Your Questions Answered on dental implants... Mr McCormick is included on the GDC register of specialist oral surgeons and has established himself as the main oral surgery and implant practitioner in the Wigan area. He has been adopted as the official dentist for Wigan Athletic Football club since 2004 and now enjoys close ties with the club. Mr McCormick graduated from Manchester Dental School in 1988, following 1 year Vocational training he moved to a full time hospital post, initially at Trafford general hospital and then Wigan Royal Albert Edward Infirmary. He completed the first stage of oral surgery training at Wigan and then moved on to Manchester Royal Infirmary to complete his training. Passing the surgical fellowship from the Royal College of surgeons of England in 1993. Mr McCormick at this stage decided to forward his career in specialist oral surgery and implant practice away from the hospital environment but he first took 1 year out to travel and work in New Zealand. On returning to the UK, he joined Red Rose Dental Centre as specialist oral surgeon. He also returned to Wigan Royal Albert Edward Infirmary for 1 day a week in the oral surgery department, a post he has recently stepped down from.
He answers our questions about an exciting area of advanced dental care:
Q: What are dental implants? A: Implants are in effect small titanium roots which replace natural teeth.
Q: What can they be used for? A: Implants can be used to replace an individual tooth, avoiding the need for drilling into a healthy tooth to support a bridge. They can be used to stabilise dentures where the patient’s natural teeth have been lost. This stops the problem of dentures moving or dropping whilst eating or talking and, as you can imagine, this is one of our most popular requests.
Q: Is the procedure uncomfortable? A: The overwhelming majority of patients report mild or no discomfort at all. Placement of an implant is a small surgical procedure so a local anaesthetic is used in a similar way to if the patient was having a filling or extraction.
Q: How successful is it?
Q: How would I know if I am suitable? A: We provide an initial informal consultation first of all. The majority of our patients will be able to decide at this point whether implants are for them. However, before treatment begins, each patient will have an in depth clinical assessment and a report detailing what the treatment options are, the number of likely visits and the fees involved. We make sure that our patients are fully informed so that they can make the right choice about their treatment.
Q: How long does everything take? A: This depends on a number of factors. Some techniques and treatments, where suitable for the patient, allow us to place implants and attach fixed bridges all at the same time, giving instant results. At the other end of the scale, healing can take longer and be generally spread over 6-9 months.
Q: I understand implant treatment is very expensive? A: Initially implant treatment has a higher investment than traditional forms of treatment but over the longer term it can be better value. For many people this investment is worth making for the benefits mentioned earlier. We offer interest free facilities and extended payment options which many people find useful. The improvement in quality of life is more difficult to put a price on.
A: Very! Typical success rates for healing of implants is in the region of 97%.
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