Any downsides to implants?

[midwestdee]

My DS, now 29, had an implant done when he was 16 or 17 - he was born missing one adult tooth. It was a slow process, I had to take him in once a month for 3 months maybe - it was really expensive, but a bridge didn't make sense for someone so young. We had gone through the braces too and a missing adult tooth would just have thrown everything off kilter eventually. He hasn't had any problems.

 

[eeyoresmom]

I had one done in February. LOVE it. I had an oral surgeon do the actual "implant" which is a screw into your jaw bone, then my dentist did the permanent crown. It was less painful than a filling and much quicker. You do not need bonegrafting in normal circumstance. It was a 3 visit procedure, dentist, oral surgeon back to dentist and lasted over 12 weeks. I took a long time deciding between the implant and a permanent bridge. When the dentist explained that with a permanent bridge they had to grind down the 2 surrounding healthy teeth and crown them I decided on the implant. I did not want to touch two perfectly healthy teeth. Plus, the difference in price between the implant and bridge was $1000 dollars. Insurance paid for $1200 of the implant and I paid $3,600 so altogether $4,800. The bridge was going to cost me close to $4000 and at my age it would NOT have lasted my expected lifetime where the implant should be permanent.

 

[MAJPLO]

At her age I would just worry about changes that may come later such as movement and wisdom teeth. My husband had it done a few years ago and has been happy with the results. It was very expensive and before we had it done we made sure we had dual dental insurance in place as well as a medical reimbursement plan so our payments were pre-tax.

 

[Sadie22]

Maryland bridges are sometimes done on back teeth and cost less in financial terms than implants. However, it is more difficult to clean around them and it affects the teeth on either side which are used as abutments to hold the bridge. Eeyoresmom explained this well. I opted to get an implant (despite some additional cost) to replace an unsalvageable broken molar and am glad I did. I had good bone for the screw to go into and I continue to have good bone. About that time it was recommended that I begin to use an electric toothbrush. I do have to make sure that I floss frequetly and carefully around the implant.

Since the implant was done, I have been diagnosed with diabetes. I go to the dentist every three or four months now, to ensure that no further problems develop.

 

[pixiedustaholic]

OP here - Thank you all for the replies! I think we are on the right track with the decision to get implants rather than a bridge for her. I will check with her pediatrician at her physical in July and get his opinion on her growth even though two other dentists, the periodontist and the orthodontist have said she is okay to get the implants. We are still waiting to hear back from our insurance regarding whether or not they will help cover any of the first two stages that will be done by the periodontist since this is considered to be largely cosmetic. (His estimate was about $6,500 for the worst case scenario which would require the bone grafting.) Our insurance will cover 50% of the last stage that will be done by our dentist including the crowns. Our estimated cost for that is $1835. It will be a lengthy process...maybe 6-8 months. We are just trying to decide financially if we can do it this year if we get the green light from her pediatrician or start the process sometime next year. I'm glad to see all the positive experiences you all have had with implants.

 

[ceecee]

Our son broke his front tooth (after we spent $$$ and years on braces). One thing that surprised me about the new implant was the color. The dentist said he could not make it exactly the same color as his current teeth because as his teeth age, we want the implant to match his 'older' teeth. So it's close, but slightly off.
However, once it was in, our son said he didn't care what color it was, he never wanted to do that again!

???????? The dentist chooses the shade, is he assuming his teeth will yellow with age? With all the whitening options these days that is no longer the case. My teeth are probably whiter now than when I was in my late teens.

 

[buzz2400]

I had to get an implant since I broke my tooth on a granola bar. It has been a long long process. I did have to get a bone graft which actually hurt so much I was ready to go back to dentist and tell him to take the bone out. Anyway a few things, costs more if you do have to get a bone graft which they can tell by an xray.

The color of the crown is up to you and the dentist. my dentist actually asked me if I approved the color and I said I really didn't care because you really cant see it.

A bridge will wear away the teeth that the bridge is attached to. My mother has a partial bridge and after the years, the tooth breaks and she has to add another tooth to the bridge. Next time it will have to be dentures for her.

I would really question about doing any implants to anyone under 18. My coworker's son needs some implants and their dentist told them they had to wait.

 

[jmartinez1895]

My daughter had to have a tooth surgically removed ( impacted into her sinus). The ortho told us that in her case we will put braces on her next year ( she is 12now) and then when she gets her retainer it will have a false tooth on it so that no one will notice the missing one. He said she will need an implant, but not util she is at least 20 because he wants her bone to harden.

 

[heretolearn]

I first got braces when I was 12 years old. I never got my upper lateral teeth. So I had to have a lot of moving done to make room for those teeth. When I was 15 I got my braces off, but had a retainer that had teeth on it. That was the solution to keep my teeth from moving. When I was 21 I finally got the implants done.
I have had no problems with them. The color match on the teeth is done quite well. I would recommend implants. If my children need them in the future I wouldn't hesitate to have it done. Yes, the cost isn't cheap, but it is worth it. When you can see a genuine smile on your childs face and they don't try to hide the missing teeth. It's a great investment.

 

[Narnia_girl]

???????? The dentist chooses the shade, is he assuming his teeth will yellow with age? With all the whitening options these days that is no longer the case. My teeth are probably whiter now than when I was in my late teens.

Yes, at some point you have to pick a shade and stick with it cause you won't be doing it again (hopefully). He had several that we chose from and I leaned more to the whiter shades but he cautioned against too white because of natural aging. So I guess you could choose something that is artificially whiter than natural, but you would want to maintain that color on the other teeth or it would be just as obvious.

I'd be very surprised if my son ever has any interest in whitening his teeth.

 

[Nohal]

I have 2 implants on which there are 3 teeth. I had them done about 3 years ago. I needed bone grafting which is no big deal. They put pieces of bone into your gums around the implant and stitch up the gum and let the implant and bone heal. It is an expensive venture but one I would do over again in a second. My insurance did not pay anything toward the bone but knocked down the price the periodontist was charging and they did not pay a cent towards the actual implant. They did pay for the consultation, the extractions and the xrays along with 50% of the crown. I didn't want to have a bridge which would have been costly and ruins the teeth on the other side of the mouth where it hooks on to.

 

[ToodlesRN]

Another person missing an adult tooth in the bottom back. about 4 weeks ago I had the 1st stage done inserting the rod and 1 xray (monthly xrays required for infection and healing checks x 3months). well just a few days ago my jaw was sore went into the dentist took an xray and low behold an infection :O so the rod had to taken out. Now we have to wait another 3 months for bone healing and try again, but Im not sure if I want to try again I might just go the other route crowns with a fake tooth or a retainer to wear so my teeth don't shift. It wasn't painful at all, but it's so time consuming for a tooth in the back no one sees! My insurance pays 50% of the cost but my OOP is still around $1900 but with the fail I don't know what it will come too.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Another person missing an adult tooth in the bottom back. about 4 weeks ago I had the 1st stage done inserting the rod and 1 xray (monthly xrays required for infection and healing checks x 3months). well just a few days ago my jaw was sore went into the dentist took an xray and low behold an infection :O so the rod had to taken out. Now we have to wait another 3 months for bone healing and try again, but Im not sure if I want to try again I might just go the other route crowns with a fake tooth or a retainer to wear so my teeth don't shift. It wasn't painful at all, but it's so time consuming for a tooth in the back no one sees! My insurance pays 50% of the cost but my OOP is still around $1900 but with the fail I don't know what it will come too.

Can you explain your "other route"? I'm confused.They cant put a crown on a tooth that isnt there. The crown is the actual fake tooth, but you would need the fake root which is the implant itself. You can only crown a tooth that still has its natural root. I get the retainer option though.

 

[BLLB]

DS does not have one of his lateral teeth (had a baby tooth but no adult tooth behind it). DS needs braces so rather than have an implant, the ortho and dentist recommended removing the other lateral tooth and closing the gaps. The ortho showed us pictures of other recent patients he had done this for and we would not have known had he not pointed it out.

 

[ToodlesRN]

Can you explain your "other route"? I'm confused.They cant put a crown on a tooth that isnt there. The crown is the actual fake tooth, but you would need the fake root which is the implant itself. You can only crown a tooth that still has its natural root. I get the retainer option though.

The other route is a crown on each tooth beside the missing tooth then a fake tooth in the middle. So crown, fake tooth, crown. One dentist recommended this to me, but the specialist does not due to the fact the fake tooth rest on the gums.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Oh, that's a permanent bridge. Are you okay with them filing down your two good teeth on the sides for this? That is the part that made me go with the implant. No way was I ruining two healthy teeth. Plus, in my case the implant was not much more expensive than the bridge and the bridge would not have lasted a lifetime. It took me a long time to decide though.

 

[Teacher03]

Oh, that's a permanent bridge. Are you okay with them filing down your two good teeth on the sides for this? That is the part that made me go with the implant. No way was I ruining two healthy teeth. Plus, in my case the implant was not much more expensive than the bridge and the bridge would not have lasted a lifetime. It took me a long time to decide though.

From personal experience, I would stay away from a bridge. I have had two failed bridges and it ruined two of my teeth that was otherwise healthy. The dentist did not explain to me that this was a possibility, and I am so mad at myself for not researching it. The money I have spent trying to fix the problem would have paid for an implant twice over.

 

[ToodlesRN]

From personal experience, I would stay away from a bridge. I have had two failed bridges and it ruined two of my teeth that was otherwise healthy. The dentist did not explain to me that this was a possibility, and I am so mad at myself for not researching it. The money I have spent trying to fix the problem would have paid for an implant twice over.

After a failed implant Im not sure which route I plan on going or if any, at my next visit Im going to ask about a retainer since it's a back tooth.

 

[js]

My daughter is also 16 and is missing an adult tooth. After braces we thought an implant would be the next step. Our dentist and ortho both advised not to do an implant until she is early 20's as the jaw is still growing/ expanding. We ended up doing a "temporary" bridge for now.

My son will need an implant eventually and our dentist said the same thing regarding age and jaw. I was surprised the OPs dentist would suggest doing it now. My dentist also said perhaps I could wait until he was married and it would be he and his wifes problem lol. Anyway, my ds is 15 and 6' so we still have some time. Actually, its me that tries to push the issue once in a while while the dentist says we still need to wait. Good luck OP.

 

[pixiedustaholic]

DS does not have one of his lateral teeth (had a baby tooth but no adult tooth behind it). DS needs braces so rather than have an implant, the ortho and dentist recommended removing the other lateral tooth and closing the gaps. The ortho showed us pictures of other recent patients he had done this for and we would not have known had he not pointed it out.

OP here- This was an option that we looked at with my DD as well. However, there was some issue with DD's teeth to where this wouldn't work for her. I can't remember the exact reason offhand but it would have been a great option. Good luck with you and your son!