I just confirmed with my dentist that my I need to have one of my upper teeth (#14) extracted and and have an implant put in. Having a bridge, or just leaving a gap, didn’t really appeal to me. I know there is a four month waiting period between the extraction and the implant, but I don’t think you are in discomfort or pain for most of that time. If anybody has gone through something similar, let me know what it was like. I’ve heard everything from “it’s no big deal” to “it’s an excruciating experience they wouldn’t wish on their worst enemy”.
The reason is that I had a root canal years ago and apparently there is a crack in that tooth causing a serious infection in my upper jaw. The endodontist said because of the crack re-treating the tooth wouldn’t do much good since the infection would likely return.
The original root canal itself wasn’t so bad if I remember correctly, but I may have blocked out the worst parts. The only other teeth I’ve had removed were my wisdom teeth when I was a teenager, and frankly I don’t remember how bad it was. All I remember is there was a lot of bleeding and I had to take pain meds for a few days.
If you’ve ever had something like this done, what was your experience and what precautions were taken, think anesthetics, for your procedure?
I has a tooth extracted when I was in high school. I don’t recall any pain or complications, aside from when the hole got filled with a bob of blood; that was kind of gross.
I had an implant placed there several years (decades) later. I had my wisdom teeth removed at the same time, and they suggested putting in the implant post at the same time. That was under a mild anathesia and was painless.
Putting in the implant itself was also uneventful, and I haven’t had any problem is the years (decades) since.
I had a crown put in last week that was much worse.
I had an extraction about a year ago. It was a molar way at the back and I saw no real need for an implant, so I have no experience with that. However, the extraction itself turned out to be remarkably uneventful, and all the worry beforehand was for nothing.
As always with an extraction, there is a very small chance of developing a “dry socket” which can be quite painful, but it’s rare. The dental office called about four or five days later to see how I was doing, and everything was fine.
I have had three implants, and will eventually get at least 3 more. Not all of my permanent teeth formed so I have been replacing the baby teeth as they get loose or develop issues. One of my implants is 23 years old and the most recent one had the crown placed in December.
I did local anesthetic for the extraction and implant placement. The worst was definitely getting the numbing shots. Since they’ll place the implant immediately after extraction, dry socket won’t be an issue you have to worry about.
Having the hole for the implant drilled feels weird. There’s no pain but feeling your entire skull vibrate as the bone is drilled is… unpleasant? My surgeon used two or three different sized drills before he placed the implant, so don’t be surprised if it’s drilled more than once.
I never needed more than prescription strength ibuprofen for the first day or two. Your gum will be sore and swollen, so definitely plan on soft foods for at least a week. One of my implants was for a premolar, and I pretty much avoided using that side of my mouth for anything chewy for at least two weeks. I couldn’t eat anything like chips for at least a month as even small pieces would work their way to that side of my mouth and my gum was just too sensitive to take it.
Once the crown is in, they basically function like real teeth.
I was told if you extract the tooth and don’t immediately place the implant, then you have to wait for the gum to heal before doing the implant (so 3-4 months). Two of my implants were extractions with immediate implant placement
For one, my most recent implant, I even waited an extra week with a painful tooth so I could see my regular surgeon and have the implant placed so I wouldn’t have to wait for the gum to heal.
I have three implants. The first one was a lot of trouble because the dentist wasn’t as competent as the dentist who did the latter to implants.
The last one which I had a couple of years ago-- the new dentist extracts the tooth and puts the implant base in at the same visit. So I was in and out of there in 45 minutes with the the new implant thing in my mouth. And then he puts a temporary crown on it and then you come back and he attaches it the final crown. It was absolutely a piece of cake. It cost $4,500, I don’t remember exactly – but that part was the painful part. He was so good – the fact that he did it all in one visit, the initial visit blew my mind.
I’m dictating this message so I hope it’s not too messed up with punctuation and what not. But find out how he does it. Some of them pull the tooth and make you wait like 3 months until it heals before they’ll put the post in there that the implant will go on. This dentist who is in his '80s now and is extremely competent said they used to do it that way but then they figured out there was no need to. So they pulled the tooth and put the post in there on the same visit. and that’s really worked a lot better for me as the patient.
Words to live by: there’s no substitute for competence and experience.
It depends. On one implant I had the extraction, bone graft and implant (but not the crown - above the gum stuff) done in one day. On an implant supported bridge later with previous bone loss from a infected tooth it took about 6 months from bone grafting to the implants and 10 months total (so an additional 4 months ) to the final form.
All and all it was worth it, but it was not pleasant. Not unbearable but yes be prepared for a few days out of action. Dentist prescribed 2 pain killers to take alternately, 1 was good ol’ ibuprofen the second was some codeine like Rx. The concept was when one was wearing off use the other as it would be too soon to re-up the first one. It worked well, and to my surprise ibuprofen worked better then the controlled substance. It may have been a matter of dose but overall pain control was part of the necessary equation.
I have just, twenty days ago, gotten a sinuslift and an implant. The surgeon thought it best to make the extraction last summer and wait with the implant. Some pain after the local anesthetic wore off, but next morning there were almost no pain. I didn’t even take any pain killers.
I remember someone being worried about boneloss in the jaw. The surgeon said no problem, I’ll just put some bone in there too.
He will wait six months before the tooth is put in, but I have no pain still, except when I eat chips. The newly healed gum does not like that.
I had an implant about a year ago. It wasn’t too bad for me, but I’ve always had a pretty high tolerance for dental pain. This can vary from person to person, and you are probably the best judge of how much dental work bothers you. Multiple dentists have said that I seem to do very well with procedures that others find quite painful, so take that into account.
For me the worst part was the initial extraction. Part of the problem was that the tooth being worked on was way in the back of my mouth. Just the physical act of having to keep my mouth open very wide for a fair amount of time adds to the discomfort. You are, of course, completely numb for the procedure. The base for the implant was installed at the same time, which felt kind of weird. It’s like a little screw, and I could feel the motion of it being screwed into my jaw, even if I didn’t feel any actual pain.
I was given prescriptions for a couple of painkilllers. Like kanicbird, one was just ibuprofen, the other was something stronger. As it happens, the pharmacy was out of the stronger prescription, and had to wait a couple days to get it back in stock. By the time they had it in, I felt fine, so I never ended up having that prescription filled. The ibuprofen was sufficient.
I had my first implant last year. I had an extraction as a teenager and I don’t remember it being painful at all. This time around, I had developed a severe toothache while traveling. My dentist took a look at the x-ray and announced that I had a significant infection and the tooth needed to come out. He asked if I wanted a bridge or an implant and I chose implant. The extraction and cleanout took more than 3 hours! Between the discovery that not only do my teeth have three roots instead of two, but those roots have hooked ends that prevent simply pulling the tooth; and the extensive cleanout of all the infected bits, it was a long and painful process, even with extensive numbing (which wore off). After packing it with bone and sewing up the gum, I really needed the painkiller prescribed (which turned out to just be 4X the normal dose of ibuprofen).
My implant took about 6 months. Immediate (1 week) to check that it was healing, removal of sutures (a couple weeks), inserting the post (4-5 months later) and attaching the tooth (a month after that). No real pain after the first few days.