What a bone graft adds to the timeline
18 July 2026
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.
Bone resorbs once a tooth comes out. The socket begins to collapse within weeks and continues for years, and by the time somebody decides to replace a tooth they lost in their thirties there is often not enough height or width left to place an implant safely.
The fix is grafting: rebuilding the site with graft material, letting it mature, and placing the implant into it afterwards. It works well and it is routine. What it is not is quick. Four to six months of healing before the implant goes in, and only then does the normal three to six months of integration start.
That is why we will not give you a price on the phone. Two patients with an identical looking gap can be nine months apart in treatment time and thousands apart in cost, and the only thing that tells the difference is a three dimensional scan.
A sinus lift is the same conversation in the upper back jaw, where the floor of the sinus has dropped into the space the roots used to occupy. Same principle, same honest answer: it is very doable, and it is not fast.
If a graft is what your scan shows, you will hear it at the consultation with the image on the screen in front of you, not in a phone call three weeks into treatment.
What teeth in a day actually means
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.
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.