A temporary abutment fitted the moment the implant is placed, so a temporary tooth is in place straight away and nothing shows to anyone else

Front teeth matter so much to appearance that aesthetics is the foremost consideration in implant treatment there. Since going even a day without a front tooth is difficult, front tooth implants are in most cases placed at the same time as the extraction, with a temporary tooth fitted immediately so daily life is unaffected. As the case on the left shows, a temporary abutment is connected the moment the implant is placed, so a temporary tooth is in position straight away and nothing shows to anyone else. Occasionally, where bone is very deficient, a temporary cannot be attached directly to the implant — but even then we provide one by another means that is every bit as convincing, so there is no need to worry.

The volume of gum tissue matters even more with front tooth implants. If the implant goes in after the gum has already shrunk considerably following extraction, the restoration itself may look fine, but seen as a whole the gum appears sunken and the overall result suffers. That is why we readily carry out bone or soft-tissue grafting to build the gum up. For patients whose aesthetic expectations are more modest we may keep things simpler, but in many cases these additional procedures are what make the best possible result achievable.