Who can have a dental implant

Age on its own decides almost nothing. An implant can be placed in any adult whose jaws have finished growing, and many patients have one at 60 or 70. What decides is the state of the bone, the gums and your general health, and we check all three before suggesting anything.

The consultation starts with a conversation about what bothers you and what you want, then a clinical examination. Then come a panoramic X-ray and a CBCT scan, which shows in three dimensions how much bone you have, how wide it is and where the structures the implant must avoid run.

We look at the gums too. Inflamed gums or untreated gum disease are treated first, because the same inflammation that weakened the teeth can affect an implant. Only once the gums are healthy does it make sense to go further.

At the end of the consultation you get a written plan: whether an implant suits you, what steps it involves, how long each takes, and an estimate. If something needs sorting out first, such as decay or inflamed gums, the plan starts there. You don't leave with a decision made for you, but with everything you need to make it yourself.

A few situations don't rule out an implant, but change the timing or the steps:

• Uncontrolled diabetes slows healing. With blood sugar under control, an implant can go ahead.
• Smoking raises the risk that the implant won't integrate. We ask you to cut down or stop during healing.
• Some treatments for osteoporosis or cancer, as well as blood thinners, need a conversation with your own doctor before the procedure.
• An active infection in the mouth is treated first.

That's why we ask you to bring a list of the medicines you take and, if you have them, recent blood tests. Nothing you tell us is a detail: it helps us choose the right moment, not just the technique.

After a tooth is lost, the bone around it slowly shrinks, and the longer it has been, the less is left. If the CBCT scan shows the bone lacks the height or width needed, a bone graft is done: either in the same visit as the implant, or a few months before.

That doesn't mean an implant is off the table, only that the plan has an extra step and takes longer. You get every option, with its stages and waiting times, in a written plan, together with the alternatives to an implant: a bridge and a denture. You compare them at home, calmly, and you decide.