<p>Several years ago I had a root canal and a crown put on a lower back molar. Recently, my crown popped off. Knowing better, but hoping that all I would need was a trip to the dentist to have the crown recemented in place. Well, after a visit to the dentist I was told that the tooth may need to be pulled as it is just too damaged to replace (part of tooth broke off when crown came off). </p>
<p>Now my dentist has thrown a few options at me:
Go to oral surgeon to discuss pulling of tooth and have a titanium post put in place for a dental implant.
Pull tooth and create a bridge
Revisit endodontist to try and perform another root canal and recrown.</p>
<p>Obviously, cost is a factor here, as I can’t believe how much all of these procedures cost. I would love to save the tooth but my dentist told me in his professional opinion that the tooth is really too far gone and while they may be able to do root canal and crown there is no guarantee that the tooth would not break down again in the next year or two and then I am back at #1 & #2 having spent a few grand on a failed attempt to save tooth.</p>
<p>Bridge is cheaper alternative to implant but somehow I think of old people with bridges.</p>
<p>Dental implants freak me out. Can’t say why, just hate the idea of someone screwing a post into my jaw. </p>
<p>So, has anyone had dental implant surgery, and if so, what are your thoughts? I have dental insurance however, implants are paid out on a schedule usually reimbursed at the cost of a bridge. But lets put money aside for this discussion, I would love to know opinions on implants and bridges. Not what I should do, but if you have had either, what has been your experience with either one.</p>
<p>I have two dental implants on two adjacent back molars. One was as you said, repeat root canals, broken root, some botched work by endodont (told dentist I’d never go back to this guy–clearly over his head and covered with flop sweat). The tooth next to it loosened for no apparent reason around the same time (no gum issue per se, but possibly because when the wisdom tooth was taken out decades earlier, the space filled with tissue not bone, so less support).</p>
<p>Anyhoo, I opted for implants. The generation above me all seemed to lose more teeth because of bridges–that’s what my mom told me, anyway. </p>
<p>The surgery itself was very very easy. Conscious sedation, easy recovery, little pain. It did cost a lot; they got as much of it from insurance as possible, but that wasn’t much.</p>
<p>For first few years, no problems. This year I had to have a minor procedure on the gums around them because food was getting trapped and causing pain and could lead to implant failure. It was easy, and done by the same office as the original surgery–and they charged nothing for this (it was considered follow up).</p>
<p>Implants are not guaranteed to work, but even with this minor setback, I’m pleased with the result, and hoping their presence will keep the rest of the troops in line, so to speak.</p>
<p>Depends what you think is best for you… from a money standpoint, a bridge are definitely going to be cheaper… though occasionally I have seen bridges ‘loosen’ the teeth that they are attached to, causing the need for a new bridge with 2 teeth rather then 1 tooth down the road… Implants, IMO, are going to be the way of the future. They are still ‘relatively’ new which is why the cost is so high on them. They’ve came down in price over the past year or so and I expect that to continue moving forward.</p>
<p>I have never really though about bridges as an old people thing, dentures maybe but not bridges. I have two bridges, one on the bottom front teeth which I have had for 25+ years and is still going strong, and one in the back which I have had around 2 years. They are certainly less pricey than implants.</p>
<p>I am curious about the implants as well as my top front 2 teeth that were crowned 30 plus years ago are in a bad way (one root has cracked and the other is reabsorbing, which happens sometimes with crowned teeth - that’s what happened to the bottom front tooth). A bridge is not an option as the roots are not strong enough. The dentist has recommended implants if I am a viable candidate which the oral surgeon would determine (not everyone is apparently, depends on the strength of the bone structure). They are so expensive and we have no dental insurance so I am just hoping to put it all off until my daughter is out of college but I am not sure if the teeth will survive that long.</p>
<p>So another one interested to hear opinions on implants.</p>
<p>I’m in the middle of the implant procedure. The tooth was bothering me, so a root canal was done. In the process they discovered the tooth was cracked (in a way that could not be seen x-rays), and couldn’t be saved. If they knew the tooth was cracked, they would have skipped the root canal.</p>
<p>1) Pull the tooth. Let the jaw bone heal for 4 months.
2) Place the screw (implant). Let the jaw bone heal around (grab) the implant for another 4 months. Keeping the top off minimizes the movement of the implant during healing.
3) Screw on the top.</p>
<p>Dental insurance covered 1/2 the cost, up to the $1,000 per yer max. As such, I spread out the healing time to 6 months in order to spread the cost over 2 years, and increase the amount covered by insurance.</p>
<p>The problem with a bridge is that you have to file down the teeth on each side. That would damange an otherwise healthy tooth.</p>
<p>Implants are far superior to bridges. Think about how your natural teeth perform – they’re able to move individually. A bridge will eventually damage the teeth it uses as anchors.</p>
<p>Probably the worst parts of the implant process are 1) the extraction and 2) the number of months it takes to complete the process, during which you have a missing tooth. For me, having a permanent tooth extracted was … scary … but over quickly. Having a missing tooth made me somewhat self-conscious, but it was a molar – not too obvious. </p>
<p>The placement of the implant itself doesn’t really hurt. My jaw was a little achy for an afternoon. </p>
<p>It was very expensive. My insurance only covered part of the extraction. I think the total for extraction, implant and crown was about $4,000. You could spread the process over two calendar years if that was advantageous. (Root canal and crown would have been about half that.)</p>
<p>Good luck. I would never, never get a bridge if an implant were possible.</p>
<p>One thing I have been wondering about is how the timing works as far as extraction, implant and whatever temporary tooth you have while the implant heals (I’m assuming a denture). My potential implants are my two front teeth so I don’t want to be toothless for even a day (well may be a day at home, but not in public).</p>
<p>Our medical used to cover part (not much but every little helps) of extractions if they were required to be done by an oral surgeon. Unfortunately they don’t any more.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your replies! It is comforting to hear from people who have had implant surgery. The more I research this topic, the decision for an implant or bridge is a no brainer for me. I will go with the implant. Agree that the length of the procedure is a bit daunting but after reading about how it all works, it is understandable. Luckily, this is a back molar however I have quite a wide smile so I am sure the space will be noticeable while the site heals. Oh well.
Swimcatsmom, I will pass along something that my dentist told me with regard to implants. I asked what people do when the implant need is on a front tooth. He told me that they fashion some type of a fake tooth to sit over the site while the area heals. I have read that for some people they get retainers made that have the artificial tooth in place also. Scary thought, I know.
There is a wealth of info on the internet and I have to admit some scary step by step pictures of the entire procedure (the ones with the post being screwed in make me queasy). I tend to be a bit squeamish with regards to pictures of anything having to do with the mouth and teeth though. </p>
<p>Seems like bone grafting is often done once the tooth has been removed to prevent bone loss and collapse during healing. Did you all have grafts, and if so, were they bovine or synthetic grafts? This is the part of the whole thing that gets me a bit nervous I have to admit.</p>
<p>I did not need bone grafts. I’ll admit, I have a huge problem with cadaver grafts, which were mentioned when I ran into recent problems described above (which seem to have resolved, so a moot issue now.) My H recently got bone grafts as part of his gum surgery. He claims he doesn’t know if they are cadaver or bovine. That’s either true, or he’s just saying that to me because he knows cadaver grafts skeeve me.</p>
<p>Many of the newer processes allow for less time between steps. I had one that put in the post and a temporary crown in the same procedure, and then I went back for the permanent crown a month or so later. Now, the prosthodontist can do the post and the permanent crown in the same visit.</p>
<p>I’ve had two implants done. One was just completed a few months ago. It was an upper molar, and I had a graft. Apparently, it was needed to help provide support as the “post” goes pretty much up into the sinus cavity. I was sedated for this one; I opted for this because it is the backmost tooth, and I couldn’t stand the thought of them working that far back in my mouth.</p>
<p>The other one was done about 10 years ago. Although the tooth had been gone for many years (while I battled with a bridge) I did not need a graft for it. It was a lower molar. I was awake for this one. The thought really freaked me out a little, but truthfully it’s easier than any filling I’ve ever had.</p>
<p>I haven’t had any problems with either of them. I floss at least once a day, and I make sure to get the floss up around the implant post itself. </p>
<p>My son is in the process of getting an implant; he just had the titanium post implanted last week. </p>
<p>After the extraction you’ll get a “flipper tooth” to wear: it’s basically a retainer with fake tooth (teeth, in your case) attached (molds are taken beforehand). He does have to take it out for eating, however, so it’s very obvious that he’s missing a front tooth.</p>
<p>Well that would be kind of awkward for eating out. One way to save money to pay for the implants I guess!</p>
<p>I remember when I had was getting the bridge on the front bottom teeth and had to had a temp denture (or retainer?) for a few months while the extracted tooth area healed. I was at some fancy do (we were living in Egypt and had to go to a lot of social stuff of the tons of smalltalk genre that I hate) and i was eating and talking to someone and the darn thing came lose on my mouth and I just bolted out of the room mid conversation.</p>
<p>I think i am getting close to having to do this and some other much needed dental work. ugh!</p>
<p>My mom had one of her front top teeth replaced with an implant. She, too, had the “flipper” while she was waiting for the gum to heal around the post. She’s had it for a few years now, and as far as I know, she hasn’t had any complications.</p>
<p>I had a root canal on my very last upper tooth—somehow—it got “messed up” --had to be pulled after 10 years. My dentist was really nice when he said that, yes----an implant would be the next option—BUT that many people did not have a last back tooth and did just fine. So he said to just wait and see how I felt.
I have waited and seen. No problem with life without that last back tooth. $7000 saved for the gal with no dental insurance!</p>
<p>I’ve had an implant on my front top incisor for about 13-14 years! I bit down on a piece of pizza and my front incisor broke at the gum line (go figure). To this day you can not tell that my front too is fake. I’ve never had a problem. The entire process took about 6 months. I had a “flipper” for about 3 months. It was kind of fun as I’ve never had orthodontia and got to experience a retainer. I also had the missing front tooth over Halloween and going without the flipper for the night was a bonus.</p>
<p>I would have another implant in a minute. No hesitation.</p>
<p>My dental insurance covered about 50% at the time. So I paid about $4000 (13 years ago). Over the course of my life and the life of the implant, a small price to pay.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom-
Haha! If it was my last tooth…I probably would have just blown the whole thing off and lived off ice cream. Life’s perk for the tragically toothless!</p>
<p>I have 5 implants. Three of them are connected. Two others are stand alone. Stand alones you cannot tell from your natural tooth, they feel the same. They got much more expensive than they used to be. They used to be around $1700 / implant total. The last one was about $4,000 total. I have 2 dental coverages both of which are covering implants, which is very rare, I still had to pay about $1200 out of pocket, although I spread building my implant over 2 calendar years (October - February), effectively having 4 dental coverages. Strongly advise you if your dental covers implants, do it over 2 calendar years to get double coverage. I heard about mini-implants, but I have no info about them. If I need a tooth in a future, I would go with implant, not bridge (had these also, my teeth are exceptionally bad). However, I would research thru Google and contact doctors, I would not collect opinions here.</p>