Dental Implants

[Koolkat]

Anybody else had implant "surgery" done? I lost a crown and enough tooth material, that a root canal/post can not create a sufficient base for a new crown (proximity to bone = potential "rejection"). The root canal solution would potentially have ~5 year live span in this scenario, in endodontist's opinion. So, the 2 other alternatives (as far as I know at this point), are removing the tooth, or having a titanium implant/graft to create a support for the crown seem to be the options. I've been to the FDA's excellent info page about implants and understand the procedure, but I don't have a lot of input from folks that have actually gone through the process. Any experiences here? Interested in all stories, good, bad and ugly! Removing the tooth is another possibility, it's #31, for you that pay attention to such things. Or the back most molar on the lower right (my right) side. The endodontist was not particularly concerned about other teeth "drifting" due to empty space, perhaps at 70, it's not an issue, LOL. He did say I might lose some "chewing power", if it's a weight loss plan, that's a plus!.

For the curious: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/den ... hould-know

[Tanga]

I need one, but can't afford it. I have a front tooth where the root is almost disintegrated. We've been keeping it going about 15 years now. It sounds like you don't really need to do it unless you're OK with spending the money and want one

[khall]

I do. Front tooth upper incisor riding incident at 16. Had root canal done then but kept tooth intact for years until I had a crown then had to have an implant and bone graph. It was 18 months to complete because of the bone graph had to set. Insurance would not pay. It was $8,000 out of pocket. I have no problems with the implant at all and have had it for over 10 years now. There was no question I had to have the implant considering the tooth involved. I wore a flipper similar to Invisalign with fake tooth in it for those 18 months.

[Koolkat]

Thanks to both of you. Tanga, if you don't mind me asking, what is going on with your front tooth? Khall, nice to hear you're 10 years in and going strong! I need to follow up about insurance, since this is the time to upgrade if you're using Medicare, we should double check the dental coverage. Thanks for the heads up on that!

[Hayburner]

I have more dental implants than I’d care to admit.

Right now I am waiting for the final procedure, the crown. This was actually a very old implant and the bone around it was weakening, so I had a nice size pocket around it. My periodontist said years ago they used a larger type implant and that could have been the reason mine needed replaced. It was a fairly long process as one my dentist retired, so I had to find another one to remove the crown. My periodontist referred me to a Prosthodonist who was able to remove the cap. My old dentist had stripped the screws so it took a bit to get that sucker out! My periodontist removed the implant And inserted bone, then wait months before an implant could be put in, now more months for the crown. It’s been almost a year for this one tooth to be completed.

Luckily, I have not had any of my other older ones fail or need replaced.

It is a process and it is expensive. But, it is worth it in the long run.

My suggestion is to go the the best Periodontist or Prosthodnist you can find. Both of mine are OCD about their work and how they interact with thier patients. In the long run, they all charge about the same amount.

[texsuze]

I have not had implants, only crowns on some otherwise ok teeth. I do have teeth that decided not to show up, once my adult teeth were coming in. Never had any wisdom teeth (yippee) and have only one molar on the lower left rear instead of two, which might approximate your situation if you decide to have your tooth removed and not replaced with an implant. In my early 60's and no real "drifting" of existing teeth -yet - from the longtime absence of certain teeth. I guess my point being, don't forget to consider removal without replacement if it can be done cleanly without anticipated issues, either from the procedure, or, down the line.

[Tanga]

Thanks to both of you. Tanga, if you don't mind me asking, what is going on with your front tooth? Khall, nice to hear you're 10 years in and going strong! I need to follow up about insurance, since this is the time to upgrade if you're using Medicare, we should double check the dental coverage. Thanks for the heads up on that!

I ground my teeth for a long time, going from having fangs to little teeth. The dentists think that caused bone/tooth reabsorption in that one tooth. It was actually discovered about 30 years ago. If you look on an x ray, you can see the root is about half the size of the other teeth. About four years ago it got really painful and I had one dentist tell me it just had to be pulled and nothing could be put in. A friend has a husband who is a facial surgeon specializing in this and he said it could be implanted, but I can't afford that. I found someone who basically went in and cut away the gum there to clean it out, and then was able to fix the cavity. Now I have a big open tooth there, but it doesn't hurt and they can take care of it, so I'm going to keep it going as long as possible.

[Quelah]

I can't find her post about it but our dearly departed Rockabilly had a full mouth of dental implants done and was delighted with her beautiful teeth. Sorry I can't help more than that.

[Koolkat]

Thanks for all your stories, STILL waiting to hear back from the general purpose dentist after the endodontist visit. Nothing like a toothache most of 24/7 to make the doorknob and string solution look good.

Tanga - that's an amazing story, it sounds like you're lucky (and have some good care) to still have that tooth. I'm a grinder, too.....

Quelah - your post sent me looking for Rockabilly's story. I didn't find it, but had a sweet time reading her posts for a good bit of the evening.....

And Texuze, thanks for that reminder, sometimes one can get fixated on "the one" solution, when it isn't.

[musicdoc]

Going through that right now. #9 was knocked out many decades ago when I was 7. It was put back in; root canal in 1984. Great until last summer. Told it would likely go bad and I could take care of it on my own schedule or wait for it to blow. I'm a professional musician, so I have to have front teeth! (#9 is upper left front incisor)

I called a musician who is a dentist (and plays form me in the orchestra). He gave me a second opinion and said he thought it would eventually blow. The root had resorbed about by half by 1984. He had had implants and knew I couldn't play with normal flippers. So he ordered 2 different ones. Best, when I had the tooth pulled in 9/22, he took the tooth and glued it back in place (filed off the root, off course).

The titanium screw was put in in 1/23 and now I'm waiting for bone to grow around the screw. What's left of #9 is glued back in with a wire behind it to reinforce it. Khall, thanks for telling that it took 18 months. I thought I would have the tooth by now, with bone graft in 9/22, but don't have enough yet. I've started taking Human Equine Leg Magic to try to help the bone growth. It doesn't taste good but worked wonders on my mare.

This is my first post after about 5 years. I used to be on the old UDBB.

Good luck! It sure is expensive.

[Koolkat]

Well approximately one year later, the extraction/bone graft was done in early November 2022. I'm not going to sugarcoat that experience..........but it was good to lose the toothache, and the resulting discomfort was mostly gone in ~3 days. I had the implant/"healing cap" done in Nov 23 with the 3 month follow up and subsequent crown replacement scheduled for March 24. Just a small note for anyone planning this procedure. I lost the "healing cap" a few days ago (it basically "unscrewed") and although replacing it was relatively easy (they opened the tissue up and just screwed in a new one), I did find out upon asking that the crown (which is also "screwed in") can also loosen in a similar manner. I'm not entirely sure of the consequences (I wondered about damage to opposing tooth in any random event), but just wanted to give anyone contemplating the process an awareness of this possibility. I would assume that a crown won't actually rotate out, but one would notice a "mismatch" in your bite between the lower and upper jaw which would occur in the early stages with a small degree of rotation. This was not a possibility I recall being warned about. Perhaps others that have gone through the full procedure might have some experience (or lack!) with this possibility. Still no regrets!

Here's a pic of the healing cap for the curious:

resized healing cap 1-2-24.jpg (245.23 KiB) Viewed 624 times