Archive for the ‘Dental Implants’ Category

Dental Implant Horror Story – I have an implant-supported bridge, and my teeth don’t line up

Monday, February 20th, 2012

I recently had 2 implants and a 4-tooth bridge on my bottom right. At first everything seemed fine (I was happy to have teeth again). However, I notice that when I bite down on the right side, the bottom teeth and the top teeth line up, but the left side doesn’t line up. The left top teeth overbite the bottom teeth. When I bit down on the left side, the right top teeth overbite the bottom right teeth. Is this normal? I was hoping that the surgery and implants would correct this problem.
- Elizabeth from California

Elizabeth,
No, this is not right. The teeth should line up evenly. I’m not following you as far as seeing exactly what is going on in your case about which side overbites which side, but I think I am understanding your first statement that when you bite, the right side lines up but the left side doesn’t. This could be a very fundamental problem with your treatment.

Dental implant treatment is tricky and completely unregulated by the profession. It is not officially recognized as a specialty, so anyone can claim to be an implant dentist with no extra training whatsoever. Or, their training may be very superficial.

It could be that the surgery placed the implants in the wrong position, or that they were restored incorrectly. Sometimes, if the surgery is done by one dentist and the implants are placed by another, there is a communication problem and they are placed in a position that makes it impossible to restore them correctly. If the surgery and the restoration are done by the same dentist, you won’t have that problem. This is what we do in our office – Dr. Rota does both the surgery and the restoration. When they are done by different dentists, the restorative dentist has to have enough knowledge of implant surgery and enough confidence to be able to tell the surgeon exactly where to place them. A guide should be made by the restorative dentist. This guide will snap into your mouth and give a clear indication to the surgeon exactly where to place the implant and at what angle. But a lot of dentists don’t do that.

We wish you the best.

This blog is sponsored by Colorado cosmetic dentist Dr. Joseph Rota

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Wants to know about Clear Choice complaints

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

I am due to have the full upper and lower implants done soon. I would like to know of any complaints about having both done.There are only about 6 good teeth on the lower that are good, but am having all pulled,about 10 to accomondate a matching full upper and lower sets to match. Please let me know of any complaints or positive of this procedure done on others,
Thank You
- Donna from Denver

Donna,
If you do a search on “Clear Choice dental implants complaints” on Google, you can find a number of complaints. Let me put some of that in perspective and then give you some advice.

Clear Choice Dental Implants Centers is a nationwide chain. They recruit oral surgeons and prosthodontists and then devote themselves to only providing dental implants care. As far as what I know, their dentists provide good care and are fully trained for the procedures they do. They are generally specialists.

I have seen a lot of criticism, though, of their treatment planning and sales policies. They tend to recommend the extraction of all remaining teeth. For some people, that is a turn-off. It sounds like that is what you want, however. They also make heavy use of the all-on-4 dental implants technique. There are some risks with this technique, and it would be good for you if you could get another opinion and see what other options may be available for you.

Also, from what I have heard I believe they are very expensive for the services they provide.

So I would recommend getting a second opinion before having them do this work, so you can compare notes. There is almost always an alternate approach, and sometimes the second opinion can save you thousands of dollars.

A word to the wise.

This blog sponsored by Colorado Springs implant dentist Dr. Joseph Rota.
Read more about the cost of dental implants.
Read about affordable Colorado Springs dental implants.

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Best way to replace missing lateral incisors

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

I am 46 and was born without my front lateral incisors. I have a space on the top sides of my mouth.

I am considering Invisalign or porcelain veneers. I am not sure if I would be a candidate for lumineers or another similar product. I know aging teeth may factor in whether I would be a good candidate for this procedure. I don’t want fake looking teeth. Which method of cosmetic treatment do you think would be best for me?
- Karen from Indiana

Karen,
I’m understanding that you are missing your upper lateral incisors, and you have spaces there right now. So you need teeth to fill in those spaces.

There are three good ways to put teeth in those spaces.

If the teeth surrounding the spaces are otherwise healthy and don’t have any large fillings, the best way to replace them would be with dental implants.You could have two implant fixtures placed in the bone in those spaces, wait a few weeks for it to heal, and then have teeth placed on them. If done by an excellent cosmetic dentist, the teeth would look real and would match the surrounding teeth so that no one could tell they aren’t real.

Another way to replace the teeth would be with dental bridges. You would have crowns placed on the teeth on either side of the space, and then the false tooth suspended between those crowns.

The cost of replacing these two teeth with either technique would be around $6000 to $10,000, if there are no complicating factors.

For a lot less money, you could get a temporary tooth replacement. For a couple hundred dollars, you could get a flipper partial. This is a plastic plate that fits up in the roof of your mouth and is fastened in with a couple of wire clips, and it would have the two false teeth attached to it.

I have seen some orthodontists and dentists that want to close the spaces by putting braces on the teeth or using Invisalign to move the canine teeth into the space of the lateral incisors. This never looks good. They figure they can put a crown or a porcelain veneer, or bonding on the canine to make it look like a lateral incisor. But the canine is a large tooth, and the lateral is quite a small tooth, so that’s like trying to put a disguise on chubby Santa Claus and getting him to look like skinny Peter Pan. It’ll never look quite right. Your teeth will never look quite natural doing it that way.

This blog sponsored by Colorado Springs dentist Dr. Joseph Rota.

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Do I need a missing back tooth replaced?

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

I have just had a tooth extracted 2 weeks ago and am supposed to be getting a bridge over time. however the price quoted is over $3500.00. I am now used to the tooth not being there(back tooth)., So, other than just being a cosmetic fix, can i go througjh life without getting the bridge done. Is there any meical reason for it….in other wors, i am just fine as is and rather keep my money. I know the denntist will insist, so i need a secon opinion.
- Andre from Montreal, Canada

Andre
If the tooth is a front tooth, the reason for replacing it is largely cosmetic and partly functional. But for a back tooth, there is an important health reason for replacing it.

The reason is that, when you’re missing a back tooth, the teeth next to it will drift into the empty space that’s left. The teeth on the sides tip into the space, and the opposing tooth drifts down or up, depending on whether it is an upper or lower tooth missing. This throws your jaw out of alignment, which can cause TMJ disorder. When teeth tip, it also helps contribute to periodontal disease (gum disease), and can lead to the eventual loss of those teeth, too.

While these teeth will start drifting within a couple of weeks, the difficulties don’t become apparent until years later. You probably wouldn’t think anything was wrong until a couple of years later you may start wondering why you have headaches all the time and you can’t bite together normally.

My recommendation would be to have the missing tooth replaced within a couple of weeks, before the teeth start drifting at all. This can be done either with a dental implant or a dental bridge. In some situations, a bridge is best, in other situations, the best choice would be an implant.

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Affordable choices for missing teeth

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

I already have 11 missing teeth, and the remaining teeth are discolored, have some with holes and some rotting away. I do not want dentures. I have had many friends and family members that complain about their dentures and I can tell they are fake and some look foolish. I don’t have much money at all. I am 53 years old. I was wondering if mini implants would be a good thing for me. I want teeth that look natural and to stay in my mouth permanently.

- Michelle from Indiana

Michelle,

Yes, if you don’t want dentures that slip around and make it hard to talk, mini implants are a great option. They are much more affordable than standard implants, and will help stabilize your teeth so that you don’t have those problems with dentures.

Another option would be to save some of your teeth and have removable partial dentures. If there are any teeth left that don’t require extensive restoration, this could be your least expensive option. And partial dentures are anchored to the teeth you have left.

An implant-retained denture is very different from a removable denture. Removable dentures are hard to eat with, they can come loose, and they move around in your mouth. But if you have it retained with mini-implants, that makes it fairly stable. It’s best to have the full-sized implants – that makes your teeth very stable and is just like having your own natural teeth. But if the full-sized implants are out of your price range, the mini implants work fairly well. And if you go to a good dentist, the implant-retained denture can be made to look very life-like – people won’t know you have dentures. Some dentists try to use cheap materials for dentures so they can quote the lowest price possible. But for a little more money, there are some excellent, wear-resistant materials that look very natural.

Read more about affordable dental implants.

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After 20 years, I’m miserable with my dentures.

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

I am 62 years old. I have had complete upper and lower dentures for the last 20+ years. I am still paying for the last set I got, but they don’t function as anything but a prop to keep my face from collapsing. I can’t bite or chew with them. I pretty much have sores on my lower gums all the time. I should have bought stock in Fixodent, I use so much. Anyway, I’m sure I don’t have enough bone left for implants, much as I love the idea (and not ClearChoice – isn’t that a joke?). What can I do?
- Vicky in Colorado

Vicky,
I think that you’re going to need to do something in the way of dental implants to get anything that will hold your teeth in. From what you’re telling me, you have the basic problem with facial collapse that we warn people about. When your teeth have been missing for ten or twenty years, your body just resorbs that bone in your jaw that used to support your teeth, and you’re left with a pencil-thin lower jaw, and no upper jawbone. At that point, no set of removable dentures is going to fit, so you can’t keep them in without adhesive and you can’t chew.

So you are going to need some bone grafting. If money is a big issue, you’ll want to go with the minimum, which will be two implants and a snap-in denture. This will give you a stable denture that you’ll be able to eat with and will stay in your mouth without adhesive. If you can afford it, the more implants you use the better, and you can get away from the snaps.

Actually, if this is what you need, in your area I would recommend going down to Colorado Springs where Dr. Joseph Rota there is highly expert in these procedures. I think it would be worth the trip to get this done right. Dr. Radz in downtown Denver is an excellent cosmetic dentist, but doesn’t get into the implants work as much. I maybe could find someone closer. If that is important to you, let me know–I do have some other sources I could check.

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