Victoria single tooth implant, without cutting the healthy neighbours
A single tooth implant replaces one missing tooth on its own titanium post. The post takes the place of the root, the crown sits on top, and the teeth either side are never touched. That is the main reason to choose an implant over a bridge.
A single tooth implant replaces the root, a bridge does not
When a tooth is lost the root goes with it, and the bone that held that root stops being loaded. A bridge sits above the gum and does nothing about that. A single tooth implant puts a titanium post where the root was, so the bone keeps working and the ridge holds its shape. The difference is invisible on day one and obvious after ten years.
The trade is time and preparation. The post needs months to fuse before the crown goes on, and the site has to have enough bone to start with. Where it does not, socket preservation at the time of extraction or ridge augmentation later can build it back. If you are weighing the two options directly, implants versus bridge sets them side by side.
The visible half of a single tooth implant is the implant crown, made separately once the post has integrated and shade matched against the teeth around it.
Single tooth case
How it works
Single tooth implant, from scan to crown in four stages
Assess the gap
How long the tooth has been missing, what the neighbours are doing and whether the bite has drifted since. All three change the plan.
Place the post
Local anaesthetic and usually under an hour in the chair. A temporary tooth covers the gap while the site heals.
Wait for integration
Three to six months for bone to grow onto the post. We review along the way rather than only at the end.
Fit the crown
Impression, shade match, then the crown is seated and the bite checked. One short review after that.
Which tooth
Molar or front tooth changes the implant plan
A back molar has to survive chewing load and nobody is examining how it looks. A front tooth implant carries far more laboratory work, because the crown has to vanish against its neighbours and the gum line has to look natural.
If more than one tooth is missing in the same area, separate posts are not always the answer. multiple tooth implants covers when two posts can carry three teeth. What a single tooth implant costs, and what changes the number, is broken down on single tooth implant cost.
TitaniumPost
UntouchedNeighbours
CBCTPlanning
Related treatments
Related Victoria single tooth implant treatments
The crown on top, the alternatives to a single implant, and what happens when the site needs building up first.
Timing, the gap while it heals, and how a single tooth implant compares with a bridge.
Usually not where the tooth shows. A temporary is normally fitted so you are not walking around with a visible space, particularly important at the front. The temporary is not as strong as the final crown, so it wants care with hard food, but it looks right and holds the space while the post integrates.
It does not involve cutting down the healthy teeth on either side, and it keeps loading the bone under the gap. A bridge is quicker and usually cheaper up front. If the neighbouring teeth already need crowns for other reasons, a bridge can still be the sensible choice.
Sometimes. If the socket is clean and there is enough bone around it, a post can go in immediately, which saves months. Infection, a thin socket wall or a very large root often mean waiting. The scan and the state of the tooth decide it, not preference.
Most people stop noticing within a few weeks. An implant has no ligament around it, so it does not have quite the same feedback when you bite, but for chewing and speaking it behaves like a tooth. It cannot decay, though the gum around it still needs looking after.
It is still usually possible, but the ridge will have narrowed and may need building up first. That adds a grafting stage and several months. We measure the site on a scan and tell you at the consultation rather than discovering it on surgery day.
Victoria patients
What Victoria single tooth implant patients say
★★★★★4.9· 118 reviews on Google
★★★★★
Lost a back tooth years ago and chewed on one side ever since. Straightforward once the scan showed the bone was fine.
T. Whelan
Molar implant, Victoria
★★★★★
Tooth came out and the post went in the same visit. Saved months and I never had a visible gap.
A. Kirchner
Immediate placement, Langford
★★★★★
One gap, one post. Nothing was done to the teeth on either side of it.
E. Falk
Premolar implant, Colwood
★★★★
Needed the ridge built up first. Longer than I hoped, but the timeline they gave at the start was accurate.
B. Oyelaran
Graft then implant, Saanich
From the blog
Victoria implant guides: cost, healing time and bridge comparisons
See if your gap takes a single tooth implant in Victoria
A consultation and CBCT scan will show whether the site has bone for a post as it stands, or needs building up first. You leave with the answer, the timeline and a written figure before deciding anything.
