The Dental Implant Procedure — Every Step Explained

We finalize your treatment plan at your $145 consult and order any pre-surgical work. If you take blood thinners, we coordinate with your physician on a hold protocol. If you have certain heart conditions or a joint replacement, we may pre-medicate with antibiotics.

You will receive a written prescription packet — anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, sedative — to fill ahead of time so nothing is rushed on surgery morning. We send instructions for what to eat the night before (a normal dinner) and the morning of (nothing if you are under IV sedation).

A 3D CBCT scan, the digital surgical guide, and your final implant are all sized and ordered. Nothing on surgery day is improvised — every drill depth and angle has been planned on the scan.

Arrive 30 minutes early with a driver. You will rinse with chlorhexidine, change into a surgical gown over your clothes, and a nurse will start an IV. Dr. Qiu performs a final review with you while the team draws your blood for the Vampire Implant Protocol.

IV sedation is administered. Most patients close their eyes within 90 seconds and have no memory of the surgery itself. We monitor your blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen continuously through the procedure.

Total chair time for a single implant is 60–90 minutes from sedation to recovery. A full-arch (All-on-6) is 4–5 hours. You go home the same day, accompanied by your driver.

The surgical guide — printed from your CT scan — slips over your existing teeth and locks Dr. Qiu's drills to the exact pre-planned angle and depth. A small osteotomy (channel) is prepared in the bone. This takes about 90 seconds per implant.

Your spun platelet-rich plasma is layered onto the implant body. The implant is then torqued into the osteotomy at 35–45 Ncm — firm enough that the bone holds it immediately, gentle enough that the bone is not over-compressed. Dr. Qiu has placed over 2,500 implants and the felt-torque is the part that no guide can replace.

A healing cap is placed on top of the implant flush with the gum line. The gum is closed with a few dissolving sutures. The implant sits undisturbed under the gum for the next 8–14 weeks while the bone fuses to it.

You wake up in our recovery room with no memory of the surgery. Most patients describe feeling like they took a long nap. We give you ice packs for your jaw, a soft-food list, and a phone number that reaches Dr. Qiu directly — not an answering service — for the next 72 hours.

Day 1 is the worst of it, and it is usually a 3–4 on a 10-point pain scale, controlled with the ibuprofen and Tylenol stack we prescribe. About 60% of our patients never fill the narcotic prescription. Swelling peaks at 48 hours and is mostly gone by Day 5.

You can return to a desk job at 48 hours. We ask you to avoid the gym, heavy lifting, and straws for one week, and to keep the surgical site clean by rinsing with warm salt water after meals.

We see you at 2 weeks for a soft-tissue check and suture removal (if non-dissolving). At 6 weeks we re-image the area to confirm the bone is laying down around the implant. At 12 weeks we test integration torque — if the implant resists a controlled reverse torque, it is integrated and ready for the crown.

During this window, you eat normally on the rest of your mouth and avoid biting directly on the implant. A temporary tooth — a flipper, an Essix retainer, or a bonded "Maryland" tooth — can fill the gap during this period for esthetic reasons; we provide this at no extra cost when needed for a visible tooth.

Once integration is confirmed, we take a digital scan of the implant position. Your zirconia abutment and crown are designed in CAD software, milled in our lab, and ready for delivery in 1–2 weeks.

The delivery appointment is short and painless — 30–45 minutes, no numbing needed for most patients. The healing cap comes off, the abutment is torqued onto the implant, and the crown is bonded onto the abutment. You leave with a fully functioning tooth.

We see you back at 1 week, 3 months, and 12 months for follow-up. After that, twice-yearly hygiene visits are all you need.