Dental Implants- A Personal Story

About two years ago I had a dental implant. The entire process took ten months. This might seem like a long time, and my periodontist perhaps could have gone a bit faster, but he took plenty of time to let my mouth heal after a tooth extraction. He also added a small amount of bone in my jaw, and he took plenty of time to let that fuse onto my jaw. Once the implant is inserted it also takes a few months to make a chemical bond to the jaw bones. The result of this is that the implant is just as strong as a natural tooth.

My particular case was probably a bit odd. I went for a normal six month cleaning and checkup, and the hygienist noticed that the gum on one of my lower right back teeth went down too far. They took x-rays, and it was found that about half of one side of the root on that tooth was gone. The dentist said that it appeared my body was rejecting the tooth. He said this normally occurs because of some sort of trauma to the mouth, but I can’t recall any particular trauma that could have caused this. In any case the tooth had to be extracted. My dentist said he had only seen this a few times in 30 years of practice.

The options for me were either a bridge or a dental implant. In terms of cost it appeared both of these would be about the same. Since an implant, assuming it works (about 90-95% of them do) would give me a replacement tooth that would be just as strong as a natural tooth, I choose that route. Fortunately my dental insurance carrier agreed. I ended up paying about half the cost out of my pocket, and that amount was about $2,000 as I recall. This amount was for everything, including the crown.

My family dentist does not do implants, and he referred me to a periodontist. It was he who examined my mouth and made me get more x-rays, including one that took an x-ray of my entire mouth at once. The x-ray machine started on one side and moved all the way around to the other to take the picture of my entire mouth. A periodontist will also check how far down your gums will recede when pushed down by a dental tool. Each tooth is noted. Several of the teeth on the upper right side of my mouth receded more than others, but I was told they were not too bad. The periodontist agreed I was a good candidate for an implant, so we proceeded along that path.

Click on Part 2 of this article in the articles directory above left.