Your implant/s normally requires 3 to 6 months undisturbed healing below the gum in the upper jaw and at least 3 months in the lower jaws before they are uncovered. At uncovering, a local anaesthetic is required and a minor surgical procedure is undertaken to place additional implant components. Your denture will require further adjustment at this stage to fit over these new components. After uncovering, a metal or plastic attachment or screw will be visible on the surface of the gum when your denture is removed. This component enables the cosmetic and functional part of your restoration to be attached during the restorative phase of treatment. Newer implants have been developed to speed up bone healing and this has allowed us to reduce healing time before fitting the temporary or final prosthesis. However, as many implant patients do require a small amount of bone grafting, we strongly advocate waiting for this bone to heal before challenging it with a functional implant.
Overall, your treatment will take between six months to one year to complete- most of which time is spent waiting for the bone to heal around the implant and for the gum to settle down. On average, in our experience, you should allow for six visits for single implants and about ten to twelve visits during the year for a large number of implants, commencing on the date your implant/s are placed. Please note however that these will not be evenly spaced but will be grouped according to the stage of treatment as treatment proceeds.