The research blog
Each article takes one question about full-mouth implant treatment and works through the published evidence. Written by the Precious Dental team and reviewed by our implant surgeon.
Reading the evidence
Case reports to Cochrane: how much weight each kind of implant evidence deserves
Which kinds of study to trust for which questions, from case reports to Cochrane reviews.
Read the article →Reading the evidenceFrom a Swedish laboratory to same-day teeth: a short history of full-arch implants
Osseointegration, the first patients in 1965, rough surfaces, tilted implants and same-day teeth.
Read the article →Reading the evidenceHow to read a dental implant study without a science degree
Design, patients, follow-up, drop-outs, definitions and funding: the questions that tell you what a percentage is worth.
Read the article →Reading the evidenceTeeth on implants straight away, or after healing? What the trials and reviews found
Cochrane and systematic review evidence on immediate, early and conventional loading, and its limits.
Read the article →Reading the evidenceImplant survival versus implant success: what the criteria actually say
Why a surviving implant is not automatically a successful one, and the criteria researchers use.
Read the article →Reading the evidenceSurvival curves and cumulative survival rates, explained for implant patients
How cumulative survival is calculated, what censoring means and the assumption that can flatter results.
Read the article →Reading the evidenceEating, comfort and confidence: how implant studies measure what patients care about
OHIP-14, satisfaction scores and what crossover trials of fixed versus removable implant teeth found.
Read the article →Reading the evidenceWhat the Swedish population studies found about implants in everyday practice
Early and late implant loss and peri-implantitis in a random national sample followed for nine years.
Read the article →Reading the evidenceWhy a clinic's implant success rate is hard to compare with anything
Definitions, denominators and lost follow-up: why single clinic percentages do not compare, and what to ask instead.
Read the article →Materials and engineering
Implant connections and platform switching: the joint you never see
External hex, internal and conical joints, platform switching, and what the trials found.
Read the article →Materials and engineeringMachined, blasted, etched or anodised: dental implant surfaces explained
What blasting, acid-etching and anodising do to an implant surface, and what the bone evidence shows.
Read the article →Materials and engineeringMulti-unit abutments: the small part that makes a fixed full arch possible
What multi-unit abutments are, straight vs angled, heights, and why full-arch bridges use them.
Read the article →Materials and engineeringPassive fit: why a full-arch framework must sit without strain
Why a rigid full-arch bridge must match implant positions closely, and how milling helps.
Read the article →Materials and engineeringScrew preload and torque: how implant screws hold, and why they sometimes loosen
How small implant screws hold by stretching, what Ncm values mean, and why chewing loosens them.
Read the article →Materials and engineeringGrade 4, grade 5 and titanium-zirconium: what the numbers on implant titanium mean
Pure titanium grades 1–4, Ti-6Al-4V and titanium-zirconium: strength, stiffness and where each is used.
Read the article →Materials and engineeringWhat temporary full-arch teeth are made of, and why they are built to be replaced
PMMA, composite and printed resin provisionals: properties, strength figures and breakage rates.
Read the article →Materials and engineering3Y, 4Y and 5Y zirconia: strength, translucency and full-arch teeth
What the yttria numbers mean, why translucency costs strength, and what full-arch studies show.
Read the article →Bone, gum and healing
Bone density classes D1 to D4: what 'soft bone' means for implants
What bone types 1–4 and D1–D4 mean, where they occur, and how reliable the grading is.
Read the article →Bone, gum and healingEarly versus late implant failure: two different problems
Why implants fail before the teeth go on versus years later, with Swedish and clinic figures.
Read the article →Bone, gum and healingImplant length and diameter: reading the numbers on your implant card
How to read 4.0 × 11.5 on an implant card, and how diameter and length are chosen.
Read the article →Bone, gum and healingFirm gum or loose gum around implants: does it make a difference?
What the research says about the firm band of gum around implants, and when a gum graft is worth discussing.
Read the article →Bone, gum and healingMarginal bone loss around implants: how much is normal?
Expected first-year remodelling, the success criteria, and when bone change around implants is a warning.
Read the article →Bone, gum and healingPlatelet-rich fibrin (PRF): what it is and what the evidence shows
Your own blood, spun into a healing gel: what platelet-rich fibrin can and cannot do in implant surgery.
Read the article →Bone, gum and healingShort implants instead of bone grafting: what the trials show
Short implants in native bone vs grafting plus standard implants: survival, complications, bone loss.
Read the article →Bone, gum and healingVitamin D and implant healing: what the studies do and do not show
Low vitamin D and early implant failure: a careful reading of the studies, and what to ask your doctor.
Read the article →Planning and technology
How much radiation is a dental CBCT scan? The numbers in context
CBCT doses from a meta-analysis, set beside dental X-rays, long-haul flights and yearly background radiation.
Read the article →Planning and technologyRecording a full arch of implants: impressions, scanners and photogrammetry
How the lab learns where your implants are: impressions, scanners and photogrammetry compared, in microns.
Read the article →Planning and technologyHow the bite is designed on full-arch implant teeth
The design logic behind how full-arch implant teeth meet and slide, and why the evidence is thinner than you might expect.
Read the article →Planning and technologySleep apnoea, CPAP and full-mouth implants
Snoring, CPAP and sleep appliances: how sleep apnoea overlaps with planning and living with full-mouth implants.
Read the article →Planning and technologyZirconia (ceramic) implants for a full arch: what the evidence shows
Ceramic implants for a full arch: survival data, design limits and the gap in long-term full-arch evidence.
Read the article →Travel and money
Irish tax relief on dental implants abroad: what Revenue says about the Med 2
Revenue's rules on claiming 20% relief for implants done abroad, the Med 2 form, and what does not qualify.
Read the article →Travel and moneyJet lag and implant surgery: planning your rest after a long-haul flight
How to plan rest days before surgery when you cross many time zones to reach Antalya.
Read the article →Get your own full-mouth plan and price in writing
Send a recent panoramic X-ray or CBCT scan, or a few clear photos. Our implant surgeon reviews them and you receive an itemised plan in pounds, with approximate euro and dollar figures, before you book anything.