6 Essential Things to Expect at The Briars in an Implant Consultation…
If you’re considering dental implants, the implant consultation is where your journey properly begins. It’s the appointment that turns a general interest in implants into a clear, personalised picture of what treatment could look like for you – and it’s often the point at which patients feel a genuine sense of relief, because the unknown becomes known.
This article walks you through exactly what happens at an implant consultation at The Briars, so you can arrive feeling informed and prepared rather than uncertain about what you’re walking into.
Dental implants are not an off-the-shelf solution. Every patient has a different starting point – different bone volume, different gum health, different medical history, different aesthetic goals. The implant consultation exists to gather a complete picture of your individual situation before any treatment decisions are made, and to give you the information you need to make those decisions with confidence.
A thorough implant consultation is also the moment at which any factors that might affect treatment – bone loss, gum disease, smoking, certain medications – are identified and discussed honestly. At The Briars, we believe in giving patients a realistic picture from the outset, because the best outcomes come from good planning and honest conversations, not from rushing to a treatment plan before the full picture is clear.
Your First Conversation: The Treatment Coordinator Appointment
Every implant journey at The Briars begins not with a clinical appointment but with a conversation. Before you meet a clinician, you’ll spend time with our Treatment Coordinator – a free, relaxed appointment with no clinical examination and no pressure to proceed.
This is your opportunity to talk about what’s brought you to the point of considering implants, what concerns you have, what you’ve perhaps heard from other sources, and what outcome you’re hoping for. Our Treatment Coordinator will give you a clear overview of the implant process, answer your initial questions, and make sure you understand what the next steps involve before you commit to anything.
For many patients, this appointment alone is enormously reassuring – particularly for those who have been putting off the conversation because they weren’t sure what to expect or were anxious about what they might be told.
Your Clinical Assessment
Following your Treatment Coordinator appointment, you’ll meet with one of our experienced implant clinicians – Nick French, or Richard Lilleker for patients already under his care. This is the clinical element of your implant consultation, and it involves a thorough assessment of your current oral health.
Your clinician will examine your teeth and gums, review your dental and medical history, and discuss any factors that are relevant to implant suitability. Gum health is assessed carefully at this stage – active gum disease needs to be stabilised before implant placement can proceed, and if periodontal treatment is needed first, this will be discussed as part of your overall pathway.
Following the Consultation: Advanced Imaging: CBCT and Digital Scanning
One of the things that sets an implant consultation at The Briars apart is the diagnostic technology available to support it. All implant cases are planned using CBCT imaging – a three-dimensional scan that gives your clinician a detailed picture of your bone volume, bone quality, and the precise location of anatomical structures such as nerves and the sinus cavity.
This level of imaging is not universally available at every dental practice, and it makes a meaningful difference to the quality and safety of treatment planning. A two-dimensional OPG X-ray shows a great deal, but it cannot provide the three-dimensional picture that precise implant positioning requires. At The Briars, larger CBCT scans are sent to a consultant radiologist for reporting — the same standard you would expect in a hospital setting.
We also use our iTero or Shining 3D intraoral scanners to capture precise digital impressions of your teeth and soft tissue, eliminating the need for traditional moulds and providing highly accurate records that feed directly into your treatment plan.
An Honest Discussion About Suitability
One of the most important elements of a good implant consultation is honesty – and this is something we take seriously at The Briars. Not every patient who comes for an implant consultation will be immediately suitable for implant placement, and it wouldn’t be right to suggest otherwise.
Where bone loss is present, your clinician will explain the extent of it and what options exist – whether that’s a bone graft, a sinus lift, an alternative implant configuration such as All-on-Four, or a different approach altogether. Where gum disease needs to be treated first, that pathway will be clearly outlined. Where smoking or a medical condition affects the risk profile of treatment, this will be discussed honestly and without judgement.
The goal of the implant consultation at The Briars is never to sell you a treatment plan – it’s to give you a genuinely accurate picture of your situation and your options, so that any decision you make is a fully informed one.
Your Personalised Treatment Plan
Where implant treatment is appropriate, your clinician will put together a personalised treatment plan that sets out the proposed treatment in full – the number of implants, any preparatory procedures needed, the anticipated timeline, and the associated costs.
This is presented clearly and without pressure. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions, request time to think, and discuss finance options if spreading the cost would be helpful. At The Briars, finance is available on treatment plans over £1,000, with options up to 60 months and 0% APR available, which many implant patients find makes the investment considerably more manageable.
Nothing is booked or confirmed until you’re ready to proceed – the treatment plan is a proposal, not a commitment.
What Happens After Your Implant Consultation
Once you’ve had your implant consultation, and the planning appointment, there will be time to consider the treatment plan, and if you decide you’d like to go ahead, the next stage is booking your surgical appointment. Your clinician will have already used the CBCT data and digital records gathered to plan the precise positioning of your implants using surgical guides, so by the time you come in for placement, the groundwork has been done thoroughly.
The Association of Dental Implantology has detailed patient information on what to expect from implant treatment, which is worth reading alongside the guidance your clinical team provides.
Whether you’ve been thinking about implants for some time or have only recently started to consider them, the implant consultation is always the right place to start. It’s an information-gathering exercise as much as a clinical one — and you’ll leave with a far clearer picture of your options than you arrived with.
At The Briars, we welcome patients for implant consultations from across West Berkshire and beyond, including referrals from other practices. Get in touch with our team or book your Treatment Coordinator appointment online – we’ll take it from there.
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