Posted: 7/8/2004 4:19:28 PM EDT
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I have been looking into some dental implants to replace the 2 missing teeth, and am wondering if the arfcom oracle can tell me if they are good, bad, or ugly, what are the pros and cons of such a deal i hear you can chew through chain with them 
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I had my fronts done twice. The first denist was a total dip shit and totally fucked up. They ended up not taking & had to be pulled out. The whole process hurt like hell & I stayed away from the denist for about 7 years because of it. I fould a new denist abaout a year ago & he talked me into getting them redone. I went through with it for a 2nd time & it was totally painless. I was out cutting the grass withing an hour of surgery. Having this new denist do the implants was one of the better decisions I've made. Implants beat the hell out of dentures. Just make sure you find the right dentist...not just one that can talk a good game. |
I'am also trying to decide between implants and bridges to replace two teeth on opposite sides. The implants are very expensive compared to the bridge. On my left side, the teeth on either side of the missing tooth are in perfect condition and closer to the front, so I think I'll do an implant. On the other side of my mouth where the missing tooth is, the teeth on either side of it have lots of fillings in them, so I'll do the bridge.With an implant, they don't touch the teeth adjacent to the implant tooth. With a bridge, they file down your teeth on either side of the missing tooth to mount the bridge to. Another thing about implants is, you can spend over $3000.00 for one implant  and there is no guarentee the implant will be successful. If it does not take, you just wasted alot of money. A bridge is about $700.00.
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Dammit, you beat me to it |
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We debated this investment for years. We tried bridges and dentures which were always problematic. We always worked closely with our dentist and finally found a surgeon who was not out to screw the patient. Our dentist now uses him exclusively. We saved about 50% off the others (he charged his costs for the hardware). My wife now has 5 implants. We did the implants by side (1 side has 2 the other has 3). We found after the first side that the pain factor does not seem to last long. While uncomfortable, it is not something that is going to keep you from going to work the next day. It is important that you find someone who knows what he is doing. We learned that it’s a lot more than opening the mouth, cutting the gum away, drilling a hole in the bone, and screwing the implant into the bone. The angle has to be right. There needs to be sufficient bone mass to hold the implant. The depth has to be just right. There needs to be enough clearance between the lower and upper jaw. With us one implant this was an issue because of a lack of space (the further back in the mouth you go, the less space you have. In ours, the abutment was the smallest available and tooth had to be just right. They are just like real teeth, but there is no feeling so you have to be careful what you are biting. No more opening bottles with your teeth. There is NO cushion between the tooth and the bone. If bite pressure is too much, one will give. The way the implants are designed, the tooth or abutment will generally break before a major problem with the bone. Overall, we are glad we did this. Just take your time, find the right team, and make sure they know what they are doing. Good eating. |
