Dental implants are the best way to replace missing teeth. At Progressive Dentistry, we have been placing and restoring dental implants for over 12 years with a fantastic success rate. Over the years, Dr Patel, our Implantologist has studied extensively in the UK, Europe and the USA to offer the very best dental implant treatment. He is familiar with a number of systems including Nobel Biocare, Implant Direct, Astra Tx and Straumann to name a few.

We have now expanded our systems to include the latest dental implant from Astra called EV. Why have we done this? Well, as our name suggests we are progressive. A one size fits all philosophy is often not applicable complex treatment such as implant dentistry. By having all possible solutions under our roof, we can ensure that we are able to offer the very best treatment to our patients. There are many benefits of the Astra EV system which we will happy to discuss with you at your FREE consultation. 

Please contact us to discuss your dental implant needs, no obligation, no hard sell, no dental jargon but simple honest advise from an expert.

Our case of the month for September involves a full mouth reconstruction using dental implants and a technique called All on 4. All on 4, as the name suggests, involves replacing all of the teeth using 4 upper and 4 lower dental implants. The great advantage of this technique is that by using only 8 dental implants in total, the overall surgery is reduced thus reducing trauma to the oral cavity and there is an associated lower cost compared to traditional techniques where 6-8 implants were required for each arch. The typical case is where gum disease has severely affected the teeth health over many years thus resulting in a full mouth clearance, which was the case for our patient. Please view the before and after photographs:
 

As you will be aware, dental implants are the best way to replace missing teeth. Whether you are missing one, several or all of your teeth, dental implants can help. In the past, dental implant crowns (the actual tooth replacement) was a combination of a titanium abutment (screwed into the implant) and a porcelain fused to metal crown. This was fine and provided a perfectly good, robust result. However, for front teeth especially, the aesthetics of such restorations were possibly not great. Today, we are able to provide crowns with all ceramic fittings. This is usually with a zirconium abutment and an E max crown. We can now also use a screw retained all ceramic crown, which was previously not possible. Therefore there is no metal above the gum line; greater aesthetics and no chance of a black line at the gum level. If you would like the most aesthetic dental implant restoration for your missing tooth/ teeth, contact us- we will have the solution.

Dental implants are widely recognised as the best alternative to natural teeth. Implants can be used for single, multiple or all missing teeth. In this article, we would like to discuss the treatment called All on 4, which is designed to replace all missing teeth. The concept is simple. If you are missing all of your teeth on the upper, lower or both jaws then 4 dental implants on the upper and lower jaws can act as the anchors to replace the missing teeth.

There is a great deal of planning involved and the treatment must be carefully thought through and planned to provide a natural, harmonious result which is functional and aesthetic. This will involve comprehensive analysis of the upper and / or lower jaws with CT scans to assess the bone quality, volume and relevant anatomical landmarks. The dental implants will be planned in accordance with your own anatomy. In most cases, we will aim to avoid bone grafting, sinus grafting or any other additional surgical procedure. This way, the treatment is as minimally invasive as possible. 

At Progressive Dentistry, we are able to provide All on 4 dental implant treatment with Dr Nissit Patel as the lead clinician. If you are interested in dental implants then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Our case of the month for February is a dental implant case to restore missing back teeth. Dental implants are used to replace missing teeth to restore function, aesthetics and prevent further problems of shrinkage and teeth movement. In our case of the month, our patient had lost some back teeth and there was a baby tooth remaining which was about to fall out. This severely impacted on her eating and everyday function. Dental implants were the best way to replace the missing teeth with a fixed and secure final end result. Here are some before photographs:
 

Our case of the month for September is one which involves dental implants to replace missing back teeth. It is crucial to replace missing teeth at the back for a number of reasons. These involve: 

1. To restore function. Without back teeth or molar teeth, it is very hard to chew food. 

2. To prevent unwanted movement of the adjacent or opposing teeth. This could have a detrimental effect on the occlusion (bite) and cause major dental issues for the future. 

3. To prevent the jaw bone from shrinking which can result in causing the soft tissue to shrink. 

4. Aesthetics. Having gaps at the back of the mouth can still be seen. Dark space is not attractive. 

5. For general well being, physical and psychological. In our case, the missing teeth were two molar teeth on the upper right hand side. 

Please view a photograph:
 

Our case of the month for August involves a dental implant to replace a front tooth that's missing. It is well known that dental implants provide the very best method of replacing missing teeth, with extensive research over many years placing dental implants at the very top of the success stories in dentistry. Missing front teeth is not only an aesthetic issue (nobody wants a gappy smile!) but also a functional issue. The front teeth are designed to incise and tear food, with the chewing at the back. It is extremely important to have a full set of teeth to enable full function and also look great! Thankfully, dental implants can solve the problem in most cases. Just have a look at our case below:
 

Dental implants are the best way to replace missing teeth. Fact. So if you have missing teeth, your first choice should be a dental implant. The most common scenario we encounter is to replace a single missing tooth. Why replace the tooth? There are a number of reasons:
 

1. For aesthetics especially if it is a front tooth! 
 

2. To restore function.
 

3. To prevent any further bone loss. 
 

4. To prevent drifting of the adjacent and opposing teeth- yes they can move! 
 

5. To maintain the bite. 
 

6. For psychological well being.

In the case of a missing single tooth, there are a number of simple steps that have to be taken to end up with a new tooth:

1. Careful planning. 
 

2. CT scans may be required if the tooth was lost many years ago.
 

3. Careful placement of the dental implant. 
 

4. Often a waiting period of 6-12 weeks is required for healing. This is called 'osseointegration'. 
 

5. Impressions are then required. 
 

6. Final placement of the crown or a provisional restoration is placed.
 

7. If a provisional restoration was placed, a waiting period of 3-12 weeks may be required prior to the final crown.

For example, just look at our case below to see how a dental implant should look: