Dental Implant

undecided
Sun, 18 May 2008 12:31:04 +0000

Hmm. I’m facing a decision like this. Congenitally missing the maxillary lateral incisors, and thus needed about 4 years of braces to fix the shifting that resulted. Spent the past 4 years with an Invisalign-type retainer with false teeth because, well, I’m a student and the braces cost my parents enough!

Going to have to replace that retainer sooner or later, though, and am deciding between a bridge and implants. I believe I would need bone grafts as well (I vaguely recall the ortho giving me a prelim consultation about these questions and suggesting that my bone might be too thin to do alone).

Would it be too personal to ask how anyone who’s had this sort of thing done decided on it? I’ve already been given the basic pros/cons list (bridges require some work on the surrounding teeth, implants may require bone grafting and are surgery, etc.) and a basic idea of how long each option lasts, but I admit I haven’t been thinking about it too much because the cost of either – from what I was told, I’m believe that the cost you paid is maybe a little high, but certainly within the expected range – has been a bit beyond reach and the retainer was a fine intermediary.