two adjacent implants — common when several teeth in a row are missing — start at £4,495. Full-arch SureFix (twelve teeth fixed to four implants) starts at £14,995 per arch.
Whether it's worth it depends on what you're comparing it against. A single implant is roughly two to three times the cost of a bridge — and lasts twice as long. The maths usually works out neutral or favourable over twenty years. The maths gets very favourable if you'd otherwise be replacing the bridge twice.
Finance is available at 0% APR over up to 36 months. Membership patients receive 10% off most routine treatment, though implants and SureFix are excluded.
"Roughly twice the cost of a bridge — and twice the lifespan. Over twenty years, the maths usually works."
How do you actually decide?
We won't make you guess. The free initial consultation includes photographs, a 3D CT scan if needed, and a written treatment plan with the fixed total price. Twenty to thirty minutes, no commitment, no pressure to book on the day.
If implants are the right answer, we'll tell you. If a bridge or partial denture is genuinely better, we'll tell you that too. And if the right answer is to wait — for gum health, for growing teeth, for a smoker to stop — we'll be honest about that as well.
