With Takapuna's wonderful choice of restaurants, cafés and beachside dining spots, there's certainly no shortage of reasons to enjoy a good meal.

But if you're living with missing back teeth, uncomfortable dentures or difficulty chewing, even your favourite foods can become frustrating.

Dental implants can help restore the stability and comfortable function you've been missing.

A dental implant replaces the root of a missing tooth with a small post, usually made from titanium, positioned within the jawbone.

As the surrounding bone heals and bonds with the implant, it creates a stable foundation for a custom-made replacement tooth, usually a ceramic crown.

Dental implants may help you:

• Chew More Comfortably: Restore stable biting and chewing, particularly when missing back teeth have affected how you eat.

• Enjoy More Foods: Reduce the need to constantly favour one side of your mouth.

• Restore Your Bite: Help re-establish comfortable function and distribute chewing forces.

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

• Support Jawbone Health: Help preserve bone around the implant.

• Smile with Confidence: Restore missing teeth with natural-looking replacements designed around your smile.

What if you're missing several teeth or wear dentures?

Dental implants aren't just for replacing a single tooth.

Depending on your circumstances, they may also support:

• Implant-Supported Bridges: Replacing several missing teeth with a restoration supported by implants.

• Implant-Retained Dentures: Providing greater stability for suitable patients who find conventional removable dentures uncomfortable or loose.

Of course, dental implants aren't suitable for everyone. Your jawbone, gum health, remaining teeth and general health all influence the available treatment options.

At Accent Dentists, we'll explain the benefits, limitations and alternatives before recommending a treatment.

Because choosing your next meal should be about what you'd love to eat, not what your teeth will allow.

Restoring a strong, comfortable bite takes more than simply placing a replacement tooth into an empty space.

The positioning, materials, planning and attention to detail all matter.

This is particularly important for back teeth, which are exposed to substantial chewing forces every day.

At Accent Dentists in Ponsonby, Dr Matt Sumner brings more than 30 years of dental experience, with a strong focus on restorative, cosmetic 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 modern dental technology and careful treatment planning.

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 appreciation for colour, shape and proportion, Celina brings a thoughtful approach to creating restorations that look natural and work comfortably with your existing teeth.

Our approach considers:

• Your Jawbone and Gums: Assessing the available support and health of the surrounding tissues.

• Your Natural Teeth: Designing restorations that complement the colour, shape and proportions of your smile.

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

• Your Bite: Understanding how your upper and lower teeth meet and distribute chewing forces.

• Grinding or Clenching: Considering additional protection where excessive biting forces may affect your restoration.

• Long-Term Oral Health: Planning for ongoing maintenance and the health of your remaining teeth.

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 simply to create a replacement tooth that looks good in photographs. It's to create one that works comfortably when you're enjoying your favourite meal.

And in a neighbourhood with as many wonderful places to eat as Takapuna, that's an important distinction.

Dental implant treatment generally involves several stages, with the overall timeframe depending on your jawbone health, healing and individual treatment needs.

For Takapuna residents considering dental implants, our Ponsonby practice is accessible across the Harbour Bridge, offering personalised implant and restorative care.

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 the 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 suitable denture restoration is fitted.

• 7. Ongoing Care: Regular dental examinations and good oral hygiene help maintain your implant and surrounding tissues.

How long does treatment take?

For many patients, treatment takes several months, although the timeframe varies depending on healing and whether additional procedures are needed.

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

If dental implants aren't the most appropriate option, we'll discuss other suitable ways to restore your smile.

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

Takapuna locals certainly aren't short of opportunities to enjoy an active lifestyle.

From paddleboarding and kayaking on Lake Pupuke to rugby, hockey, football and weekend adventures along the coast, there's always something happening.

Of course, an active lifestyle occasionally comes with an unexpected souvenir.

A collision on the sports field, an accidental elbow or an unfortunate encounter with sporting equipment can sometimes result in a chipped, broken or completely knocked-out tooth.

If you've lost a tooth through a sporting accident, dental implants may provide a suitable long-term replacement option.

Your treatment will depend on several factors:

• Extent of the Injury: Whether your natural tooth can still be repaired or saved.

• Jawbone Health: Whether sufficient healthy bone is available to support an implant.

• Surrounding Teeth and Gums: Assessing the condition of the neighbouring structures.

• Age and Jaw Development: Implant treatment for younger patients generally needs to wait until jaw growth is complete.

• Treatment Timing: Understanding whether additional healing or preparation is required.

Can ACC Help Cover the Cost?

If you've lost or damaged a tooth through a sporting accident, fall or another eligible injury, ACC may contribute towards dental treatment, including dental implants in approved cases.

At Accent Dentists, we can help explain the relevant clinical documentation, treatment planning and approval process.

ACC contributions depend on your individual circumstances, and there may be costs that aren't covered.

If your injury has just happened, it's important to seek prompt dental care. A knocked-out permanent tooth may sometimes be saved if treated quickly, so an implant isn't necessarily the first option.

Because while sport is supposed to be good for you, we appreciate that it occasionally has other ideas.

And our aim is to help you get back to enjoying the activities you love with a smile that feels comfortable and naturally your own.