People ask me this one in a lowered voice, usually right at the end of the appointment, as though it's a slightly embarrassing question. It isn't. It's one of the most sensible things you can ask before surgery, and it deserves a straight answer rather than reassurance.
So here is the straight answer: yes, it's sore for a few days. Not agony. Sore. And then it isn't.
The comparison that actually helps: you've already done this
Most of my patients tell me implant placement was about as sore as their extractions were.
Now think about what that means for you specifically. An implant-retained denture replaces a whole arch — which means every tooth in that arch has to be out before we start. So if you're a candidate for a lower implant denture, you've already had at least fourteen teeth removed. If you're looking at upper and lower, that's around twenty-eight extractions behind you.
You have already been there. You already know what that recovery feels like, how long it lasts, and that you got through it. This is not a new category of experience you're walking into blind — it's a familiar one, usually with fewer sites involved than the day your teeth came out.
That reframe helps most people more than any amount of reassurance from me, because it's built on something you actually lived through rather than something I'm promising.
What the few days actually look like
The surgery itself is done under local anesthetic. You're numb; you feel pressure and movement, not pain.
Afterwards there's soreness and some swelling, and it's most noticeable in the first two or three days. The large majority of my patients manage it with over-the-counter anti-inflammatories — an Advil-type NSAID is the usual answer. Not prescription painkillers. Not lying in a dark room for a week.
Take the medication your surgeon actually recommends, and tell them if you take blood thinners or can't tolerate NSAIDs, because that changes the advice. I'm giving you the typical picture, not a prescription.
And you are not walking around toothless while this happens. An immediate denture keeps you eating and smiling through the healing phase. That's the part people are quietly most afraid of, and it's the part that doesn't happen.
Let's talk about the success rate honestly
Let me give you the figure precisely, because it gets thrown around loosely.
In my clinical practice, about 95% of implants are still in place five years after placement. That's a five-year survival figure for the implants themselves — not a vague "success rate" — and it's what I've seen in my own patients rather than a number I've borrowed from a brochure.
So roughly five implants in a hundred are lost over that period. That's the honest other side of it. It doesn't mean the treatment collapsed and you're stranded — a lost implant is normally addressed and the work continues — but I'd rather you hold the real number than a rosy one.
By the standards of medicine generally, that's an excellent figure. If someone told me I had a 95% chance of winning at the casino, I'd be there every night.
About your friend's uncle's father
Everybody knows someone who had a bad experience. I hear about him constantly.
He's real, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise — five in a hundred means some people genuinely have a poor outcome, and that person deserves to be taken seriously rather than waved away.
But notice how the information reaches you. Nobody corners you at a party to describe the implants that worked perfectly for eight years. They talk about the failures, because failures involve money and grievance, and those are the stories that travel. The successes are silent — they're just people eating dinner.
So the anecdotes you've heard are a badly skewed sample, not a success rate. One bad outcome in someone's family doesn't change the odds on your jaw, any more than one person's bad surgery would stop you having a hip done. It's a reason to choose carefully. It isn't a reason not to do it.
The thing I can tell you after a career of this
In all the years I've been doing this, I have never had a patient tell me they regretted getting implants.
That's my own clinical experience rather than a published statistic, and I'll flag it as such. But it's a lot of patients, and the consistency of it is the single most persuasive thing I know about this treatment. People are sore for a few days. Then they eat an apple, or a steak, or get through a dinner without thinking about their teeth once, and the few days stop being the thing they remember.
Weigh it against the right alternative
The comparison isn't "a few sore days versus no sore days." It's a few sore days versus continuing indefinitely with a lower denture that moves.
That discomfort is real too. It's just spread so thin, over so many years, that it stops registering as pain and starts feeling like normal life. A few days of recovery is a finite, known cost. The alternative is an open-ended one.
If you want to talk it through — including the parts you're worried about — come in and ask me directly. I'd rather answer the awkward question than have it quietly stop you.
Thinking about your options? Book a free, no-pressure consultation with Damien John Hiorth DD at Dentures Direct in North York. Honest assessment, clear pricing, and we'll tell you if you're not a candidate too.
Frequently asked questions
Do dental implants hurt?
The placement itself is done under local anesthetic, so you feel pressure and movement rather than pain. Afterwards it is sore for a few days, most noticeably in the first two to three. Most patients describe it as comparable to the extractions they have already been through.
How do most patients manage implant pain?
The large majority manage with over-the-counter anti-inflammatories such as an Advil-type NSAID. Follow the specific advice of your surgeon, and tell them if you take blood thinners or cannot tolerate NSAIDs, as that changes the recommendation.
How does implant surgery compare to having teeth extracted?
Most patients report it is about as sore as their extractions were. An implant-retained denture replaces a whole arch, so every tooth in that arch must be out first — meaning a lower implant denture patient has already had at least fourteen teeth removed, and around twenty-eight for upper and lower. It is usually a familiar recovery rather than a new one.
What is the success rate for dental implants?
In Damien Hiorth DD’s clinical practice, about 95% of implants are still in place five years after placement. That is a five-year survival figure for the implants themselves, so roughly five in a hundred are lost over that period. A lost implant is normally addressed and treatment continues.
Someone I know had a bad experience with implants — should that put me off?
Bad outcomes are real and worth taking seriously, but the anecdotes you hear are a skewed sample. People rarely talk about implants that worked quietly for years; they talk about failures, because failures involve money and grievance. One person’s poor outcome does not change the odds for your jaw. It is a reason to choose your clinician carefully rather than a reason to avoid the treatment.
Will I be without teeth while my implants heal?
No. An immediate denture keeps you eating and smiling throughout the healing phase, so you are not left without teeth at any stage of the process.
Damien John Hiorth DD
Founder & Lead Denturist · 25 years · Dentures Direct, North York Toronto
