Dental implants

A firm, powerful bite, just like your own teeth

Because the artificial tooth root fuses directly and firmly with the jawbone, you can bite into even hard rice crackers or meat without a second thought. The looseness particular to dentures, and the worry that they might suddenly come out, disappear, and mealtimes with family and friends become truly enjoyable again.

It doesn’t grind down your precious, healthy surrounding teeth

With conventional bridge treatment, filling the gap of a missing tooth required grinding down the healthy teeth on either side substantially to serve as abutments. This can end up shortening the life of those healthy teeth. An implant, by contrast, stands on its own as a single tooth, placing no burden on the other teeth, so it can protect the health of your whole mouth for the long term.

Long-lasting, with high stability and survival rates

Implants are extremely durable — data shows that, with proper ongoing maintenance, “more than 90% still function normally after 10 years.” Compared with dentures, which often need to be remade every few years, this is a treatment you can feel very reassured by over the long term.

A natural, beautiful result that gives you confidence in your smile

The artificial tooth (the crown) fitted on top of the abutment is made from a translucent ceramic material. Because it is custom-made to match the color and shape of your surrounding teeth exactly, even when you open your mouth wide to laugh, it recreates a natural, beautiful look where no one can tell which tooth is the implant.

A firm bite is linked to your overall health and longevity

The act of “chewing” is said to increase blood flow to the brain and help prevent cognitive decline. In addition, once you regain the ability to chew, you can also take in a more balanced diet — including fiber and protein you may have been avoiding — which greatly helps prevent lifestyle-related diseases and extend your overall healthy lifespan.

Rediscovering the joy of eating (restored function)

After losing a tooth, people often end up choosing only soft foods without realizing it. With an implant, you can bite firmly into foods with real texture, like apples or rice crackers, just like before. Being able to enjoy your meals every day is directly tied to your overall happiness in life.

A natural feeling, with no sense of a foreign object (restored sensation)

Unlike dentures, which cover the mucous membrane of the mouth, an implant doesn’t block the roof of the upper mouth (the palate). This means you can properly feel the temperature and subtle flavors of your food, speak more easily, and enjoy conversation as usual without any sense of a foreign object in your mouth.

The material itself can never decay

Because it is made of artificial materials such as titanium and ceramic, an implant itself is almost never eroded or dissolved by decay-causing bacteria. You can let go of the worry of thinking, “After all that trouble getting treated, will I have to suffer from decay all over again…?” (That said, you still need to watch for symptoms similar to periodontal disease.)

A highly attractive result that removes any sense of self-consciousness

Have you ever hesitated to laugh in front of others, worried that “what if someone sees the metal clasp on my denture”? Implants use no metal clasps at all, recreating a beautiful appearance as if the tooth were growing naturally out of the gum, so any self-consciousness about how your mouth looks can disappear.

Just brush as usual (no extra effort needed)

There’s no need for the daily hassle of dentures — taking them out every night and soaking them in a special cleaning solution. Just clean your implant carefully with a toothbrush and floss after every meal, the same as you would your remaining natural teeth, along with regular maintenance at the dental clinic.

A breakwater that protects your other precious teeth

If you leave a missing tooth untreated, or keep using a partial denture, your remaining teeth end up bearing an excessive, concentrated load, which can trigger a domino effect of losing teeth one after another. An implant, acting as a sturdy pillar, spreads out the load carried by your other teeth and helps prevent your whole mouth from breaking down.

Risks from human error

This refers to accident risks such as damage to nearby nerves or blood vessels during surgery, or the implant being placed at an incorrect angle, resulting in poor integration.

Cause ① Insufficient equipment, or no detailed simulation carried out beforehand

Countermeasure ① by our clinic
To carry out implant surgery safely, we must use a “dental CT scanner” to grasp bone thickness and nerve position three-dimensionally, rather than relying on two-dimensional X-rays. To avoid damaging the thick nerve running through the lower jaw, and to avoid perforating into the upper jaw’s sinus cavity and causing sinusitis-like symptoms, our clinic always takes a CT scan and draws up a precise treatment plan in 0.1mm increments before beginning surgery.

Cause ② Insufficient knowledge, experience, or skill on the part of the treating dentist

Countermeasure ② by our clinic
Because this is surgery, the dentist’s skill level greatly affects whether treatment succeeds. At our clinic, dentists with an extensive record of cases handle your care, working carefully while cooling appropriately to avoid heat damage to the bone. In the more than 30 years since we opened, not a single accident caused by this kind of major human error has ever occurred.

Risk of failing to integrate with the bone (leading to loss)

Even when the surgery itself succeeds, there is still a risk that the implant may later fail to fuse firmly with the bone, becoming loose or falling out.

Cause ① A smoking habit, or excessive strain from unconscious, forceful teeth grinding or clenching

Countermeasure ① by our clinic
Smoking constricts capillaries and significantly hinders wound healing and bone integration, so we ask you to quit smoking before and after surgery. In addition, should the implant fail to integrate and come loose, exactly how we respond will depend on the treatment involved, the maintenance history, and the cause. We will explain the conditions, scope, duration, and cost-sharing of our post-treatment support program in detail beforehand.

Cause ② “Peri-implantitis” caused by insufficient daily care

Countermeasure ② by our clinic
An implant itself cannot decay, but once debris builds up, periodontal bacteria multiply and can dissolve the bone that supports the implant, causing it to fall out. To prevent this, brushing correctly at home and having professional maintenance at the dental clinic on a regular basis are both essential. We make sure to convey the importance of this care before treatment even begins, and we support you closely throughout treatment.

Appearance risks (especially for front teeth)

This refers to the risk that, after the gums recede, the titanium part can show through with a dark tint, or the crown can end up looking unnaturally long.

Cause ① Brushing too hard, or insufficient thickness of the bone or gum tissue itself

Countermeasure ① by our clinic
We will guide you on brushing with the correct amount of pressure, and if the bone or gum tissue around a front tooth is diagnosed as too thin, we will also carry out a procedure to build up the bone or gum volume artificially (grafting), working to help you maintain a beautiful smile over the long term.

Other health-related precautions

○Patients who are pregnant, may be pregnant, or are breastfeeding should postpone treatment, out of consideration for the strain it can place on the body.

○Because implant treatment involves surgery, it can sometimes be difficult to proceed as-is for patients with systemic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease such as high blood pressure, or osteoporosis. Patients taking anticoagulant (blood-thinning) medication must also be sure to let us know beforehand.

○If the mouth is in an unhygienic state due to severe periodontal disease or similar, we may start with periodontal treatment first, to lower the risk of bacterial infection.

○For a few days after surgery, you may experience swelling, pain, or internal bleeding (bruising), but this will gradually subside with medication — please feel free to talk to us anytime if you’re concerned.

○Patients with any of the following conditions should, wherever possible, discuss it with the treating dentist at the first visit.
・Heart or blood vessel disease (high blood pressure, myocardial infarction, etc.)
・Respiratory disease (asthma, etc.)
・Liver, kidney, or gastrointestinal disease
・Diabetes, osteoporosis, or thyroid disease
・Metal allergy or drug allergy
・Any condition currently being treated, or treated in the past, and any related medication (especially osteoporosis medication)

Case 1: Molar implant

This is the case of a patient whose own tooth had fractured, requiring extraction. Wanting to “bite down firmly on hard foods like before,” the patient chose implant treatment for the second-to-last position on the lower right. The examination showed insufficient bone volume in the jaw, so a procedure to artificially add bone (bone grafting) was carried out at the same time, and treatment was completed safely after building a solid foundation.