Remuera has always appreciated the importance of strong foundations.

Whether it's a carefully maintained character home, an established garden or a much-loved local landmark, what happens beneath the surface often determines how well something lasts.

Your smile is much the same.

When a tooth is lost, a dental implant can provide a stable foundation for a custom-made replacement tooth.

A small implant, usually made from titanium, is carefully positioned within the jawbone. As the surrounding bone heals and integrates with the implant, it creates support for a ceramic crown, bridge or another suitable restoration.

Dental implants can help you:

• Restore Comfortable Chewing: Provide a stable replacement designed to support everyday biting and chewing.

• Preserve Healthy Teeth: Replace a single missing tooth without reshaping healthy neighbouring teeth.

• Support Jawbone Health: Help preserve the bone around the missing tooth area.

• Create a Natural-Looking Smile: Support a custom-made restoration designed to complement your surrounding teeth.

• Restore Your Bite: Help re-establish comfortable function when missing teeth have affected how you chew.

• Replace One or Several Teeth: Support individual crowns, implant bridges or other suitable restorations.

Of course, dental implants aren't suitable for everyone.

The health of your gums, available jawbone, medical history and condition of your remaining teeth all influence the treatment options available.

At Accent Dentists, we'll carefully assess your individual needs and explain whether a dental implant is appropriate.

Because a beautiful result isn't simply about filling the gap. It's about rebuilding the support that allows everything around it to work together.

There's something rather satisfying about a beautifully maintained Remuera home.

The proportions feel right. The materials have been carefully chosen. And even the smallest details contribute to the overall result.

We believe the same principles apply to creating a natural-looking dental implant restoration.

Natural teeth aren't identical little white blocks. They have subtle variations in colour, shape, texture and translucency that make every smile unique.

At Accent Dentists in Ponsonby, Dr Matt Sumner brings more than 30 years of dental experience, with a strong focus on cosmetic, restorative and implant dentistry.

A Founding Member of the New Zealand Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and the Dental Implant Network Group, Dr Matt combines extensive clinical experience with careful treatment planning and modern dental technology.

Alongside him, Dr Celina Sim is an Otago-trained dentist with more than eight years of experience in cosmetic and restorative dentistry.

With an artist's eye for colour, contour and proportion, Celina brings a thoughtful approach to the details that help restorations blend naturally with your existing teeth.

Our approach considers:

• Your Natural Smile: Matching the colour, shape and proportions of your surrounding teeth.

• Jawbone and Gum Health: Assessing the foundations needed to support your implant.

• Implant Positioning: Carefully planning placement for natural appearance and comfortable function.

• Your Bite: Understanding how your upper and lower teeth work together.

• Long-Term Oral Health: Considering how your restoration will function and be maintained over time.

Together, Dr Matt and Dr Celina bring more than 40 years of combined dental experience to their approach to restorative dentistry.

Our aim isn't to create a replacement tooth that announces itself as the newest addition to your smile. It's to create something that feels as though it has always belonged.

Because beautifully natural dentistry is often about getting the smallest details just right.

Anyone who's undertaken a restoration project in Remuera knows that achieving a lasting result requires more than choosing the finishing touches.

The assessment, preparation and careful planning all matter.

Dental implant treatment is much the same.

For Remuera residents considering dental implants, our Ponsonby practice offers personalised consultations and carefully planned restorative treatment.

Your dental implant journey typically includes:

• 1. Initial Consultation: We discuss your concerns, examine your teeth and gums, and assess whether dental implants may be suitable.

• 2. Treatment Planning: Appropriate imaging helps us evaluate your jawbone and carefully plan the positioning of your implant.

• 3. Additional Preparation (If Required): Some patients may require tooth extraction, bone grafting or other treatment before implant placement.

• 4. Implant Placement: A small implant is carefully positioned within your jawbone.

• 5. Healing Period: Time is allowed for the implant to integrate with the surrounding bone.

• 6. Final Restoration: A custom-made crown, bridge or other suitable restoration is fitted to complement your natural teeth.

• 7. Ongoing Care: Regular dental examinations and good oral hygiene help support the long-term health of your implant.

How long does treatment take?

Dental implant treatment often takes several months, although the overall timeframe depends on your jawbone health, healing and whether additional procedures are required.

At Accent Dentists, we'll explain each stage, the expected timeframe, likely costs and available alternatives before you decide to proceed.

Because good decisions come from understanding your options, not feeling hurried into making one.

Ponsonby has never been particularly shy about appreciating beautiful things.

From thoughtfully renovated character villas and beautifully designed interiors to the independent boutiques, cafés and restaurants along Ponsonby Road, there's a genuine appreciation for good design and attention to detail.

And naturally, we think your smile deserves the same consideration.

But just as the most beautiful home needs to function comfortably for the people living in it, a beautiful smile needs to do more than look good in photographs.

Your teeth work together. Each tooth contributes to:

• The balance of your bite

• The spacing between neighbouring teeth

• The way you chew, speak and smile

When one tooth is missing, the effects can extend beyond its appearance.

You might begin:

• Favouring one side when eating

• Neighbouring teeth may gradually drift towards the gap

• Or the loss of supporting bone may make replacing the tooth more complicated over time

A carefully planned dental implant can help restore that missing support.

And when it comes to the visible restoration, the details matter enormously.

• The shape of the implant crown.

• Its proportions.

• The way it meets the teeth beside it.

• The subtle variations in colour and texture that help natural teeth look like natural teeth.

Having helped many Ponsonby patients with dental implant solutions for missing teeth, we know that a successful restoration is about more than simply filling a gap. It's about restoring comfortable chewing, creating a tooth that looks naturally at home alongside its neighbours, and helping you enjoy life without giving your teeth a second thought.

At Accent Dentists, we believe the best restorative dentistry should complement what you already have, rather than look like something that's been added afterwards.

Dr Matt Sumner and Dr Celina Sim bring together:

• Restorative experience

• Careful clinical planning

• An artistic appreciation for the details that make a smile feel balanced and naturally beautiful

Whether we're replacing a front tooth that's visible every time you laugh or a back molar that's quietly doing the hard work behind the scenes, we consider how the restoration will function with your existing teeth.

Because even when a tooth isn't particularly visible, it still has an important relationship with the rest of your smile.

Rather like the beautifully restored villas around Ponsonby, the most successful additions are often the ones that look and feel as though they've always belonged.