Anyone ever had a dental implant?

[BobbinWeez]

I just found out that I need to have a dental implant. YIKES! Needless to say I'm a little nervous. Has anyone ever had one? Is it a rough recovery?
Thanks!

 

[skater]

I've had two . I am a huge baby at the dentist and used to have to sit down in the waiting room for a while after a cleaning, so keep that in mind with my response. My procedures involved pulling the tooth and then sticking the metal rod in the space. I had a tranquilizer and laughing gas for the procedure which helped my mental ability to handle it . Be prepared to not be able to eat anything you have to chew the first week. Its apparently very bad to get a piece of food down in the hole. And even after that, you have to be careful. I wore a little fake tooth which was very uncomfortable for me and I did not wear it except to go out and to eat (it protected the "hole."

I think for most people its not that bad, but for me it was sort of yucky. My father-in-law had several and didn't mind them at all. I hope I haven't scared you too much - I was just trying to give it to you straight. I would get another one if I have to though .

 

[TwingleMum]

How expense are they??

 

[Meriweather]

DH is still going through the process almost a year now.
2 bone grafts, a tissue graft If he knew what he does now, he wouldn't have it.
Still no tooth....should be coming soon....finally.
Cost?? I think we have paid about $3000 so far.
And very painful at certain phases.

 

[Donnainnj]

I had one years ago.(maybe 10 years?) About $2000 including the crown. They wanted to do a skin graft because the tooth had been missing so long, but I didn't go for it, that saved some money. I don't remember feeling anything as he did it, but the day after it hurt a bit, I was surprised he didn't give me anything for it, and just took a tylenol. When I went back he told me he got a call and forgot to give me a prescription for pain meds.
Donna

 

[ghoulishgirl]

I just found out that I need to have a dental implant. YIKES! Needless to say I'm a little nervous. Has anyone ever had one? Is it a rough recovery?
Thanks!

I'm a dental assistant. Any chance your general dentist can do a bridge instead? Have you already had the extraction? Implants can be a difficult road to restoring the area.

 

[Becky2005]

Interesting for the responses. I had it done and I didn't find it that big of a deal.

The only catch is you have to be careful with cleanings because they can't use metal instruments on the fake tooth (at least that is what I was told). I'm overdue for my annual cleaning on this one but I don't have dental insurance so have to wait.

I think overall mine was $5,000???? They had to extract a tooth first that basically crumbled -- although it DID explain why my regular dentist was totally baffled why I hadn't been in pain before the thing just fell apart. He asked me about 5 times "This didn't bother you?" -- I finally had to ask him if it was SUPPOSED to with the way he kept asking. I was told yes, it should have been hurting way before it got to the point it was. When I got it removed explained it, apparently I had no nerve in that tooth and it had somehow fused to the bone in a way it wasn't supposed to??? I don't know, I just know that it was NOT an easy tooth removal -- I didn't feel a thing...I just remember the conversation because he said it was like removing shards of glass, his "HUH???" talking being very perplexed by it when there was no root, etc... I just figured I was making him earn his money.

They let that heal, then put in the implant, let that heal, then went back to the regular dentist for the actual tooth part.

It's been a year and really don't think about it much. Occassionally I might feel a twinge in the area but nothing that lasts more than a brief moment.

 

[RNMOM]

I've had 3 done. My best advice is to find a endodontist who specializes in them. I would also avoid any of the big clinic type places.

For me, all 3 were teeth which had been root canaled many years ago. Each broke off down in the gum. I had the surgery to 'dig' out the roots and then a bone graft and it was sewn over to heal. 3-4 month later I returned to have the post implanted and it was again allowed to heal then the final okay to go to the regular dentist to have a crown placed. There is special hardware they need to have to attach the crown and even to make it. Be sure your doctors communicate the type of implant with one another.

An upper tooth has to heal longer than a lower tooth. I think it was about 9 months total for the lower but a year for the upper. Has to do with the amount of bone and the closeness to the sinuses and such. I had bone grafts with each and did fine.

I was awake and just numbed up for all three tooth extractions. These were really deep major teeth but my doctor is so terrific I was fine. He is really really fussy with his work and guarantees it will be perfect. My second tooth he didn't like the placement after it healed and redid it at no cost to me.

I am not fond of pain and can honestly say a day or two of strong pain killers and ice packs and I was fine. I could eat most things and chewed on the opposite side. Once the stiches were removed I could chew and eat anything.

Don't let peoples individual bad experiences scare you. Do please try to find someone who is really really dedicated and good. My doctor also operated on my son when he was 6. He had to have a palate expander for braces because it was affecting his speech and they had to transplant some gum tissue. He did it under local and the kid never complained at all. This is the son with ADD. He is also very active in professional organizations.

I paid about 2500-3300 for each of mine. The first was in 2000, the last in 2009. I just got my crown placed this past week and am doing fine. The cost of the crowns were separate.

I have never heard anything about not using metal tools with teeth cleaning or any such stuff. I have dealt with several different dentists due to moving and in all the things I have read never saw anything about this. Good luck and don't sweat it too much. It really isn't so bad.

 

[Sky Blue Pink]

I've had a couple implants. They weren't bad at all. Cost, about $4000 each! It takes a long time, from start to finish. Months! But worth it, in my opinion. This last one I had, when the doctor put in the metal post, I had a black eye for about a week afterwards. It looked like somebody clocked me.

 

[BobbinWeez]

Wow thanks for all the responses! I'm usually pretty good at the dentist having had an extraction done in the past and cavities. The unfortunate part is that insurance doesn't cover this procedure...don't get me started on that
My dentist did mention a bridge but said that the two teeth on either side of the removed tooth would have to be ground down for the bridge...it doesn't make sense to me to grind down 2 perfectly good teeth to fix one tooth. But luckily getting the implant is not urgent and I can weigh all my options.
You guys are geat. Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wow thanks for all the responses! I'm usually pretty good at the dentist having had an extraction done in the past and cavities. The unfortunate part is that insurance doesn't cover this procedure...don't get me started on that
My dentist did mention a bridge but said that the two teeth on either side of the removed tooth would have to be ground down for the bridge...it doesn't make sense to me to grind down 2 perfectly good teeth to fix one tooth. But luckily getting the implant is not urgent and I can weigh all my options.
You guys are geat. Thanks!

So true! My DD was missing a tooth (never had it, got that from her Dad). The insurance wouldn't cover it - they only cover a portion of implants if they are replacing an already there tooth that gets removed. Not a never been there tooth. But they would cover a bridge 100%. It made no sense to us either that you would grind down two perfectly good teeth to put in a bridge. Several years later she had managed to get cavities in both of those teeth, so we went ahead with the bridge. In the meantime they had made a retainer at her orthodontist that has a fake tooth on it to maintain the space.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I just had an implant placed. I'm now in the 6 month waiting game until the permanent tooth get's screwed into the implant. While it is a very long and expensive road, it is well worth it and a much better choice than a bridge. The entire process will take 1 year for me, because I had to have a bone graft. And I didn't find the process to be any more painful than getting a filling done. It really didn't hurt at all, except for some initial swelling after the implant was placed.

My insurance would not cover any expenses related to the implant, even though it was necessary to replace a tooth damaged from an injury. Even though it was really expensive, I'm still glad that I went through it.

 

[AshleyW]

Wow thanks for all the responses! I'm usually pretty good at the dentist having had an extraction done in the past and cavities. The unfortunate part is that insurance doesn't cover this procedure...don't get me started on that
My dentist did mention a bridge but said that the two teeth on either side of the removed tooth would have to be ground down for the bridge...it doesn't make sense to me to grind down 2 perfectly good teeth to fix one tooth. But luckily getting the implant is not urgent and I can weigh all my options.
You guys are geat. Thanks!

My younger brother has a genetic disorder that caused him to only have 6 (!!) adult teeth, and they weren't very strong teeth. He had them pulled and had implants put in his entire mouth when he was 19, it's been about a year since then. My parents' insurance didn't want to cover his either, but he and his doctors were actually able to fight it and get them to pay because it was medically necessary. Otherwise the bill would have been over $100k.

Anyway.. my brother didn't think it was all that horrible, so I wouldn't think that one implant would be bad. He was chomping down on steak and other tough foods within about a week. He did have to go back after about 2 months because a screw came loose in one of his implants and he needed to get it tightened, but other than that, he's had no pain or problems since then.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

$5000 for mine

I have the two between your front teeth and incisors. Bone graph included. I had my two bottom wisdom teeth out at the same time, so they knocked me out. Painful for me, yes, at first. And this is the girl who went through a spinal fusion surgery, yet cried in pain after dental implants

I'm actually going back to the surgeon today for my 1+ month visit, so we'll see. I get the actual crowns in June, but I have a retainer with two false teeth currently.

The recovery process varies from person to person. I didn't have harder foods for a couple weeks after (keep in mind that I also had wisdom teeth out), but I got along just fine. The pain did subside after awhile, although the swelling didn't go down for almost a week.

Just be careful with them and follow the doctor's instructions carefully to avoid infections, and you should be good

 

[lilmissdisney216]

I'm also a dental assistant I do agree that a bridge might be a good way to go as well. Done a lot of those in my office too. I also have heard of some people having a partial made depending on the position of the tooth in question.