Songpa-gu Implant: Why the Treatment Period Differs

Hello. I’m Shin Seung-hwan, the chief director of Yonsei U-Line Dental Clinic, Garak Branch in Songpa-gu, located near Exit 4 of Garak Market Station in Garak-dong, Songpa-gu.

One of the most common questions people ask before implant treatment is, “How long does the treatment take?”

To get straight to the point, it depends on the situation, but you can generally expect about 4 to 6 months.

If the tooth has already been extracted and the gum bone condition has stabilized, the time it takes for the implant to integrate firmly with the bone after placement is usually about 2 to 3 months on average.

The reason this period is needed is that an implant is not simply sitting in place; it must bond firmly with the bone enough to withstand the force of chewing. In general, we explain that it takes at least 2 months and as long as 3 months.

However, most patients ask, “If I have a tooth extracted today and then get an implant, how long will it take?” In that case, the story is a little different.

After an extraction, the space does not immediately fill with bone. A certain amount of time is needed for the empty area to heal with gum bone. This process alone takes at least 2 to 3 months.

So, if you calculate the entire treatment period from extraction to implant placement, it usually takes about 4 to 6 months on average.

There is also a clear reason why the treatment period differs from person to person. Those whose treatment ends within a relatively short period, such as within 4 months, often had good gum bone conditions and little to no inflammation to begin with.

If the tooth was extracted for a simple reason and the surrounding bone was healthy, recovery is faster and the implant also integrates well.

On the other hand, if gum disease was severe, the situation is different. In such cases, it is not just the tooth that had a problem; the gum bone surrounding the tooth itself should be considered significantly damaged by inflammation.

Because damaged bone needs more time to regenerate into healthy bone, it is not uncommon for treatment to take 6 months or longer.

Another important factor is the patient’s overall condition.

In general, the younger you are, the faster bone regeneration tends to be, and as you get older, the speed at which bone fills in inevitably slows down. In some cases, additional treatment such as bone grafting may be necessary.

And the factor that has the most negative effect on the implant treatment period is unquestionably smoking. In smokers, even after 2 to 3 months following extraction, the bone often does not fill in as much as expected.

In actual surgery, there are cases where almost no bone has formed inside when the area is opened.

In such cases, it becomes difficult to say definitively how long the implant will take, because treatment may take much longer or even lead to failure.

So smoking should be considered the biggest risk factor that prolongs the implant period and lowers the success rate.

An implant treatment is not finished once it is placed. Follow-up care afterward is very important. While implants themselves do not get cavities, inflammation such as peri-implantitis can certainly occur.

In particular, because implants have less sensation than natural teeth, patients often have difficulty noticing problems right away, even if they occur.

That is why, at first, we recommend visiting at one month, three months, and six months, and afterward having regular checkups at least once a year.

With proper regular care like this, implants are known to have a success rate of over 90%, and in practice, many people use them for more than 10 years without problems. Some people use them even longer than that.

However, this figure is only an average. There are cases where problems arise within just a few years due to poor care, and conversely, those who visit the dental clinic regularly and maintain their implants well can keep them for much longer.

So in implant treatment, regular checkups and care are not optional; they are essential. That concludes Yonsei U-Line Dental Clinic, Garak Branch, near Exit 4 of Garak Market Station in Garak-dong, Songpa-gu.