Dental Implants in Lanark: Close the Gap, Properly

Dr Davinder Kalsi, known as Dav, places our implants. He has more than 10 years' experience and more than 2,000 implants behind him, and his engineering background shows in his careful planning. Each case is mapped in 3D on our own CT scanner, showing bone, nerves and sinuses before anything begins. A 3D-printed guide made from that plan then steers MegaGen R2 guided placement, so the dentist who designs your implant also places it. His profile is on our team page.

Lanark Smile Studios, at 72 High Street, Lanark ML11 7ES, provides implant treatment, which Dr Davinder Kalsi plans and places with the help of our own CT scanner. Our prices are published: single implants, crown included, start at £2,775, and full-arch treatment at £9,300 per arch. Your first consultation is free; we ask for a £20 deposit, refunded within a week of your visit. The scan, the planning and the guided surgery with MegaGen AnyRidge implants all take place under one roof, and we serve Lanark and the rest of Clydesdale, including Carluke, Carstairs, Lesmahagow and Biggar.

At our Lanark practice, a single implant with a crown is from £2,775, covering the crown, the abutment, guided placement and a 5-year guarantee for non-smokers who attend hygiene visits every 3 months. ¹ Fees differ a great deal around Scotland, and an advertised price may leave out the crown, so it's worth asking any clinic what the figure actually includes. If you need a CT scan (£160) or a bone graft, those are itemised separately in your written plan.

Single implants with a crown start at £2,775. That covers placing the implant with a 3D-printed guide, the abutment linking implant and crown, the crown itself, the review appointments during healing and a 5-year guarantee for non-smokers who attend hygiene visits every 3 months. ¹ Some people need extras, which are charged separately: a CT scan (£160), bone grafting, taking out the existing tooth, or IV sedation. Any of these would be itemised in your written plan before you decide. When you agree to go ahead, the price is fixed.

The placement itself shouldn't hurt, because local anaesthetic numbs the whole area first. You'll be aware of pressure and a little vibration, but nothing sharp. Working through a 3D-printed guide often needs just a tiny opening in the gum, and that tends to make recovery easier. For the next two or three days most people need nothing stronger than paracetamol or ibuprofen, and after a single implant many return to work within a day or two. If it's the thought of the chair that troubles you, IV sedation costs £500 a session.

Most implants settle without any problems, but all surgery carries some risk, and we'd rather you heard about it from us at the outset. A few days of swelling, bruising and soreness is normal. Less often, an infection sets in or the implant doesn't join to the bone; it's then removed, the site recovers, and usually a new one can go in. Nerve or sinus damage is rare, and your CT scan shows where these lie so the plan can steer around them. Your odds of a complication go up if you smoke, have untreated gum disease or have poorly controlled diabetes.

Looked after properly, the implant itself often lasts for decades, and many people keep theirs for good. The crown fixed to it is a separate part. It takes the daily load of chewing, so at some stage it may need replacing. Most of what cuts an implant's life short is in your hands: smoking, infection in the surrounding gum, and missed hygiene appointments, which are where early problems get spotted. Grinding can chip the crown or work it loose, so we often advise a night guard too.

Care for it as you would a natural tooth: brush twice a day and use a correctly sized interdental brush around it every day, including underneath any implant bridge. If small brushes are awkward, a water flosser is a good alternative. Inflammation of the gum around an implant, known as peri-implantitis, can slowly destroy bone if nobody spots it. Regular appointments with Fiona Dyer, our hygienist, mean the area is checked and properly cleaned, and Airflow is kind to implant surfaces. For grinders and clenchers, a night guard (£210) shields the crown from chips.

Our implants are MegaGen AnyRidge. The system has earned the CleanImplant Trusted Quality seal, a mark of surface cleanliness that applies to the implant rather than to our practice. Dr Kalsi plans each implant's position using the CT scanner here in the building, and that plan becomes a 3D-printed guide. In surgery, MegaGen's R2 guided system uses the guide to direct the drill, so the implant goes exactly where it was designed. Staying with one established system also means parts should be easy to get for years to come.

Yes. Implants placed at our Lanark practice carry a 5-year guarantee for non-smokers who attend hygiene visits every 3 months. Those conditions aren't arbitrary: smoking and poor cleaning cause more implant problems than anything else, and regular hygiene appointments let us spot trouble while it's small. Before treatment begins you'll have the full terms in writing, as part of your consent form, so there are no surprises later.

Age by itself is not a barrier. Whether implants suit you depends on your health rather than the year you were born. We'll review your general health and any medicines you take, look at the jawbone on your CT scan, and think about whether you, or a carer, can keep the implant clean. A few things call for more careful planning, osteoporosis medication or poorly controlled diabetes among them, and we'll talk these over with you. For young people the limit works the other way: we wait until the jaw has stopped growing, which is normally at 18 or older.