Dental Implants
Why Choose Circus Dental

What is a dental implant? 

Dental implants are an innovative dental procedure which involves the surgical placement of titanium posts into the jawbone, serving as sturdy anchors for the crowns (artificial teeth) to be attached to. The result is a natural looking tooth that also closely mimics the function of your natural teeth.

Unlike traditional dentures or bridges, dental implants offer a long-term solution that integrates seamlessly with the jawbone, promoting stability and preventing bone loss. This transformative technology has become a preferred choice for many people, enhancing not only their oral health but also their overall quality of life. 

Our experienced implant team is able to deal with all eventualities from a solution for a simple single missing tooth to a full arch of missing teeth. Although this is not always required, our team is also well experienced in grafting procedures to help replace bone and gum to improve the long term success and appearance of your implants.

Experienced implant team at Circus Dental 

At Circus Dental, we have several experienced dentists who can help with dental implant treatment. Two of these are Tim Harris and Dan Beevers, who have worked closely together for many years. They began their postgraduate Master’s degrees in Dental Implantology together in 2009, both completing them with distinction, and have continued to collaborate in clinical practice and education ever since. 

Tim has spent the last 20 years focusing on dental implants and oral surgery. Alongside treating his patients, he helps to shape the wider field through teaching and his role on the UK and Ireland leadership team of the International Team for Implantology (ITI), one of the world’s most respected evidence-based implant organisations. 

Dan has worked at Circus Dental for over 20 years and has provided dental implant treatment since 2009. Having spent much of his career caring for general dental patients at the practice, he brings a valuable understanding of how implant treatment fits into a patient’s overall and long-term dental health. He now focuses his clinical career on dental implants and oral surgery. 

Tim and Dan also both teach on the University of Bristol Implant Dentistry MSc programme, as well as provide postgraduate courses at Circus Dental, sharing their experience with other dentists and helping to train the next generation of implant clinicians. Throughout their careers, they have travelled extensively and completed advanced training across Europe to continue developing their knowledge and skills. 

However, at Circus Dental, implants are never considered in isolation. Tim and Dan work with a wider collaborative team, including restorative dentists, periodontists, orthodontists, endodontists, dental therapists and our in-house dental laboratory. This allows the team to consider the gums, bite, remaining natural teeth, appearance and long-term health on which successful implant treatment depends. 

Rather than approaching treatment from one particular discipline, the team can draw upon the knowledge and experience of colleagues across different areas of dentistry. This helps them provide each patient with a carefully coordinated and genuinely bespoke treatment plan. 

Tim explains: 

“At Circus Dental, dental implants are a team effort, and that is deliberate - the results our patients see come from the whole team working together. 

Understanding each patient’s needs, combined with careful diagnosis and planning, precise and comfortable treatment, and ongoing care of the gums, bite and implant, gives the best opportunity for an implant to remain healthy for decades. 

An implant is never just about filling a gap. It is about the whole mouth and the long term. When choosing where to have implant treatment, you are not simply choosing a procedure. You are choosing a team that will look after your mouth for years to come, which is something we are very proud to provide at Circus Dental.” 

Dan adds: 

“One of the most rewarding parts of providing implant treatment is having the opportunity to care for patients over the long term. Having been placing implants since 2009, I have been able to follow many of these patients and their restorations for well over a decade. That experience reinforces how important careful planning, ongoing maintenance and whole-mouth care are to a successful result. 

At Circus Dental, we can involve colleagues with expertise in gum health, orthodontics, restorative dentistry, hygiene and dental technology. This means we can consider what is best for the patient’s overall dental health, rather than focusing only on placing an implant. It is this depth of experience and collaborative approach that allows us to provide a truly individual plan for each patient.” 

Dental implant patient process 

The first visit with us is used to assess your individual expectations and needs. This will involve a consultation, normally 1 hour in duration, during which we would assess your current situation and discuss your treatment options, discussing any alternative solutions that may be suitable. At this stage we would also take digital records of your mouth to allow us to accurately diagnose and develop the most suitable plan to meet your dental needs. 

Following our initial consultation we will prepare a report of our findings with a full estimate of timings and costs for your treatment. We will discuss our proposed plans with you in an options meeting alongside one of our treatment coordinators. The treatment coordinator acts as your personal liaison within the practice throughout your treatment and works clinically with us to provide a continuity of care approach throughout.

After careful discussion and agreement on your planned treatment we are able to book you in for placement of your dental implants. 

Placement of dental implants is treated as a minor surgical procedure. We complete all procedures under local anaesthesia and with sedation if preferred. The placement of dental implants and any augmentation is totally pain-free and any post-operative discomfort is managed with anti-inflammatory and analgesic medications that we provide. 

We review all cases within 7-14 days of placement and then await the osseointegration process which is on average between 2-3 months. 

Following successful osseointegration the construction of the final crowns, bridges or dentures can begin with digital scans or impressions. Each prosthesis is designed by our skilled Straumann® accredited technicians and is bespoke to every case. 

The number of appointments can range from five upwards depending on the complexity of the treatment. Time frames range from three to twelve months. 

To ensure the longevity of any dental implant treatment we advise regular visits to a dental hygienist and reviews with ourselves to ensure your dental implants are performing correctly. This also allows us to maintain our warranty on your dental implant treatment.