Missing Tooth in Leicester
Most people who come to us about a missing tooth have been living with it for a while. Sometimes it was taken out in a hurry after an infection, sometimes it was lost years ago and the gap has simply become part of how you chew, and sometimes it is a front tooth that has changed how you feel about smiling in photographs. Whatever the story, the question is usually the same: does it actually need replacing, and if so, with what?
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The honest answer is that it depends on where the gap is and what the teeth around it are doing, and that is not something you can judge in a mirror. Think of a row of books on a shelf. Take one out and the rest look fine for a moment, but over time the books either side lean into the space, the shelf above sags a little, and putting the book back becomes harder than it would have been on the day. Teeth behave the same way, only slowly enough that you don't notice it happening.
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The guide below shows that sequence, explains why teeth are lost in the first place, and sets out the three ways of filling a gap with the price of each. Further down this page we describe how we assess a gap, what an implant journey looks like from first visit to finished crown, what to do if a tooth is about to come out, and who each option suits.
How we assess a gap before recommending anything
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A gap is a three-dimensional problem, so we assess it in three dimensions. At your free smile consultation we take a digital scan of both arches, which shows us exactly how the neighbouring teeth have moved and how much space is actually left, because a gap that looks tooth-sized from the front is often narrower than it appears once the neighbours have tipped in. We take an X-ray of the bone beneath the gap and, if an implant is a possibility, a 3D cone-beam scan that measures the height and width of the bone to the millimetre and shows where the nerve and sinus sit. That scan is what turns "you might be suitable for an implant" into "there is 11 millimetres of bone here and an implant will fit."
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We also look hard at the teeth either side, because two of the three options depend on them. If those teeth are sound and unfilled, most dentists would rather not cut them down for a bridge, and an implant or denture leaves them alone. If they already carry large fillings or crowns, a bridge can be a sensible use of teeth that are going to need work anyway. And we check your gums, since gum disease is the commonest reason teeth are lost in the first place and an implant placed into unstable gums does not last.
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You leave with a written plan setting out all three options with their real advantages, drawbacks and costs, and what is likely to happen if you choose to leave the gap. Nothing is booked at that visit unless you want it to be.
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What an implant journey actually looks like
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People often imagine an implant as one long, dramatic appointment. It is closer to a series of short, calm ones spread over a few months, and the waiting is doing most of the work.
After the planning scan, the implant itself, a small titanium post, is placed into the bone under local anaesthetic.
Most patients are surprised by how uneventful this is; the appointment is usually under an hour and the discomfort afterwards is typically managed with ordinary painkillers for a day or two. The bone then needs time to grow onto the surface of the implant, which takes around three months in the lower jaw and a little longer in the upper. During this time you are not walking around with a visible gap: for a front tooth we make a temporary tooth so nobody knows anything is happening.
Once the implant is solid, we take a scan of it and the laboratory makes a crown to match the colour and shape of your own teeth. Fitting it is a short appointment with no anaesthetic needed. From then on it is cleaned like a tooth, checked like a tooth, and with good care and regular hygiene visits it is expected to last for decades.
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The fee for a single implant with its crown is £3,600. That includes the planning scan, the surgery, the implant, the abutment and the crown; if grafting is needed to rebuild bone first, we tell you before anything starts rather than adding it later.
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When several teeth are missing
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The three options change shape when more than one tooth has gone. A bridge can carry two or three replacement teeth between healthy supports, but the longer the span, the more load lands on the teeth holding it up. Two implants can support a bridge of three or four teeth without touching any natural tooth at all. And where most or all of the teeth in an arch are missing, the choice is usually between a well-made conventional denture and a denture held firmly in place by two to four implants, which stops the movement that makes lower dentures in particular so frustrating to eat with.
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Which of these is right is a planning question rather than a preference question, and it depends on how much bone is left, how the bite has changed, and what you want to be able to eat. We plan the whole arch before we plan any single tooth, because the order in which things are done affects the cost and the result.
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If a tooth is about to come out
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If you are reading this because a tooth is loose, broken or scheduled for extraction, there is a useful window that is easy to miss. The bone that held the root starts to shrink as soon as the tooth is gone, and the fastest loss happens in the first few months. When we know an implant or bridge is likely in future, we can place a small bone graft into the socket on the day of the extraction, which preserves the width and height of the ridge and makes the later replacement simpler and more predictable. It adds a few minutes to the extraction and avoids a much larger graft later.
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So if you have been told a tooth needs to come out, it is worth asking about the replacement before the extraction, not after. If a tooth has just come out or feels loose, call us on 0116 403 0109; a tooth that is loose rather than lost can sometimes still be saved.
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Who each option suits
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An implant suits most healthy adults with enough bone and healthy gums, and is our usual recommendation for a single missing tooth where the neighbours are sound. Smoking, poorly controlled diabetes and untreated gum disease all reduce the chance of an implant integrating, so we will talk about those frankly and sometimes ask for the gums to be stabilised, or a hygiene programme to be under way, before we place anything. Implants are not placed in patients who are still growing, so for a teenager who has lost a front tooth we hold the space with a temporary solution until growth is complete.
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A bridge suits people who want a fixed result without surgery , or who have neighbouring teeth that already need crowns, and it is finished in a few weeks. It is not the right choice where the supporting teeth are weak or heavily filled at the root, because the bridge will only ever be as strong as what holds it.
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A denture suits several missing teeth at once, patients for whom surgery is not appropriate, and anyone who wants the least invasive option or needs something quickly while planning something more permanent. Modern dentures are far better than the ones many people remember from their grandparents, and a good one is a perfectly reasonable long-term choice rather than a fallback.
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Cost and spreading it
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Prices at Smile Serenity are published on our price list and quoted in writing before anything starts. A dental implant with its crown is £3,600. A dental bridge starts from £730 per unit, so a single missing tooth replaced by a three-unit bridge is from £2,190. A denture starts from £850. The smile consultation itself is free.
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We offer 0% finance over 12 months, and for larger plans we stage the work so that the cost arrives in stages: stabilise the gums first, extract and preserve if needed, then restore. We will always say which parts are time-sensitive and which can reasonably wait, so the decision about what to do and when stays with you.
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Related pages
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Missing teeth rarely arrive alone, and the right next page depends on your situation. If the tooth was lost to gum disease, or your gums bleed when you brush, start with our guide to gum disease. If a tooth is broken or has just come out, our emergency dentist page explains what to do in the first hour and how quickly we can see you. For the treatments themselves, see dental implants in Leicester, dental bridges and dentures. Where a tooth never came through and the gap is small, Invisalign can sometimes close the space rather than fill it. All of our condition guides are collected on the dental conditions hub.
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Find us
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Smile Serenity Dental Care is at 72A Lutterworth Road, Aylestone, Leicester LE2 8PG, with free parking and easy access from Wigston, Oadby, Enderby, Westcotes and Leicester City . Call 0116 403 0109 or book a free smile consultation online . If you feel embarrassed about how long you have left a gap, or you are anxious about treatment, say so when you book and we will take extra time.
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Published by Dr Ashwyn Roy - Principal Dentist at Smile Serenity Dental Care - GDC 272634 - Last reviewed on 11/09/26
