Dental Implants in Turkey

An implant is three separate parts. The fixture is the screw in the bone, usually 8–13 mm long and 3.5–5 mm wide. The abutment is the connector that passes through the gum. The crown is the tooth you see and chew with. They are placed at different stages, which is why implant treatment takes months rather than days.

The reason implants work is osseointegration: living bone bonds directly to the titanium surface rather than forming scar tissue around it. That bond is what makes an implant feel like a tooth rather than a device, and it is also what cannot be rushed. Bone grows at its own pace, and no clinic can shorten it.

Why implants rather than a bridge or denture

• Nothing is done to the neighbouring teeth. A conventional bridge requires grinding down two healthy teeth to carry it; an implant stands alone.
• Bone is preserved. The jaw resorbs where a tooth root is missing, which is why long-term denture wearers develop a sunken profile. An implant loads the bone and slows that loss.
• It is fixed. Nothing comes out at night, nothing moves while eating and there is no palate coverage affecting taste.
• It lasts longer. A bridge typically needs replacing at 10–15 years; a well-maintained implant fixture commonly lasts 20 years or more.

The brands Valentmedica uses

What the package includes

• Full examination, panoramic X-ray and 3D CBCT scan
• Implant surgery under local anaesthetic
• The implant fixture and abutment
• A zirconia crown made in the in-house laboratory
• A temporary tooth where the gap is visible
• Four nights in a four-star hotel with breakfast on each trip
• All airport, hotel and clinic transfers
• A personal English-speaking coordinator
• Your implant passport with brand and batch numbers
• Guarantee on the fixture per the manufacturer

What is not included

Flights are excluded on both trips. Extractions, gum treatment, root canals on adjacent teeth and bone grafting are quoted separately once your CBCT scan has been reviewed. Bone grafting is the most common addition, and it is the main reason an estimate given from a photograph changes once a scan is taken.

Implants are usually suitable if

• You are missing one or more teeth, or have a tooth that cannot be saved.
• Your gums are healthy, or gum disease has been treated and is stable.
• You have enough bone, or are willing to have a graft to create it.
• You are a non-smoker, or can stop for at least four weeks either side of surgery.
• Your jaw has finished growing — usually from about 18 for women and 20 for men.
• You can commit to two trips and to hygienist appointments afterwards.

You may need treatment first, or another option

• You have active gum disease: this must be treated and stable, or the implant will fail the same way the tooth did.
• You are a heavy smoker: failure rates are roughly double, and many implantologists will decline to treat.
• Your diabetes is poorly controlled, which impairs bone healing.
• You take bisphosphonates for osteoporosis, which carries a risk of jaw necrosis and needs specialist assessment.
• You have had radiotherapy to the jaw.
• You grind heavily and will not wear a night guard.

Our self-check below gives you an honest starting answer, and a Valentmedica implantologist reviews your panoramic X-ray free of charge before you commit to anything.

1. CBCT planning: a 3D scan shows exactly how much bone is available and where the nerve and sinus sit. The implant position, angle and length are planned on it before surgery, not improvised during.
2. Anaesthetic: local anaesthetic numbs the area. You feel pressure and vibration but should feel no pain.
3. Opening the gum: a small flap is lifted to expose the bone. In some straightforward cases a flapless technique is used through a punch in the gum.
4. Preparing the site: a sequence of drills widens the channel in careful increments, with constant irrigation to keep the bone below 47°C. Overheating the bone is the classic cause of early failure.
5. Placing the implant: the fixture is screwed in to a measured torque. Good primary stability at this point predicts successful integration.
6. Closing: the gum is sutured over the implant, or a healing cap is fitted so it protrudes slightly, depending on the technique chosen.
7. Integration: three to six months during which bone grows onto the titanium surface. Lower jaws are usually quicker than upper.
8. Second stage: the implant is uncovered, an abutment fitted and the crown made and bonded or screwed into place.

• Days 1–3: swelling and bruising peak around day two. Ice, prescribed painkillers and antibiotics. Soft, cool food only.
• Days 3–7: swelling subsides. Rinse gently with the prescribed mouthwash; do not spit forcefully or use a straw.
• Week 1–2: sutures dissolve or are removed. Most patients are eating normally on the other side.
• Weeks 2–4: the gum has healed over. You can chew gently on the implant side, but nothing hard.
• Months 3–6: bone integration. Nothing visible happens and nothing is wrong. This is simply the wait.
• After the crown: full function. Treat it as a normal tooth with slightly more attention to cleaning around the margin.

Valentmedica works with licensed dental clinics in Istanbul whose implantologists are registered with the Turkish Ministry of Health, and which have in-house CBCT scanning and their own laboratory. You are given your dentist's name and registration number before you pay anything.

Risks you should know about

• Failure to integrate: the implant does not bond and comes loose, usually within the first months. Affects under 5% and is normally re-done.
• Infection: peri-implantitis is an infection around the implant that destroys supporting bone. The leading cause of late failure.
• Nerve injury: in the lower jaw, numbness of the lip and chin. Rare, usually temporary, and avoidable with proper CBCT planning.
• Sinus perforation: in the upper jaw, which is why a sinus lift is done where bone height is insufficient.
• Bleeding and swelling: expected rather than complications.
• Crown or screw loosening: usually easily retightened, but it needs the right parts.
• Bone loss over time: a slow process managed with hygienist care.
• Aesthetic problems: a visible metal margin or gum recession at a front implant, where placement is far less forgiving.

Tell your dentist at home that you have implants, and take your implant passport to every appointment. Implants need professional cleaning with specific instruments — ordinary scaling can damage the surface.

Dentistry is sequential. Gum disease is treated first; extractions heal before or alongside implant placement; bone grafts need months to mature; crowns go on last. A clinic that promises everything in one week is either skipping a step or not placing real implants.

Commonly combined with

• Extractions: often done at the same appointment, with the implant placed immediately into the socket where the bone allows.
• Bone grafting: where the ridge is too narrow or short. Minor grafts heal alongside the implant; major grafts need their own healing period first.
• Sinus lift: in the upper back jaw, where the sinus floor has dropped. See bone graft and sinus lift.
• Gum treatment: non-negotiable before implants if you have periodontal disease.
• Veneers or crowns on other teeth: often planned together so shade and proportion match across the whole smile.

If you need several implants across an arch, ask whether All-on-4 would serve you better. Four or six implants carrying a full fixed bridge is often cheaper and quicker than replacing teeth one at a time.

• Panoramic X-ray: send one before paying a deposit. It is the only way to get a quote that will not change when the CBCT is taken.
• Smoking: stop at least four weeks before and four weeks after. This single factor affects failure rates more than anything else you control.
• Gum health: have a hygienist appointment at home before you travel. Treating gum disease first protects the whole investment.
• Medication: declare blood thinners and especially bisphosphonates, which need specialist assessment before any jaw surgery.
• Plan both trips: book the second trip provisionally when you book the first, so the gap lands conveniently.
• Packing list: soft foods for the first days, your regular medication, and a soft toothbrush.

Published survival rates for well-placed implants in healthy patients are above 95% at ten years. What fails is rarely the titanium. It is the bone and gum around it, lost slowly to peri-implantitis — an infection that behaves much like gum disease and is driven by the same things: plaque, smoking and skipped hygienist appointments.

Practically: brush twice daily, clean between the teeth around every implant with interdental brushes or a water flosser, see a hygienist twice a year and tell them you have implants so they use the right instruments. Patients who do this routinely keep their implants for decades. You can see cases at different stages in our dental before and after gallery.