I’m horrified. I had dental implants placed. I was in a lot of pain from the beginning, but the dentist hinted that was from the surgery and as I healed the pain would go away. It didn’t. Then the dentist said the pain is probably medical, not dental. So, I dutifully went to my doctors office. He did some tests. It turns out my dentist placed one of my implants into my nasal cavity. There is another implant that is impinging on a nerve. Both of those things explain my pain. I haven’t spoken to my dentist yet, because I am too angry. Not only have I spent THOUSANDS of dollars, but I’m now in pain and all because my dentist was incompetent. Not to mention the fact that he tried to pawn the pain problems off on my doctor. Do you have any recommendations?
Tricia- Austin, TX
Tricia,
I’m sorry this has happened to you. Many people do not realize that there is no recognized specialty for dental implants. Any general dentist can place them. Some are better than others in doing the job well. It takes a significant amount of post-graduate training to be able to do this well. You would not believe the horror stories we’ve heard (or maybe you would) about dentists wrongly placing dental implants.
In your case, you’ll want to have those implants re-done. Because they are so obviously misplaced, you have a decent chance of getting your money back. Don’t let him just offer to re-do them. you want a better dentist to do this procedure. Start shopping around now to find a qualified dentist. For example, Dr. Potts did a three-year externship at the Midwest Implant Institute, including courses in surgery, prosthetics, and bone grafting. You want someone with similar qualifications, especially because you will probably now need bone grafting as a result of your dentist’s incompetence.
This blog is brought to you by Libertyville, IL Dentist Dr. David Potts.