Dental Implant Timeline

A single dental implant on a healed extraction site takes 3–4 months from consult to final crown. If a bone graft is needed, add 2–3 months. If you are extracting and grafting at the same surgery as the implant ("immediate placement"), the total time is sometimes shorter because steps overlap.

Most of the timeline is the bone fusing to the implant under the gum. You are not in the chair during that — you live your normal life, eat normally, and come in once at the 2-week, 6-week, and 12-week marks for short follow-ups.

Forty-five minutes with Dr. Qiu, a 3D CBCT scan, and an itemized written treatment plan with exact pricing. We confirm bone density, identify any medical coordination needed, and discuss your goals. You leave with a clear yes or no on candidacy and a treatment plan you can take to any other dentist.

If you choose to proceed, your surgical date is typically 2–4 weeks out — enough time to order your custom surgical guide and your specific implant.

Your custom surgical guide is printed from your CT scan. Your prescriptions are sent to your pharmacy. If medical clearance is needed (uncontrolled diabetes, blood thinners, certain heart conditions), we coordinate with your physician during this window.

If you smoke, this is when we ask you to stop. If a tooth needs to be extracted before the implant site can heal, we sometimes do that during this window so the site is partially healed by surgery day.

You arrive with a driver, change into a surgical gown over your clothes, and get an IV started. We draw your blood for the Vampire Implant Protocol. IV sedation goes in and you close your eyes within 90 seconds. Total chair time is 60–90 minutes for a single implant, 4–5 hours for a full arch.

You go home the same day. Day 1 pain is usually a 3–4 on a 10-point scale, controlled with the ibuprofen and Tylenol stack we prescribe. Swelling peaks at 48 hours and is mostly gone by Day 5.

The implant sits under the gum while bone fuses to it. We see you at 2 weeks for a soft-tissue check and suture removal (if non-dissolving), at 6 weeks for an imaging check, and at 12 weeks to test integration torque.

During this window, eat normally on the rest of your mouth and avoid biting directly on the implant site. If the missing tooth is visible, we provide a temporary tooth — a flipper, an Essix retainer, or a bonded Maryland-style tooth — at no extra cost.

Lower-jaw implants are usually ready at 12 weeks. Upper-jaw implants take longer — 14 to 18 weeks — because the bone is less dense.

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

Crown delivery is 30–45 minutes, no numbing needed for most patients. The abutment is torqued onto the implant, the crown is bonded onto the abutment, and you leave with a fully functioning tooth. Follow-up visits are at 1 week, 3 months, and 12 months, then twice-yearly hygiene from there.

Bone grafting. Adds 3–6 months of healing before the implant can be placed. For sinus lifts in the upper back jaw, often 4–6 months. We always say the bone graft window upfront in the treatment plan — no surprises mid-treatment.

Extraction healing. If a tooth needs to come out and the site is not ready for immediate placement, we let the socket heal for 8–12 weeks before placing the implant.

Medical coordination. If your physician needs to adjust medications (blood thinners, bisphosphonates), surgery may be scheduled 4–6 weeks out instead of 2–4.