Should I Go to Clear Choice for Dental Implants?

I need to replace quite a few teeth because I let my oral health visits lapse. I went to see Clear Choice Dental Implants and they are talking about extracting all my teeth and using something called an all-on-4 procedure. I thought some of my teeth were still good, but maybe I was wrong and it is better just to do this all at once. Is it just my pride making me want to keep some of these in? If so, I’ll go ahead with Clear Choice.

Lennie

Dear Lennie,

 

Bear in mind that I have not examined you so I can really only give you general guidelines. Clear Choice Dental Implant Centers are part of a large corporation. They have a mass market mindset. They tend to do one-size-fits-all dental care. Their go-to is to extract all the teeth, whether it is needed or not, then do the all-on-4.

While that procedure does have its place, it may not actually be the best option for you. It could be that you have plenty of teeth left that can be saved and you only will need to replace some of your teeth with dental implants. Or, even if you do not and it is necessary that you extract the remainder of your teeth, there is also the implant overdenture procedure, which is less risky than the all-on-4. My recommendation is for you to get a second opinion from a private dentist. Here are some things to consider when you are looking for that dentist:

• You will want to be certain the dentist has post-doctoral training in dental implants. This is an advanced procedure that is not adequately taught in dental school. Therefore, it is imperative that the dentist really invest time in training.
• Check the dentist’s number of procedures as well as his or her success rate. He should have experience on a large number of dental implants and have at least a 95% success rate, preferably higher.
• It is even better if the dentist is qualified to perform the surgery as well. That way there is not a possibility of any miscommunication between the dentist and an oral surgeon.

This blog is brought to you by Libertyville Dentist Dr. David Potts.