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Single tooth implant
One tooth back,
and no debt owed
by its neighbors.
The argument for a single implant is not really about the implant. It is about the two healthy teeth on either side that a bridge would grind down, and which an implant leaves exactly as they are.
Why people come here
- Surgery and the finished teeth done by one dentist, under one roof
- Diplomate of the International Congress of Oral Implantologists
- Fellow of the Misch Institute — and faculty at its successor
- A written, itemized plan before anything is scheduled
What it is
Three parts, fitted over three appointments.
The implant is a titanium root placed into the jawbone where the old root used to be. The abutment is the connector that comes through the gum. The crown is the tooth you see, made to match the ones beside it in shade, shape and the way it catches light.
Between placement and the final crown there is a quiet stretch — usually three to six months — while the bone locks onto the implant. You wear a temporary, you eat normally on the other side, and you mostly forget about it.
Why not a bridge
A three-unit bridge is faster and often cheaper on the day. It also permanently alters two teeth that had nothing wrong with them, and when it eventually fails, it can take them with it. The implant is a longer road that costs its neighbors nothing.
Sequence
From the first scan to chewing on it.
Examination and imaging
A 3D cone beam scan shows bone width, height and where the nerve runs. A flat x-ray cannot show any of that.
Visit onePlacement
Usually under local anesthetic, typically under an hour for one implant. Most people work the next day.
45–60 minIntegration
The bone grows onto the implant surface. Nothing is asked of it during this time.
3–6 monthsScan and crown
The site is scanned, the crown is made and fitted, and the bite is checked and adjusted.
2 visitsThe details that decide it
Where single-tooth cases go wrong.
Position
An implant a few millimeters out of position is still integrated and still wrong, because the crown now has to be designed around the compromise.
Gum contour
In the front of the mouth the shape of the gum matters as much as the porcelain. It is planned, not left to chance.
Timing of the extraction
Bone begins to resorb the day a tooth comes out. Preserving the socket at extraction often removes the need for a graft later.
Bite
An implant has no ligament and no give. If the bite loads it wrongly, the restoration — not the implant — is usually what complains first.
Shade
A single front crown between two natural teeth is the hardest shade match in dentistry. It is taken in daylight, not under an operatory lamp.
Hygiene access
The crown is contoured so you can actually clean around it. Pretty and uncleansable is a failure waiting a few years.
Questions
Single tooth, answered.
Can the implant go in the day the tooth comes out?
Sometimes. If the socket walls are intact and there is no active infection, immediate placement saves months and preserves the ridge. If they are not, placing anyway is how cases fail. The 3D cone beam scan decides, not the calendar.
Will it look like the tooth next to it?
That is the target, and in most of the mouth it is straightforward. A single central incisor is the hardest case in dentistry and we will tell you honestly how close we expect to get before you commit.
What does it cost?
A single implant is quoted in three parts — implant, abutment and crown — with extraction or grafting as separate lines when they are needed. You get a written, itemized estimate before anything is scheduled.
Start with an exam and a straight answer.
A consultation includes an examination, 3D imaging and a written, itemized plan. If implants are not the right treatment for you, Dr. Patellis will say so and tell you what is.