Does My Mother Have Options Other Than Dental Implants?
My mother is 84 years old with teeth that need a lot of work. Her dentist is suggesting that she remove them and get dental implants. I’ve looked into this and it appears to require a pretty extensive surgery. At her age, I am a bit concerned this is more than her body can handle. Are there better options for someone at her stage of life?
Danielle
Dear Danielle,
I am glad you wrote. Under normal circumstances, it would be important to get dental implants to replace her missing teeth, especially on her lower arch. When her teeth are removed, her body recognizes that. As a result, it will begin to resorb the minerals in her jawbone in order to use the resources of her body as efficiently as possible. The downside to that is it starts to shrink her jawbone. In about ten or so years, she will not have enough jawbone to even keep her dentures in. This is known as facial collapse.
If she were younger, this would be disastrous. Given her age, I don’t think facial collapse is her biggest issue. You know her best, but depending on her health, the surgery required for the procedure might not be worth the risk. In that case, what you can do is simply get her dentures. These can replace her teeth without the hardship of having dental implant surgery.
If she’s perfectly healthy and you think she’ll be around for quite some time, then dental implants will protect her jawbone. I would factor in her health before making a decision.
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Is It Too Late for Me to Have a Pretty Smile with Dental Implants?
I am a denture patient and have been wearing them for over 20 years. My smile has been unattractive this whole time. Is it too late for me to get a pretty smile with dental implants? I’ve seen pictures of them and they look much better than my smile.
Alana
Dear Alana,
I’m glad you wrote. Technically, it is never too late to get dental implants. Given that you have been in dentures for over twenty years, you will need one additional procedure to make it work, though. When your teeth were removed, your body recognized that and immediately began to resorb the minerals in your jawbone that you no longer needed to hold in your teeth. It does this in order to be efficient with your body’s resources.
However, the side effect for this is it slowly shrinks your jawbone. Your lower denture rests on that jawbone. You’ve likely started noticing that your denture is slipping more. Soon, you won’t be able to keep it in at all. This is known as facial collapse. Hopefully, your dentist warned you about this when you first discussed getting dentures.
The prevention of facial collapse is to place dental implants in your jaw and anchor your dentures to those. Some people call these implant overdentures. The implants signal to your body that you still have teeth to retain so it leaves your jawbone intact. You’ll also find that it increases your quality of life significantly. Even the best fitting dentures will reduce your chewing capacity by 50%. With dental implants, you’ll be able to eat anything you want again.
In order for you to get those dental implants, you’ll first need a bone grafting procedure. This will replace all the bone structure you lost while wearing dentures. This bone is essential in order to retain your dental implants. Then, once that is healed you can move forward with the implants.
One thing to be aware of is that the beauty of your smile will have nothing to do with whether or not you have dentures versus implants. Instead, it depends on the artistic skill of your dentist. You can have a skilled cosmetic dentist create gorgeous dentures. Ask to see their smile gallery of cases they’ve done to get an idea of the type of results they get. Also make sure they have post-doctoral training in dental implants. This is an advanced procedure and you don’t want to end up in a worse situation than you started.
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Painful Dental Implant Failure
I cracked an upper tooth and my dentist said it could not be saved. The best option he proposed was a dental implant. When he did the shot for the Novocaine I am convinced something went wrong because it felt like he hit my brain. Ever since them my whole palate has been burning. I mentioned it to the dentist and he told me some burning was normal after a procedure. I’d returned several times when the pain and burning didn’t subside. He then diagnosed me with with thrush and gave me a prescription. That prescription did absolutely nothing. My mouth burns constantly. I did some research on my own. I know… the old Google Medical Degree. However, I found something called Burning Mouth Syndrome and it fits my symptoms exactly. Is that a possibility?
That wasn’t the end of my troubles. When he placed the crown for the dental implant he had some trouble and had to press down extremely hard. It was excruciating. A couple of months later and the crown fell off. I was out of state helping my mother after her surgery. I went to a dentist there and they told me that the dental implant was infected and needed to come out. He did the surgery and removed the implant, then suggested a dental bridge in its place, which I did after some healing.
All totaled, I’ve been to the dentist almost twenty times and now have no dental implant to show for it. I’ve contacted a couple of attorney’s hopting to sue for damages to recoup my money. No one seems interested in the case though. What do I do? I’ve spent thousands.
Lana
Dear Lana,
Let’s start with the burning mouth syndrome. I do agree that this is a strong possibility. One of the causes of it is anxiety from a traumatic appointment, which you certainly had. Your problem in getting a lawyer likely lies in the fact that dental malpractice suits do not bring in a lot of money. Even if you had a lawyer take you on, then you would need an expert witness on your side.
I do think some mistakes were made. First, was the misdiagnoses about thrush, which frankly was laughable. Then, there was the crown falling off. I’m a bit sceptical about the infection. You didn’t mention anything about pain in the implant itself or a fever. These are common signs of an infection, plus I think the implant would have started to loosen.
I haven’t examined you, but based on your description of how the implant was placed, it sounds like your dentist placed too much force on the implant. That could have damaged the bond between the implant and the surrounding bone, leading to later implant failure.
Placing dental implants is an advanced procedure that requires post-doctoral training. Not many dentists invest in that training and there are countless dental implant horror stories to demonstrate that.
Unless you can get another dentist to diagnose why the dental implant failed along with some proof it will be hard to get money back on the implant itself. The misdiagnosis on the thrush and the crown falling off are easily proved. That would get you at least a partial refund.
I am sorry this happened to you.
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Dental Implants and Hockey
My son is a freshman in college and plays for the hockey team. He hasn’t been playing that long but lost a tooth, which sounds like a hockey stereotype but it happened. We’d planned on getting him a dental implant. The prosthetic implant is placed. The crown is coming as soon as the bone is integrated with the implant. However, one of his teammates, who is a senior and has a lot of experience told him that a dental implant is a bad idea because he is likely to be injured again. Is that accurate? If so, what do we do? We want something that looks nice because he is getting married in a few months.
Lorna
Dear Lorna,
I had to think about this because I haven’t done much with hockey players in the past, but what the senior told your son makes sense. If your son is reinjured and the implant crown is attached to the prosthetic root, then it could do serious damage to his jaw by ripping through the bone. The good news is that you already have the prosthetic root in. This will protect him from bone resorption, which is one of the reasons dental implants are the best tooth replacement options.
My suggestion is that for now you get him a removable partial flipper for that tooth. This way if he does get in another accident the false tooth will not put his jaw at risk. If you go to a skilled cosmetic dentist, even a denture can look stunning. Once he is done with hockey, then you can have the permanent crown placed. It will be worth the investment to go to a top notch cosmetic dentist for this if you really want it to look perfect for his wedding.
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Misdiagnosis by an Emergency Dentist Caused a Lot of Pain
I had a tooth that was giving me pain and sensitivity to cold. I am new to the area so I do not have a regular dentist yet. I went to a dentist who advertised as a dental emergency specialist. I went in and he said my wisdom teeth are impacted. I told him that tooth 19 seemed to be the problem, but he said it is definitely the wisdom tooth and that one of them either needs to be extracted or filled. I opted for the filling. This made my pain even worse. I went back and he adjusted the tooth and wrote me a prescription pain medication. All that did was make me loopy. Once the prescription wore off I was in even worse shape. I called back and he said to have the tooth extracted. I told him the pain didn’t feel close to the wisdom tooth at all but he insisted that was the problem. I had the tooth extracted and was again prescribed painkillers along with antibiotics this time. I was okay for a bit while the medicines lasted. Once they ran out, though, I was in complete misery. I finally went to the ER and they did an x-ray and told me that I had an abscessed tooth. I got fed up with this dentist and went to see an oral surgeon out of pocket. He told me it was tooth 19 (shocker) and that it is now too late to save it, so I had that extracted too. I’m so frustrated because I had to do several unnecessary appointments, including the ER, and ended up losing two teeth. Do I have any recourse for this or do I just have to suck it up?
Trent
Dear Trent,
What a nightmare! You certainly have some recourse here. In short, what this dentist did is malpractice. First, I’m going to tell you what to require of him, then I will tell you what mistakes he made.
The first thing I would do is tell this dentist he needs to cover the expenses not only for your extra visits to the oral surgeon and ER, but also for the cost of an implant and a crown to replace your missing first molar, as well as any bone grafting that may be necessary with a dentist of your choosing. If he refuses, tell him you will contact a lawyer and add pain and suffering to the amount. I feel fairly certain his insurance company will tell him to settle quickly.
This “Emergency Dentist’s” Mistakes
Let’s start with the fact that there is no emergency dentist specialty. Any general dentist can schedule emergency appointments and treat patients. He misled you with that. Second, at your initial appointment with cold bringing pain to the tooth, he should have advised you that you would likely need a root canal treatment. I have no idea why he was bringing up your wisdom teeth with these types of symptoms. Then, with your second appointment when you are still having problems, he adjusts your bite? Really? The prescription for antibiotics tells me he either suspected an infection or was just throwing around treatment options willy-nilly. Plus, antibiotics never completely cure a tooth infection. The job of antibiotics is to hold the infection at bay while you are awaiting an appointment for your treatment. By the final appointment, there should have been no doubt. I don’t know how he passed his courses in dental school.
You may be wondering why I’m having you include the tooth replacement in there with what your dentist should cover. It is because if he would have treated this in a timely manner, there is a good possibility you could have saved the tooth. Now that it is out, it must be replaced. Otherwise, the remaining teeth will drift or tip into the space. This will throw off your bite and can lead to painful TMJ Disorder. A dental implant is the best replacement available.
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Alternatives to Dental Implants?
I had an accident that caused me to lose a tooth. I was hoping to get a dental implant for it, but my dentist said I wasn’t a candidate because it is a front tooth. I was disappointed but need to find a replacement for this tooth. What are my next best options?
Corinne
Dear Corinne,
I am sorry to hear about your accident. Given what you’ve said, My first suggestion is that you find another dentist. You can absolutely get a dental implant on a front tooth. My guess is your dentist does not do dental implants because he doesn’t have the training. It is a procedure that he would have needed to get post-doctoral training in. Rather than send you to a dentist that could do the procedure, he lied and said you were not a candidate. Not the best dentist for you.
I would like you to get a second opinion from someone else. In most cases, if you are in good general health, then you should be a fine candidate for dental implants. There are exceptions, of course, which is why I want you getting a second opinion.
If for some reason it turns out you are not a candidate for a dental implant, you do have other options. Your next best option is to get a dental bridge. Though, that does require the two adjacent teeth to have dental crowns placed on them. Your false tooth will be suspended between the two crowns. Like the dental implant, it is permanently placed.
I would not give up on the idea of the dental implant yet. Get that second opinion.
Whichever procedure you end up with, you may want to consider teeth whitening first, depending on how satisfied you are with the current color. Once your dental implant crown is made, the color is permanent and will not respond to whitening. If you have the bleaching done first, you can match your new crown to the color you’ll be proud to keep around.
This blog is brought to you by Moline Dentist Dr. Goebel.