Dental Implants

Dr William has a targeted focus for both placing and restoring dental implants entirely in house, taking great pride in achieving results in the most difficult of cases. Dr William has been placing dental implants since 1993, after having been trained in dental implant placement in California, USA. Having placed over 1000 dental implants, Dr William and our team celebrate our unique experience and high success rates. Dr Dilliam was amongst the first Australian dentists to have in house PRP  facility and a CBCT scanner.

Our practice prefers to use the highly regarded Noble Biocare dental implants from Gothenburg, Sweden; among other systems where specially indicated. Nobel Biocare dental implants are at the absolute forefront of  dental implant innovation and provide for the widest range of prosthetic options. What this means is that with Nobel BioCare, more dental implant cases can be completed to a higher standard.

Your progress from the very first consultation to your final post-treatment visit will be closely monitored by Dr William and his team.

High precision and utilisation of the latest technology are the two main elements which are key to the success of our implant dental practice. In fact, all implant work is guaranteed with our peace of mind 10 year warranty.

Dental Implants are medical grade titanium screws that are placed into your jaw bone to replace missing tooth roots, as it were. New bone then develops around the titanium screw in place, to form a near perfect union- the implant is effectively fused to your jaw bone. A porcelain crown (new tooth) is then attached to the dental implant, resulting in a beautiful artificial new tooth that looks and feels real and is more robust than the rest of your teeth.

The 7 secrets for implant success.

 

Dental implants are the modern way to replace missing teeth. No need to drill or damage other adjacent teeth and no removeable dentures. Dental implants are the best replacement you can have for a missing tooth.

 

1

Fast accurate 3D scanning using the latest version i-tero Elements 2 scanner.

Literally 3-4 million photos of your teeth are taken in a few minutes- these images are stitched together using a high spec computer to render a super accurate 3D Implant dental model.

This 3D implant dentistry model, as opposed to older analogue moulds/impressions (plaster or silicone), is used to plan your dental implant dentistry. The results, when combined with data from a CT scan, form your implant dental treatment plan.

2

Experience in diagnosis and education, it stands to reason that the longer you have been doing something the better you get at it.

Dr William has been providing implant dentistry since 1993 after receiving training in dental implantology in California, USA. Dr William was amongst the first implant dentists in Sydney to have an in house CBCT (CT scanner) and PRP machine for bone grafting.

3

Close monitoring of every implant dental case. Most dentists provide you with the restorative phase of dental implants alone, and delegate the surgery to other dentists or dental specialists. Dr William provides all your treatment (surgical and restorative) in house in almost every case. This leads to fewer breakdowns in communication and ultimately better results.

 

4

Expedited delivery and information – Dr William, via use of technical portals and the latest i-tero 3D scanner receives correspondence from the USA in hours not weeks.

This is not the case with dentists who use the post to send their analogue moulds- impressions to their dental laboratories- it literally takes shaves days-weeks from the process as compared with older style models.

In addition, we have clinical software that will show you your predicted results immediately after your 3D scan.

5

Genuine Product- not a cheap and nasty copycat. Dr William exclusively uses premium medical grade Titanium dental implant fixtures that are made in the USA. Most dental implants provided are manufactured by Nobel Biocare-USA.

6

Guarantee – Dr William guarantees that you will get the results as per your predicted outcome and warranties the products used for 10 years.

7

Cosmetic focus – Dr William focuses on the final cosmetic outcome of your implant dental case. As such we utilise advanced techniques to ensure that every case (including yours) achieves the best aesthetic outcome possible. For example, Dr william uses the Palacci technique to ensure that your gumline appears as natural as possible adjacent to your implant. See photographs on this page.

Your Ultimate Guide to All on 4

Replace a whole arch of teeth in one day with the All-on-4® treatment concept.

This innovative mouth restoration treatment, using dental implants placed by Dr William involves four or more implants inserted into your jawbone to support a fixed dental prosthesis, which is attached on the same day of surgery.

What Is the All-on-4® Treatment Concept?

This mouth restoration technique uses four dental implants to support an entire arch of new teeth in either the upper or lower jaw, or both (dual arch).

After a consultation to ensure adequate healthy bone structure and absence of infection, patients are able to undergo the initial surgical phase of the treatment in one day, leaving Dr William’s office with a natural-looking provisional fixed bridge or sometimes a short term removable full denture (this to be discussed and decided upon with Dr William).These new temporary teeth can be used to eat semi-solid/soft foods almost immediately.

The concept is unique in that the two rear implants are longer compared to other methods; these are inserted into the jaw at near-45-degree angles rather than the 90-degree angle that traditional implants are placed. This negates the need for bone-grafting.

After the implants have properly fused with the jawbone (healing phase), the patient returns to Dr William, normally six months later, to have their provisional (temporary) fixed bridge replaced with a permanent one, thus completing the treatment and restoring adequate teeth function.

Suitable Candidates for the All-on-4® Treatment Concept

If you have lost several or most of your teeth or want to replace ill-fitting dentures with a comfortable, stable and natural-looking set of permanent teeth, you may be a suitable candidate for this mouth restoration technique.

It should be noted that:

• Prospective patients should be in good overall health in order to undergo surgery.
• For those with gum disease or other oral health issues, a dentist will clear any infections and address other problems before surgery.
• Patients who have bone loss may still be suitable candidates as the All-on-4® treatment concept requires less bone density compared to other treatments thanks to the unique positioning of the four implants.
• Age generally does not determine whether a person is a suitable candidate for dental implants. However some medications for osteoporosis and bone cancer will contraindicate placement of dental implants.

What Does the Course of Treatment Entail?

Pre-surgical appointment: 

The patient first attends a pre-surgical appointment, during which the dentist will determine their suitability for the All-on-4® treatment concept. Several tests, such as x-rays, 3D cone beam images and photo evaluations, will be taken so that the dentist can formulate a detailed treatment plan.

Custom-made immediate denture is processed:

Using information from the pre-surgical appointment and impressions of the patient’s mouth, a specialist dental laboratory processes an immediate denture which will be attached during the surgical phase.

Surgical phase:

Before the placement of the implants, any remaining teeth are extracted. The implants can then be inserted at predetermined positions in the jaw.

Using abutments and coping cylinders screwed onto the implants, usually an immediate denture is attached. This is then trimmed down to become a fixed implant bridge to complete the surgical phase.

Note:

• The procedure may be carried out under local anesthesia with IV sedation. Other sedation options are also available.
• Surgery can take between two and six hours, depending on the complexity of the procedure.

Healing phase:

After surgery, the patient returns home with their new, natural-looking teeth. However, it should be noted this is the provisional (temporary) restoration. 

Over the next three to four months, the implants fuse with the bone (a process called osseointegration), during which time the patient is generally advised to follow a diet of semi-solid/soft foods, as well as adhere to a hygiene and maintenance routine as prescribed by Dr William.

Final restoration phase:

After six months, the patient returns to Dr William to have their temporary bridge removed and replaced with the permanent one (final prosthesis).

This stage may involve further tests and adjustments; however, the process is non-invasive, as the temporary bridge is simply unscrewed before being replaced.

A detailed step-by-step full arch rehabilitation guide (PDF) by Nobel Biocare can be found here.

 

Does the Fixed Bridge Require Special Care?

• When your implants have first been placed and you have a temporary fixed bridge, you will be advised to eat soft food for a while–certainly not anything chewy or hard that could interfere with the osseointegration process.
• A rule of thumb is anything that can be cut with a fork can be eaten.
• For the first two weeks, patients are instructed to use a special mouth wash. After around 14 days, cleaning with a soft bristle toothbrush can resume.
• All on 4 reinforced bridges allow patients to eat practically anything they want.
• Apart from maintaining a healthy oral hygiene regime–with careful brushing, flossing and regular check-ups, you should not have to do anything different following the completion of the treatment.