Dental Implants FAQs

If you feel that your dental implant treatment was negligent and has caused you pain and suffering, you might be eligible to make a compensation claim. Contact the Dental Law Partnership today to discuss your options.

There is usually only one way to get free dental implants and that is through a dental training school, though not all training facilities offer such services for free – some will charge a fee.

If you want to get treatment through a dental school, you will need to contact your local institute and see if you qualify for treatment. While the treatment may be free, or for a nominal cost, there are other factors to take into consideration:

• Treatment and appointments may take longer
• You may only be able to access treatment during term-time and only in working hours
• Not all dental schools offer dental implants, so check that your local facility does offer this type of treatment.

It’s worth noting that undergraduate dental students do not provide implants. However some of the university dental hospitals do provide a very few implants to some select patient groups. The implants which are so provided will be placed either by qualified hospital staff, as part of research by qualified hospital staff or as part of postgrad training of qualified dentists.

The NHS does not offer free dental implants to those who normally pay for their NHS dental treatment; you will only be entitled to implants from the NHS if there is a clinical need, and it is rare that they will be offered. If you do qualify for NHS dental implants, they fall into the band 3 category and are charged accordingly.

Usually, you can only get dental implants by paying for private dental treatment, and each practice will have its own pricing structure. The cost will depend on many factors, such as your dentist’s experience and location.

There is a higher chance that your implants will fail if you smoke or have a high consumption of alcohol. There are other conditions that can lead to dental implant failures such as facial trauma, underlying medical conditions or untreated gum disease.

How long it can take for a dental implant to heal will depend on a number of factors such as:

• How many implants have been installed
• The number of teeth affected
• The individual patient
• How you manage your recovery process.

If you only have a single implant and there is little to no post-operative discomfort or swelling then you should be able to live life as normal. However, you may be advised to stick to a soft diet for a certain period of time.

Undergoing implant surgery normally only involves local anaesthetic and it is quite normal to have some minor swelling, bruising and mild discomfort afterwards. As long as this is well managed and your mouth is kept clean, you should be able to return to a normal diet within a 1-6 week period.

All surgery poses some risks but generally, implants are considered safe. Problems and complications are rare, but they do happen. The risk of having dental implants include:

• Infection
• Damage or injury to the surrounding area. This might include damage to other teeth and blood vessel
• Nerve damage: this can be caused by incorrect placement of the implant
• Sinus problems: this only normally happens when a dental implant is placed in the upper jaw and protrudes into the sinus cavity.

If you do have any problems or complications with your dental implants, contact your dentist immediately.