What to Expect - SHAWNEE, OK​

What to Expect with Dental Implants at Hopkins Dental Clinic

Understand Our Dental Implant Process

Dental implants are becoming more common than ever before and are considered the gold standard of tooth replacement. But should you trust just anyone to place your implants and give you a new, beautiful smile? Of course not. You deserve experienced doctors who have years of experience and advanced dental technologies to give you a safe, accurate and successful treatment. And that is exactly what Hopkins Dental Clinic is—your leading location for quality dental implantology. We want to be absolutely transparent with our patients on what to expect with dental implants in Shawnee, OK, and have outlined the steps you will go through during your treatment.

The Consultation and Planning Phase

Whether you are missing one or multiple teeth, or have failing teeth, we will always speak with you in a private consultation. During this consultation we will perform a preliminary exam of your mouth, discuss your smile goals and go over your needs. We will answer any of your questions or concerns on what to expect with dental implants and give you an estimate on the overall cost of your implant procedure. During this time, we will help you determine the best treatment plan for your needs and goals. During the planning phase, we will take 3D images of your mouth and oral structure using our digital CareStream8100 cone beam CT scanner, which gives us a better understanding of what will need to be done. We will also discuss the size, shape and color of your new teeth. If you do not have sufficient jaw bone volume to support implants, then a bone graft will be performed at this time and allowed to heal before we move on to the implant surgery.

Video Play button Shawnee, OK

Placing Your Dental Implants

Ensuring your comfort and safety during implant surgery is of utmost importance at Hopkins Dental Clinic. Many patients wonder about what to expect with dental implants and the level of discomfort they will experience. Our team of doctors are trained to offer soothing sedation dentistry so you experience minimal discomfort. While placing your implants, our doctors use computer-generated implant guides to direct them to the precise angle, depth and position. This takes away any guesswork and ensures your implants are placed in the most ideal location. For those interested in what to expect with dental implants utilizing the TeethXpress® immediate load solution, they can rest at ease knowing that our doctors have training and experience to provide quality, convenient care. With TeethXpress, we will place four to six dental implants into your jaw and provide you with an immediate prosthesis to give you an immediate smile. The benefit to TeethXpress is that we can often perform tooth extraction, placement of dental implants and the fitting of a prosthesis all in the same appointment. You will never leave our office without a full set of new, natural-looking teeth!

Restoring Your Implants and Healing

For those not in need of the TeethXpress process for full arch dental implants, the next phase of what to expect with dental implants is the final restoration of your teeth. Your dental crowns will be custom made to your specifications and designed to fit perfectly over your implants. These crowns will blend in seamlessly with your surrounding teeth so others will never be able to know you were ever missing any teeth to begin with. Many patients wonder what to expect with dental implant healing, but the truth is, that healing is fairly simple. For the first 24 hours after having surgery, be sure to eat soft foods and avoid foods and drinks with extreme temperatures. Additionally, do not drink from a straw for at least 24 hours. Patients may be sore after surgery. This is usually controlled with ibuprofen and acetaminophen and you may also be prescribed prescription pain medication to control the levels of discomfort. You can resume gently brushing your teeth 24 hours after surgery, but should avoid smoking of any kind. Most patients typically feel back to their natural state within one to three days after surgery. You will schedule a follow up appointment in seven to fourteen days after receiving dental implants for suture removal and to evaluate your health and healing.

Video Play button Shawnee, OK

I don't
cover my
smile anymore!

Get started with dental implants today!