Anyone missing one or more teeth due to injury, disease or tooth decay may be a candidate for dental implants.   The determining factors are the amount and type of available bone in the area where the implant is to be placed.  

This is determined by your dentist who will order a 3 D Xray which enables him to measure the bone in the region of interest.

When you loose a tooth, the bone rapidly remodels so that up to 50 % of the width and height of bone can be lost in several years.  This can mean that there is a deficiency of bone volume at the implant site and bone grafting may be needed before an implant can successfully be placed.  

Today implants can be placed at the time of extraction which limits bone loss and remodelling; or in regional of adequate bone whilst deficient areas are first grafted and allowed to heal for 6-12 months before implant placement.

Bone grafting procedures use your natural bone carefully harvested from the ramus of the mandible or the chin or small amounts from the implant site. This bone is then mixed with artificial , biologically pure bone which is commercially available and approved by the TGA for use in Australia.

Implant placement is highly successful  with rates of 97% in the mandible and 93% in the maxilla for healthy patients. There are some chronic diseased that affect this success rate. Chronic periodontal disease must be controlled prior to implant placement. Smokers have a reduced success rate together with those suffering from Diabetes and Oesteoporoses.

There are some Blood conditions and cancer patients who may not be suitable for the type of treatment