Looks like I’m looking at one. I’m not TOO worried about pain (okay not looking for it either!) but more wondering about recovery time. How long does the procedure actually take? (I’d almost rather be at home suffering than sit in a dentist office well).
I looked up the “dental implant scary thread” from last year but that was closed so here I am for anybody’s updates on “things to know upfront”.
Hope you have a LOT of time to wait. The procedure itself is no biggie. Is it a front tooth or a back tooth? Mine is a front bottom and I had an appliance made to wear like a retainer so I didn’t look toothless. First I had the tooth removed, then I had 3 separate times I needed a bone graft, the third time was implanting the screw, but at the time he saw I still needed more bone. I’m waiting now until early December for a scan to see if I can get the tooth in finally. This started for me July 2016. You can trust me, no one is a bigger weenie than me when it comes to dental work. It isn’t painful and it doesn’t take long. There is some discomfort afterwards, but it was never anything traumatic. The worst part is the waiting.
I’m very interested in this thread. I have a 17 year old with a baby tooth about to fall out and no adult one underneath.
How long do you have to wait after the anchor is place before you get a tooth? Do they use the same form of sedation as with wisdom teeth?
Middle to back–not too worried about it showing really though who knows once it’s gone. Think I can live with it.
My dentist said from looking at the x-ray that he didn’t think sinuses or bone would be any problem (although I’m just now figuring out the importance of that bit of info but of course he’s not the guy doing it). He did say it was a long process. And I’ll bet I’m a bigger weenie than you about this stuff!
Any comments on anesthesia?
Just had one started a few weeks back. I was worried. I don’t have a high pain threshold (big weenie!) but it was a piece of cake. The only pain has been the pain to my back account because it is big $$$. Mine is replacing a crown and root canal that cracked. So sucks because I spent the money on the other stuff and now more $$$.
I was in the chair for about 1 hr 15 minutes. I just had regular, local lidocaine type anesthesia. Tooth pulled (which was the most challenging part because it broke in 3 pieces) but felt no pain. I was lucky because I had plenty of bone to do the screw thingie on the same visit. They put in a small amount of donor bone around the screw. I popped a couple Aleve when I got home and took another before I went to bed but probably didn’t need to. I really felt little pain. The root canal might have helped that. No real swelling. Ate soft foods for 2 days. Did salt water rinses several times a day for 3 days. Antibiotics for 10 days which was the worst part of it honestly because they do a job on my stomach. Went for a check-up 10 days later just to make sure things were looking good.
4 month wait now for things to heal before getting the implant done.
Don’t worry about it too much. It was much easier than I thought it would be.
What is the dentist saying for anesthesia? Number of appointments? Did they do a 360 x-ray? (pretty cool actually)
The younger you are the faster you heal and the faster the time from beginning to end. For an older family member it was about 6 months. She had to have the broken tooth removed, wait for that to heal, have the peg installed, wait for that to heal and then the tooth added.
I think the whole process for my husband was about a year long. He didn’t think it was painful, but it was ridiculously expensive. Very very painful on the pocketbook.
If you are anywhere near the border or have family or friends near the border, consider Canada. We have Seattle friends quoted $7-8k for the process whereas the guy we know in BC is about $2500CDN for the implant. I’ve known several people who’ve gone there, I know one “Princess and the Pea” person who just feels everything and she said the procedure was not a big deal, but it did take several months after getting the implant before she felt like it was not overly sensitive after she’d chewed, not a problem, just took her body a while to settle down.
Mine was a miserable experience. I think I was not a good candidate because of the infections I had had over the years but the coral surgeon did not tell me that. Lots of bone loss and i had to have quite a bit of grafting. Took about 2 1/2 years from start to finish and lots of money and a good part of that was miserable. I was happy to have front teeth to bite with. Have had a lot of sinus and nasal issues and discovered last year that one of the implants is sticking into my nasal cavity. The different oral surgeon I went to said that one should be removed. Am not sure what I’ll do. I think I am not a normal case though.
“If you are anywhere near the border or have family or friends near the border, consider Canada.”
I know it is common for folks living near the southern border to do the same in Mexico even cheaper, I think in the $1000-1500 camp at clean, modern facilities.
I had an implant that failed, but that was about 10 years ago. It wasn’t painful or anything, but it was a tooth from help that I had been shelling out lots of money for over a period of years, and after the implant failed I was going to have to pay for another crown, so I said no more. It is in an area that is not noticeable. I will have to say that I think it failed due to the incompetency of the dentist who fitted the final crown. He couldn’t get it fitted without yanking the tooth around, and the next day, it started wobbling. So I would make sure that the dental professional you select has very good references.
My daughter had some serious dental problems resulting from her having an impacted canine tooth in her palate when she was 9 - it dissolved the roots of three of her adult teeth (three upper front - and it was the incompetent dentist^ who didn’t notice this was going on even though she had yearly checkups). Last year, at 18, she was finally old enough to get implants (one of the three had already fallen out and the other two were hanging on by a thread). Since they were her front teeth, we made sure to get the best oral surgeon and prosthodontist in our area to do the work. It took probably four visits over several weeks for them to develop a treatment plan for her.
After they made the plan, the oral surgeon pulled the two remaining teeth, and installed the implant pegs. We then immediately took her to the prosthodontist to get a temp prosthetic made until the implants bonded to her bones. Everything was done in one day so she didn’t have to go anywhere “toothless”. She never seemed to be in much pain, but getting her front teeth pulled was emotionally traumatic. She did feel a lot better once the prosthetic was in place a couple of hours later. It was a big inconvenience for her though as she couldn’t bite down with her front teeth on food or anything for several months.
The prosthetic looked amazing. We waited for about 9 months (with visits every few weeks) to make sure everything had bonded well then she finally got the permanent crowns attached - which looked even more amazing than the temp. Both the oral surgeon and the prothodontist patted themselves on the back after they saw the final result - they look very natural and beautiful.
We live in an area with a high cost of living and the total cost was $11.5K. For two extractions and three implants.
@LeastComplicated Thanks for reminding me not to count my chickens before they hatch. [-O<
I think my family member in the midwest paid 6500… We have strong bones and very little bone loss right to the grave in our family but the oral surgeon said it still takes longer as you age for the bone to mend, heal and hold the peg in place. It looked great and how nice to have that option instead of a bridge that you would have all your life. For her it was her front tooth that broke so severely that a crown was not an option and the broken tooth had to be extracted. I would get an implant in a heartbeat if faced with less attractive - meaning more hassle - alternatives (like a bridge).
Feel like traveling to Romania? http://www.philly.com/philly/health/health-news/dental-tourism-implant-crown-bucharest-romania-20171025.html?mobi=true
H destroyed both front teeth sledding in not enough snow about five years ago. I think fixing that cost about $11K (with insurance). One tooth has a crown, but the other needed an implant. I feel like it took almost a year to get both teeth permanently repaired. He can’t really bite down with his front teeth (like on an apple) anymore and has had an issue with one of the two teeth growing downward so his dentist has had to file it a few times to make it line up with the other tooth. He’s been to see an orthodontist about that in the past year, but decided not to follow up on that.
Painwise, it seemed to be totally manageable (no major meds.) He is still angry about the accident and annoyed (with himself) that his teeth aren’t fully functional though.
I have a dental implant that is 25 years old. It is tooth #18. I have never had ONE problem what so ever.
DH is about to have another, like maybe his 5th, implant. Two went fine, 2 had problems. One failed and needed a bone graft and then a second attempt. One was crooked and had to be redone.
Three years ago I had an infection in the jaw bone above a top back molar. They pulled the tooth. I didn’t like the gap, but was living with it. I had a 24 year old root canal and crown on a front tooth as a result of S1 knocking it with his head when he didn’t want to sit still and have me tie his shoes. It broke off at the gum line this summer.
While I was at the specialist’s office he suggested I do both at the same time. With Lidocaine at really no pain he put screws into both areas and for the front one he took an impression and had a lab make a temp that day which screws in to the opening. My SIL had a flipper tooth for 4 months.
My insurance covers $500 per implant and $500 per crown each year. I need to wait 4 months between procedures and since I met my annual max, I am able to do the crowns and abutments in January to take advantage of a new year max.
I had two implants for two baby teeth with no adult teeth. The upper implant took longer to heal then the lower one, iirc. Maybe an extra four weeks.
I chose sedation- twilight I think it’s called. You are awake but never remember it. I have a horrible gag reflex and I drool a lot when they start putting instruments in my mouth. :)) Figured it was better for all that I went with the serious sedation option. I remember drifting off and waking up. DH had to drive me home but I was fine after that. A bit tender for a few days.
@doschicos I wouldn’t worry about it. Like I said, mine was about 10 years ago, and I’m pretty sure things have improved over time, both in materials and methods.
When my daughter got hers, it looked like a completely different procedure. So easy in comparison.