Dental implants in Istanbul. Planned on a CT scan, guaranteed for life.

A dental implant is a titanium screw placed in the jawbone where a tooth root used to be. Over 3–6 months bone grows onto its surface, a process called osseointegration, until it is as firm as a natural root. A connector called an abutment is then fixed to the implant and a zirconia crown goes on top. You see only the crown.

A typical implant is 3.3–4.8 mm wide and 8–12 mm long. Modern surfaces such as Straumann's SLActive® are documented to reach stable bone contact in 3–4 weeks rather than 6–8,⁴ which is why the final crown can go on after about 3 months in the dense lower jaw and 4–6 months in the softer upper jaw.

Why replace a missing tooth at all? Bone under a gap shrinks fastest in the first year and keeps thinning, and neighbouring teeth tilt into the space. An implant loads the bone and slows the loss. A bridge fills the gap but means cutting down two healthy teeth; a denture does nothing for the bone.

Same-day teeth: immediate or delayed loading?

Immediate loading means fitting a temporary crown the day the implant is placed. It is safe when the implant is very firm (an insertion torque of 35 Ncm or more) and not under heavy chewing load, which in practice means front teeth. Delayed loading, waiting 3–6 months before any crown, is the default for back teeth and grafted sites, because loading too early is a common cause of early failure.

The gap between a UK implant fee and a Turkish one is real: £1,500 against €550 for the same Straumann® implant and crown. The gap between a Turkish quote and the final bill can be real too. 'Turkey teeth' stories are mostly about crowns on healthy teeth; implants have a different trap.

What a low quote often leaves out

1. The crown and abutment. Many 'implant' prices cover only the screw; the rest is added later, sometimes doubling the figure.
2. The brand. 'Premium Swiss implant' is not a brand. Ask for the name and, after surgery, the implant passport with the lot number.
3. The CT scan. A quote from a photo cannot tell you whether you have enough bone. The graft is then 'discovered' on arrival, when you cannot walk away.
4. The second trip. A permanent crown in 5 days on every implant means loading implants that should have been left to heal.
5. Aftercare. A warranty without a named route home is a leaflet.

How we do it

Every price is per implant including abutment and zirconia crown, brand named, fixed in writing before you book, with any graft already in the plan. Every implant is planned on a 3D CT scan and placed through a printed surgical guide, so position, angle and depth are decided before the first cut. Your implant passport lists brand, size and lot number, and the lifetime guarantee covers flights and hotel if an implant ever fails. UK dental bodies say the same: see your own dentist first, get it in writing, know who provides aftercare.⁵⁶

Roughly one patient in four needs bone added before or during implant placement, depending on how long the tooth has been missing, where it was and why it was lost. Your CT scan answers this before you travel.

An implant needs at least 1–1.5 mm of bone on every side. A ridge that has been empty for years can thin to 4–5 mm, too narrow for a standard 4 mm implant, and in the upper back jaw the bone beneath the sinus can shrink to 3–4 mm.

Bone graft (€250 per site)

A bone graft adds granules of bone substitute, or a little of your own bone, under a membrane. Small grafts are done with the implant on the same day; larger ones first, with the implant 4–6 months later, which adds a trip.

Sinus lift (€350 per side)

A sinus lift raises the sinus floor and fills the space with graft so an implant fits in the upper back jaw. With 5 mm or more of bone it is done on the same day as the implant; with less, the implant follows about 6 months later. Afterwards, no hard nose-blowing for 2 weeks and no flight for 3–4 days.

A graft can often be avoided with a shorter or narrower implant, an angled implant that uses the bone you have (the idea behind All-on-4), or by placing the implant soon after extraction, before the bone shrinks.

The first 3 days are the uncomfortable ones. After that most patients forget the implant is there until the second trip.

The first 2 weeks

• Pain: a dull ache controlled by ibuprofen and paracetamol together, usually for 2–3 days.
• Swelling and bruising: peak at 48–72 hours, then fade over a week. Ice in 15-minute bursts on day 1 helps.
• Bleeding: light oozing on day 1 is normal. No hard rinsing or straws.
• Eating: soft food for 7 days, chewing on the other side. No smoking for at least 2 weeks, ideally 8.
• Cleaning: chlorhexidine mouthwash for 10 days, then a soft brush on the healing cap. Stitches dissolve by day 10–14.

Message us the same day if pain worsens after day 3, swelling returns or there is pus, your lip or chin stays numb, a temporary crown feels loose, or you have a fever above 38 °C. We reply within about 10 minutes in opening hours, arrange a video review within 48 hours and, if you need to be seen, book a partner dentist in the UK, Germany or the Netherlands.

For the rest of your life

Implants do not decay, but the gum and bone around them can get infected. Peri-implantitis is the implant version of gum disease and affects roughly one patient in five in long-term studies.² It is largely preventable: brush twice a day, clean between the implant and its neighbours daily with floss or an interdental brush, and see a hygienist every 6 months. Smokers get it more often and respond less well to treatment.³

A well-placed implant in a well-cleaned mouth can last the rest of your life. In long-term studies around 95–98% of implants are still in place after 10 years, with most losses in the first year.¹ The crown is a wear part: expect 10–15+ years before it needs replacing.

Why implants fail

• Early (first 3–6 months): the bone does not fuse, usually because of infection, movement, smoking or uncontrolled diabetes. Smokers lose implants at roughly twice the rate of non-smokers.³
• Late (years later): peri-implantitis eats away the supporting bone, or grinding without a night guard overloads the implant.
• Components: a loose screw or chipped crown. These are repairs, not failures, and far more common.

If your implant fails after you go home

1. Message your coordinator with a photo; Dr. Aydın reviews you by video within 48 hours.
2. A loose or infected implant is removed, a 15-minute procedure a partner dentist can do.
3. The site heals for 2–3 months, sometimes with a small graft.
4. We place a new implant free under the lifetime guarantee, including flights and hotel, then a new crown.

The conditions are printed on the certificate: a yearly check-up with a dentist or hygienist, and following the aftercare you were given. A chipped crown within 10 years is remade the same way.

Yes, at a licensed clinic with a named implantologist, a CT scan behind every plan and branded implants you can trace. Turkey has many well-trained implant surgeons, but standards between clinics vary more than in the UK, so the checks matter more than the country.⁵⁶

What to check, and what we offer

• Licensing: Denture is licensed and audited by the Turkish Ministry of Health and certified to ISO 9001:2015.
• Who operates: Dr. Mert Aydın (DDS PhD, ITI Fellow) or Dr. Burak Şahin (DDS PhD, oral surgeon), named in your plan before you book.
• Planning and materials: a 3D CT scan and printed guide for every implant; Straumann®, Nobel Biocare® or Osstem® implants with the lot number on your passport.
• Aftercare at home: video reviews, partner dentists in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, and a guarantee that includes travel.

The honest risks of surgery

• Nerve injury in the lower jaw can leave the lip or chin numb. With CT planning and a guide it is rare and usually temporary, but it is why we never place a lower implant from a 2D X-ray alone.
• Sinus perforation in the upper back jaw, usually small and self-healing.
• Infection in the first weeks, treated with antibiotics and, rarely, by removing the implant.
• Bleeding, more likely on blood thinners, which we plan around with your GP.

See your own dentist before you book anywhere; a UK check-up and a copy of your records make the Istanbul plan better informed.