How Long Do Dental Treatments Take? Implants, Crowns and Veneers

Why the answer comes in stages, not days

Four things set the length of a treatment.

• What has to be treated first. Decay, gum disease or infection comes before a crown, veneer or implant.
• Laboratory work. Crowns and veneers are made to measure between appointments.
• Healing. An implant usually has to fuse with the bone before it carries the final tooth.
• How appointments are grouped. That depends on the plan and on you.

So this article gives no number of days. Nobody can give yours before an examination. After it, your plan should say how many visits you need, what each covers and how long the gaps are.

Crowns: what happens at each appointment

These steps are for a crown made in a laboratory for a natural tooth. There is more than one appointment, with the laboratory work in between; a bridge or several crowns may take longer. Whether a crown can be made in one visit depends on the material and the method, so ask your dentist. Materials are compared on our zirconia crowns page.

1. Examination: An examination, with X-rays where needed, decides whether the tooth needs a crown or something smaller.
2. Preparing the tooth: Under local anaesthetic, every surface is reduced. A scan or impression is taken and a temporary crown fitted.
3. Laboratory: The crown is made to measure. Avoid hard and sticky food on the temporary.
4. Try-in and cementing: Fit, bite and shade are checked. Once you agree, the crown is cemented.

Veneers: what happens at each appointment

These steps are for porcelain veneers made in a laboratory. They follow a similar path, with one step worth time of its own: seeing the planned shape before any enamel is removed. Enamel taken off for a veneer does not grow back², so the tooth will always need a veneer or another restoration. The trial is when the choice is still fully open.

If you want your natural teeth whiter, whitening comes first, because ceramic does not change colour afterwards. Ask how long to wait between the two.

1. Examination: Enamel, gums and bite are assessed, and less invasive options discussed.
2. Trial of the shape: The planned shape can be tried on your teeth in a temporary material, before any tooth is touched.
3. Preparing the teeth: Under local anaesthetic, a thin layer is removed from the front, aiming to stay within the enamel. A scan or impression is taken, and temporary veneers may be fitted while the laboratory works.
4. Laboratory: The ceramic is made to measure and matched to the neighbouring teeth.
5. Try-in and bonding: Shape, colour and bite are checked. Once bonded, the colour cannot be changed.

Implants: surgery, healing, then the tooth

Implant treatment has two main stages, the surgery and the crown or bridge, with healing in between. The full steps are on our dental implants page.

When the crown or bridge is complete, an X-ray and gum measurements are taken as a baseline record³. Later changes are compared with it. After that, implants need a structured programme of regular checks⁴, set for your risk rather than taken from a routine check-up interval.

1. Examination and 3D scan: Bone, gums and medical history are assessed, and the plan is given in writing.
2. Preparation: Decay and gum disease are treated first. If a tooth comes out, the implant may go in at the same session or later.
3. Surgery: The implant is placed under local anaesthetic, with sedation if you want it and it suits you.
4. Check after surgery: The area is checked in the first weeks, and stitches are removed if you have them. You are given eating and cleaning instructions for the healing period, including when a temporary tooth went on the implant.
5. Healing: The implant fuses with the bone over months, often faster in the lower jaw. You are told your own period after the examination.
6. The final crown or bridge: Once healing is confirmed, a scan or impression is taken and the crown or bridge is fitted.

Can implant treatment be done faster?

Sometimes, for selected patients. Research names three timings for fitting the tooth: immediate (within a week), early (one week to two months) and conventional (after two months)¹.

The studies do not agree. A Cochrane review of 26 randomised trials compared loading times, with follow-up of four months to a year. Between immediate and conventional loading, it found no convincing difference in failure of the implant or of the teeth fitted on it¹. Most of its trials had a high or unclear risk of bias. A review of 39 randomised trials reported slightly lower implant survival⁵ with immediate loading.

Placing the implant at the extraction saves a wait too. In one review, about 95 in 100 implants placed straight into the socket⁶ survived, against about 98 in 100 in healed bone. The authors advise caution.

A tooth on the day of surgery needs the implant to hold firmly in the bone. That tooth is usually temporary, with the final one after healing; ask which yours would be. We have found no good research comparing a whole treatment compressed into a few days with one staged over months. The loading studies above compare when the tooth is fitted, not whole treatment schedules.

What can add time

A bone graft or a sinus lift

A small graft done with the implant often adds no separate wait. In a staged graft, the bone is left to form for months before the implant goes in. See our bone grafting page.

One trial shows how much a graft can add. It had 71 participants whose upper jaw had too little bone for standard implants. With a graft and then standard implants, teeth were fitted on average about 444 days from the start⁷. With zygomatic implants, anchored in the cheekbone, it took about 1.3 days. But zygomatic implants had more complications, though fewer implant losses. They are not a routine option or a shortcut for people who can have standard implants. The review calls the surgery technically demanding, notes possible serious complications and rates its evidence moderate to low certainty.

Treatment that comes first

Decay, gum disease and infection are treated before any crown, veneer or implant. A tooth may need root canal treatment before its crown.

Health and habits

Smoking impairs healing. Blood-sugar control and your medicines are reviewed before surgery.

Changes along the way

A try-in may show a crown or veneer needs adjusting. If an implant does not hold firmly enough for a temporary tooth on it, another option is used. One is a removable denture adjusted to spare the healing area. Agree the backup before surgery.

When to contact your dentist between appointments

Contact your dentist if:

• a temporary crown or veneer comes off or breaks (keep it; do not glue it back yourself)
• pain gets worse instead of better, or wakes you at night
• your bite feels high
• after implant surgery, bleeding does not stop, swelling increases after the first days, the gum opens or the implant feels loose.

Emergencies. Increasing pain, facial swelling or a fever: see a dentist without waiting. Difficulty breathing or swallowing, or swelling in the mouth or neck that spreads quickly: go to an emergency department or call 112.

Frequently asked questions