Which Implant Dentist?

Why the Dentist Matters More Than the Price

An implant is an operation, and its result stays in your mouth for decades. A carefully planned implant and a rushed one can look identical on the day. The difference appears years later: a crown whose colour was always slightly off, receding gum, an implant that worked loose. By then the clinic may be hard to pin down, and correcting the problem usually costs more than getting it right first time.

Every implant clinic from Greenwich to Canary Wharf describes itself as experienced. These ten questions get beneath the marketing language. Bring them to every consultation you attend, ours included.

1. Who Places the Implant, and How Were They Trained?

In the UK any registered dentist may place implants, yet the undergraduate dental course covers them only briefly. So look for a named clinician with recognised postgraduate study, such as a master's degree or diploma in implantology, and ideally membership of a professional body like the Association of Dental Implantology or the ITI. Ask how many years they have been placing implants, and whether the same person will carry out the surgery and fit the crown, or pass you on midway.

To answer it for ourselves: Dr Imran Riaz holds an MClinDent in Oral Surgery from the Eastman Dental Institute and has more than 13 years dedicated to oral surgery, including single and multiple implants. Anyone can look him, or any other dentist, up on the public GDC register at gdc-uk.org; it is free and quick. "Specialist" is a legally protected title, so unless someone appears on a GDC specialist list, the accurate wording is that implants are a special interest of theirs.

2. Will the Plan Be Based on a CT Scan?

A standard X-ray shows the height of the bone but not its width or density, and it cannot show the nerve or the sinus in 3D. A cone beam CT scan can, which is how a dentist confirms an implant will sit in solid bone well clear of the nerve before any drilling starts. Ask whether the scanner is on the premises or you will be referred elsewhere, whether the scan is in the price, and whether you will be shown it. Ours is on site: a scan for a single implant is £120, and it is included in full-arch fees.

3. Will a Surgical Guide Be Used?

A surgical guide is a template, 3D printed from your scan, that sits over your teeth or gum and steers the drill along the route, tilt and depth chosen in the plan. It makes sure the operation follows the plan. Skilled clinicians can place implants well freehand, but a guide strips out most of the variation, and its use tells you a practice plans carefully. At Peninsula Dentists every implant goes in through a MegaGen R2 guide made from your own CT scan.

4. Which Implant System Will You Use?

Implants are made by hundreds of companies. The established systems come with decades of published research, parts stocked worldwide and quality checks you can verify. Low-cost copies cut the clinic's costs rather than yours, and if you move house or the practice shuts, another dentist may be unable to get compatible parts. Get the manufacturer's name and research it yourself. We use MegaGen AnyRidge, an implant awarded the CleanImplant Trusted Quality seal, which assesses how clean implants are when they leave the factory.

5. Who Makes the Crown, and What Is It Made Of?

Nobody sees the implant; everybody sees the crown. Find out whether the crown starts from a digital scan or a traditional mould, which lab builds it and in what material (for front teeth, usually zirconia or layered porcelain), and whether the connecting abutment is a stock component or custom made. Vagueness about the crown usually means that is where the fee is being trimmed. We take digital impressions on our iTero Element scanner.

6. What Does the Fee Include?

You cannot compare quotes until you know what each contains. Check each item in turn: the consultation, the scan, the implant itself, the abutment, the crown, a temporary tooth, any grafting, sedation, follow-up reviews and the one-year check. Then find out which extras could arise and in what circumstances.

Practices around Greenwich and SE London we checked in October 2026 charge about £1,995 to £3,800 for a single implant with its crown, most between £2,700 and £2,850, but some headline figures of roughly £1,200 to £1,750 cover the implant alone, without the crown. Ours is from £2,250 with the crown, before any grafting,² and our implant cost guide lists everything it covers.

7. Will the Fee Be Fixed in Writing?

At the very least you should receive a written plan and a fixed price before agreeing to anything. It should set out the treatment recommended, the alternatives, the cost of each stage, the timeline and the ways to pay. Be cautious about a price that is only spoken, a discount that ends "this month", or a plan that shifts after you have handed over a deposit.

8. What Is the Guarantee, and What Are Its Conditions?

Most clinics offer a guarantee of some sort, and the detail is everything. Ask how long it lasts, whether it protects just the implant or the crown as well, and what you must do to keep it valid. Conditions usually include not smoking and attending hygiene visits, because healthy gum is what keeps an implant in place. Get the terms on paper. Ours is a five-year guarantee for non-smokers who keep up three-monthly hygiene visits, set out in full in the consent form.

9. If Something Fails, What Then?

Implant success rates are high but not perfect. Ask what the clinic would do about an implant that fails to integrate, a chipped crown or inflamed gum, and which clinician would deal with it. A reassuring answer is concrete: the implant is removed, the bone left to heal and a new one placed, with a clear statement of what that costs or that it is covered. "It never happens" is not reassuring. Ask too whether sedation is available if you are nervous, and how to reach someone out of hours. Here, IV sedation is given by our oral surgeon, Dr Imran Riaz.

10. Can I See Your Own Cases and Reviews?

Ask for before-and-after photos of the dentist's own patients rather than stock pictures, and look for reviews where patients talk about their implants. A clinician who places a lot of implants will have plenty of both. If you are offered the chance to speak to a past patient, accept it. We are rated 4.8 from 141 Google reviews, and our reviews page and smile gallery show what implant patients say and what their results look like.³

Warning Signs

• A price before you have been examined, or a "from" figure that leaves out the crown
• No CT scan, or one offered only when you ask
• An unnamed implant brand, or "our own system"
• The person examining you is not the person placing the implant, and the surgeon is not named
• A request for a big upfront payment on day one, or a deal with a deadline
• Full-arch teeth promised within a week, with no healing time before the permanent bridge
• Nothing in writing: neither a plan nor a guarantee

A practice showing one of these is not automatically a bad one. Each is simply a cue to ask more before you sign.

What a Good Consultation Feels Like

You are examined, scanned where needed and shown what the scan reveals. Implant, bridge and denture are all explained fairly, including the option of doing nothing for now. You are told who will do each part and why it is recommended. You leave holding a written plan with a fixed price, free to take it home and think, or to show it to another practice for their view. That is the standard we hold ourselves to at Peninsula Dentists, about ten minutes' walk from North Greenwich station, and the consultation is free. Our page on the implant consultation walks you through it.

Questions

This guide explains the options in general terms. Only an examination can tell you which of them suits your own teeth.