<p>My daughter has an adult tooth that never surfaced and has become “ankylosed” (hardened in place.) Oral surgeon suggests extraction, followed by bone graft & dental implant/crown.
Orthodontist thinks we should consider another surgical procedure called a “one tooth osteotomy” which seems to consist of cutting away the jaw bone, moving tooth down and letting it reimplant itself.</p>
<p>don’t worry, i won’t rely on CC for medical advice, but I’d like to hear from anyone who has experience with either of these procedures, especially in young people.</p>
<p>I can’t say that I’ve had the exact same experience, but something similar.</p>
<p>First, I have had a dental implant done. I did not need a bone graft, and quite frankly I’ve had fillings that took longer and were more uncomfortable.</p>
<p>My son had a baby tooth that never fell out; upon further investigation he had a fully formed tooth beneath it, along with a hardened “tumor” (partially formed tooth) beside it. The dentist offered two options: Pull the baby tooth, and surgically remove both the permanent tooth and “tumor” under it, then graft bone and do an implant. The other option was to remove the baby tooth and “tumor”, see if the the permanent tooth would come in on its own, and if not put braces on him to pull it up. The dentist didn’t give much hope to the second option, but I thought i was worth a try. Although dental implants are great, they just are not the same as your own teeth.</p>
<p>It took about three years total for the process to be complete (of course it took the braces as well), and untold dollars, but my son has a perfect smile full of his very own teeth now.</p>
<p>I am not young, I have 5 dental implants, but no bone graft. They used to be around $1700 total, now they are about $4000 total per implant. I am lucky to have 2 dental insurances with both covering implants. I also had done it over 2 calendar years, surgery in Sept-Oct and cap in Feb. of next year. I still had to pay (mind you, I basically usied 4 insurances, 2 in 2 calendar years) about $1200 out-of-pocket. Otherwise, I love implants. My experience took about 6 months per implant to be complete.</p>
<p>thank you, just a mom. i’m glad your son’s tooth decided to cooperate! I think we are past that point now, having tried all kinds of gentle (and not-so-gentle) nudges and tugs.</p>
<p>My D had bone graft/implant surgery for two congenitally missing teeth that was started when she was a senior in high school and completed the summer after her freshman year of college. In the first surgery, the oral surgeon tried to speed things along by performing the bone grafts and implants at the same time. The bone grafts didn’t take, so the oral surgeon had to remove the implants and start over. The second time around, the oral surgeon did only the bone grafts. He opened up my daughter’s gums several months later to make sure the bone grafts had taken before performing the implant surgery. This procedure worked, and today my D has two lateral incisors that are virtually indistinguishable from her real teeth. She’s thrilled that she no longer has to wear a retainer with fake teeth.</p>
<p>If you decide to go the bone graft/implant route, my advice would be to have the bone graft and implant surgeries separately–even if the oral surgeon says it can be done at the same time. My D feels she went through months of unnecessary pain and suffering because of the combined bone graft/implant surgery.</p>
<p>^Did you have to pay for the failed graft AND the new one? I am about to have the second step ( I had a tooth extracted and graft placed after a failed crown, followed by a failed root canal… used up THAT years benefit quick…).</p>
<p>No, we only paid once. The oral surgeon had a policy that he would perform the surgery one more time at no additional charge if the first surgery failed. Good thing, or we wouldn’t have been able to afford it!</p>
<p>Hope things work out with your bone graft/implant, Shrinkrap. So sorry to hear about all the trouble you’ve had with your tooth.</p>
<p>The implant with graft at one time can work as I know someone who had this done. The fellow who did it just does implants, and he was considered a sub specialist and expert. That was a number of years ago, and I would think it was more common now. If you do go the implant route, and I don’t know where you live, you might want to look for a dentist that specializes in implants. I know that may not be available, but it is just a thought. I have to say I have never heard of the OP’s second option</p>
<p>I had that but it was on a bottom front tooth, i had braces and they opened a space for it and nothing, it didn’t move, so i had to have surgury to move it up.</p>
<p>“P.S. Don’t use your teeth to open things! They make very expensive bottle openers!”</p>
<p>And don’t go traying head first down an icy hill. Luckily, no front teeth were broken, just a tooth that had a filling in it cracked when I hit a chunk of ice.</p>
<p>That happened ages ago, and I finally decided that I needed to do something about it. My orthodontist simply used braces to “move” my wisdom tooth into the space where the missing tooth used to be. No bone surgeries, no grafts, no pain, just 2 years of braces and a couple of crowns at the end to close a slightly wider gap between the two neighboring teeth. It worked for me. YMMV.</p>
<p>I developed an infection in a lower molar that never hurt and was severe by the time I had my yearly dental x-rays. The infection had eaten away a lot of the bone. Dentist sent me to an oral surgeon who put me on strong antibiotics and did a bone graft. He told me up front that it would be 6 months before he would start the implant to make sure the bone was ready for the post. After 3 months the bone was growing very well, but at 6 months most of the bone had disappeared again. </p>
<p>Another round of antibiotics, then another graft. The 2nd one never grew, but the oral surgeon thought there was enough bone to do the implant. I’ve had the implant for 2 years and it’s fine now.</p>
<p>Over30, do you think it was the infection that caused the bone to stop growing? do you know what kind of material was used in the bone graft? thanks for posting your story.</p>
<p>Around here, the cost for the implant without a bone graft is about $2400 for each tooth, and then four months later we pay about the same for the dentist to make the tooth that goes on the titanium post. If anyone is facing this procedure, be sure to look into whether you have a flexible spending account at work. Much better to pay for this with pre-tax dollars, and we managed to spread the work out over 2 years so that we could max out the account both years.</p>
<p>DD passed out in the kitchen about a year ago, landed face first and broke three teeth, one badly enough that it was immediately (the next day) extracted and the implant post was put in with a temorary tooth on it. She went through several different stages while waiting for the bone to heal and finally got the permanent tooth on the implant in August. She never complained about pain, it looks beautiful though they did adjust the color a bit at Christmastime, and it seems as though everything worked beautifully.</p>
<p>MD Mom - how were they able to adjust the color? One big dilemma my D faces currently is whether to shell out her own money to get her teeth whitened before they make the new tooth. The dentist said she’s stuck with whatever color she chooses, so should do cosmetic whitening now, if at all. I’m paying enough for the necessary stuff, so she’s on her own for the vanity expenses.</p>