What teeth in a day actually means
4 September 2026
The phrase is not a lie. It is a true description of about a quarter of the treatment, and the other three quarters are the part you should ask about.
You will have seen the adverts. Arrive with failing teeth in the morning, leave the same afternoon with a full fixed bridge. It is real, it is done in this practice, and the photographs are genuine.
What the photograph shows is a provisional bridge. It goes on the same day when the implants are stable enough to carry it, which is a genuine clinical achievement and a very different experience from going home with nothing. It is also temporary. It is made of acrylic, it is designed to be replaced, and it is not the bridge you will have in two years.
The final bridge is made after the bone has integrated with the implants, three to six months later, and it is the one that has to last. Between those two points there are review appointments, an impression stage and usually a trial fitting.
So the honest sentence is: teeth in a day, and the proper teeth about six months after that. Any practice willing to say the second half of that sentence before you have paid a deposit is a practice worth listening to. Any practice that only says the first half has told you something true in a way designed to leave a false impression, and you should wonder what else gets described that way.
What a bone graft adds to the timeline
Four to six months, in front of everything else. It is the single largest thing a scan changes about a plan, and it is the most common reason a quote given over the phone turns out to be wrong.
Why we scan before we quote
A price given before a scan is a guess with a number attached. The scan costs us an appointment. Quoting without it costs the patient their trust, usually at the worst possible moment.