Frequently Asked Questions

The short answer: yes, you can get dental implants even if you have been scared of dentists for years. Teja Priyadarshini avoided dentists her whole life. At The Smile Super Speciality Dental Clinic she got two implants, one upper and one lower, with every step explained before it happened and a pause whenever she felt discomfort. This page shows her real scans, her X-ray, her new teeth and her bite checks. At the end, she tells you how it went in her own words.

Who Teja is, and why her case is public

In her words: "My fear of dentists was so high that I could never go to a dentist."

Her mother had been treated by Dr. Rajesh Kumar Y years earlier. So when Teja was finally ready, she came to him. Two back teeth were missing on her left side. One in the upper jaw. One in the lower.

She agreed to let us show all of it, with her name on it. Most implant pages show you a shiny finished tooth. This one shows you what happens under the gum, because that is what decides how long an implant lasts. It is also what a nervous person wants to understand before sitting in the chair.

Step 1: a 3D scan to find the nerve

See the two orange lines curving through the lower jaw? That is the nerve canal. The nerve inside gives feeling to the lower lip and chin. A lower back tooth implant has to sit above it with a safe gap, and that gap is measured in millimetres.

A regular flat X-ray squeezes a 3D jaw into a 2D picture, so it can't show that gap reliably. That is why we take a CBCT scan, which is a 3D X-ray, before placing a lower implant. The doctor scrolls through the jaw slice by slice and traces the nerve by hand. The orange line is that tracing, not the machine's guess.

From the scan we measure how tall the bone is above the nerve, how wide it is from cheek side to tongue side, and how dense it is. Those numbers pick the implant's length and width. If the bone is not enough, we say so here, before anything is done. Sometimes that means a bone graft first. Sometimes a bridge suits better. Sometimes waiting is fine.

For someone who is nervous, this step helps in another way. You see your own jaw on the screen, and every decision is explained against it. Nothing comes as a surprise later.

Step 2: why an implant and not a bridge

A bridge fills a gap by holding on to the teeth on either side. To do that, both of those teeth are shaved down to take caps.

Teja's neighbouring teeth were healthy. Shaving two good teeth to replace one missing tooth was the wrong trade. An implant stands on its own, and the teeth beside it stay untouched. That is the whole reason. For a side by side look at implants, bridges and dentures, read our implants vs bridges vs dentures guide.

Step 3: the X-ray after

The two bright screw shapes on the left are her implants. Here is what a dentist checks on an X-ray like this, and what you can ask your own dentist to show you:

It is your jaw. A good clinic will happily walk you through this picture.

Step 4: the small dot on each new tooth

Look at the back teeth in these two photos. One tooth in each jaw has a small round dot in the middle.

That dot is a sealed screw hole. It tells you the crown is screw-retained. A tiny screw holds it to the implant, and the hole is then closed with tooth-coloured filling. The other way is to glue the crown on with dental cement. That is quicker. We chose the screw for two plain reasons.

No cement is left under the gum. In one well known study, dentists used a tiny camera to look around implants with gum inflammation. They found leftover cement in about eight out of ten of them, and once it was cleaned away, most settled down (Wilson, Journal of Periodontology, 2009). A screw-retained crown keeps that gum clean from day one.

It can come off. If the porcelain chips in ten years, or the gum around the implant needs a deep clean, we open the dot, unscrew the crown, fix it and put it back. A cemented crown usually has to be cut off and remade.

Step 5: four bite checks nobody photographs

A natural tooth sits in its socket on a thin cushion of ligament. When you bite hard, it gives a little. You feel it and ease off.

An implant is fused straight to bone. It has no cushion, and you feel much less through it. So if an implant crown sits even slightly high, it takes extra load on every bite, all day, and you won't notice.

That is why we set the bite with care. After fitting, we check it in four positions: teeth closed, jaw slid left, jaw slid right, and jaw pushed forward. With the teeth closed, the implant crown touches a little lighter than the natural teeth next to it. When the jaw slides, the canines and front teeth guide the movement and the back teeth, implants included, lift apart. Marking paper shows every contact. Any heavy spot gets polished before you leave, and we check again at review because bites settle.

It takes about ten minutes. It is one of the biggest reasons an implant stays comfortable for years.

How the fear part was handled

The clinical steps are half of Teja's story. The other half is how it felt. In her own words, this is what made the difference:

If you are scared of dentists, tell us at your first visit. It changes how we pace things. It does not change whether we can help.

In Teja's words

Here is what she said, word for word, with only the pauses taken out:

Hi, my name is Teja Priyadarshini, and this is my review for Smile Dental Clinic. Dr. Rajesh has been exceptionally good with the entire process. In fact, I know him for quite some time now because my mother also was his patient at some point. And my fear of dentists was so high that I could never go to a dentist.

But when I met Dr. Rajesh and he hand-held me through the entire process, I felt so comfortable. Every step of the way was explained so clearly. My fear dissipated when Dr. Shravan also was so kind and patient with me. Every time I had any sort of discomfort, they would immediately stop and make sure that something was given for the discomfort, or the process was altered in some way so that I didn't feel the discomfort anymore.

But all in all, the entire process was so smooth. I have no complaints about going to a dentist again. And I can tell you a hundred percent that my fear of going to a dentist is now completely gone.

Thanks to Dr. Rajesh and Dr. Sravan. I wish both of them all the best in the future, and I hope Smile Dental becomes more prosperous and everyone hears about this particular place, because Dr. Rajesh is amazing and he is so sweet and kind, and everything you need to know is explained. All the options are given to you. You can then choose what is the best option for you.

And I would say that my smile is back, my confidence is back, because of Dr. Rajesh and Dr. Shravan. So I thank them both, and I thank Smile Clinic for an excellent job.

We are grateful to Teja for this. Letting strangers see inside your mouth, and putting your name next to it, is not a small thing. She did it so the next person who has been putting off the dentist for years has something real to look at.

What this case does not show

The healing time. An implant needs a few months to fuse with the bone before the final crown goes on. The lower jaw usually heals faster than the upper, where the bone is softer. Your scan sets your timeline, not a package.

The cost. It depends on the implant system, whether bone grafting is needed and the type of crown. You get a written estimate after the scan. Our dental implant cost guide gives the typical range.

That everyone needs an implant. Some gaps are fine as they are. Some suit a bridge better. If that is you, we will say so.

Is your situation similar?

A plan like Teja's usually fits if:

Heavy smoking or diabetes that is not under control can slow healing. Implants can still work. It is a conversation for the chair, with your reports in hand.

Start with a scan

Book a 3D scan consultation at our Kondapur clinic in Hyderabad or our Visakhapatnam clinic, or message us on WhatsApp. The doctor will show you your own nerve line, your own bone and every option that fits. Then you decide.

More on the treatment itself: dental implants at The Smile Super Speciality Dental Clinic. Serving families since 1997.