Lost 2 lower teeth on my left side in 2004 thanks to a permanent retainer I’d had since turning sixteen. It had been on there for 20 years. Developed gum disease around those two teeth and they had to go.
I finally committed to the expense and possible pain of a single dental implant. I went in for a routine consolation today and get my projected dental insurance coverage and what I’d pay computed.
They did a x-ray of the area and are concerned the bone may not be thick enough to avoid drilling into a critical jaw nerve. The basic dental x-ray only gives “ballpark” measurements of the remaining bone. A miscalculation and I could have a numb lower lip the rest of my life. Or even worse, pain in that lip the rest of my life. :eek: :eek: :eek:
That’s a wake up call for me. Scary to even think about. They had me schedule an appointment with an oral surgeon in the same building to get a “cone scan” of the bone area. It’s a more precise view of the bone and gives exact measurements. Based on the results my dentist will know if an implant is even possible for me. $250 for the cone scan and it’s not covered by my dental plan.
If all else fails. I go old school. Permanent bridge with one fake tooth wired to one of my good ones. At least then I’ll finally have a chewing surface on the left side of my mouth for the first time in seven years.
I had a cone beam about a year back, regarding a root canal re-do. Interesting (and luckily my insurance paid a little of the cost).
Bummer on having an implant removed from your list of options. I’m midway through the process for one of mine - the oral surgeon said in late March “any time a month from now or later” to have the metal part exposed and a new crown made.
Might a bone graft be a possibility? I have no idea whether that would help enough - and of course it’s an extra expense / hassle.
They can always try a graft, but it doesn’t necessarily work, so there’s more time and expense waiting to find out. Plus you need an operation to take some bone from your hip, or have some dead guys bone put in your mouth. If not for the nerve issue, they’d be able to split the bone and put a filler in (oral surgeon now raps on your head to let you know what it feels like when they split the bone). But then you still have to wait for the bone to heal and strengthen.
Nothing beats an implant, but for a short span a bridge isn’t that bad of a choice. Glad to hear you have the option of an implant. I’d have an old fashioned denture rattling around in my mouth if not for those things.
I actually have a bridge on one side of my mouth and an implant on the other. I suppose the implant makes it easier to floss, and more food gets stuck on the side with the bridge. Other than that, there is basically no difference for me in looks or function. I actually have to tell people which teeth are the fake ones. So you are justifiably disappointed, having expected one thing and possibly not getting it, but even the old-school bridge option isn’t so bad. I’m sure you’ll be chomping away happily in no time!
Yeah, I’m fortunate. My missing tooth is an upper molar which has a lower success rate than lower ones; fortunately it seems to have taken well.
Your mention of dentures reminds me: a few years back, a colleague, whose teeth had looked fairly bad (receding gums, the old “long in the tooth” appearance, not healthy looking) suddenly was sporting a mouthful of fairly nice teeth. She said she had indeed had full implants done. I laughed and said that I’d been wondering, but wasn’t sure what the etiquette was: do you compliment someone? say nothing?.
Hope it doesn’t make my sperm swim funny.