Can you tell me what my alternatives are? I had a dental bridge and ended up losing one of the anchor teeth. With two molars gone, my dentist suggested that getting dental implants will be the best treatment. I agreed and went through the bone grafting procedure and healing time. Then, I had the dental implant placement. Within a week, the first one snapped off. He offered to replace it for free, but that required more grafting. I went through it anyway hoping to have the best replacement. Now that one has snapped off. He’s offering to do it again, but I don’t know if I have it in me. Maybe if I knew why they keep breaking so that could be avoided. Do you know what is happening and what my alternatives are?
Jennifer
Dear Jennifer,
I am sorry that this happened to you. It is discouraging when you go through something hard and find that it has failed and you have to do it again only to have it fail again. Generally, with qualified implant dentists, there is a high success rate. Even the best dentists will have a dental implant fail occasionally. That being said, your dentist seems to be struggling more than usual.
There are a few reasons why dental implants typically fail. Two of the most common are infection or failure to integrate with the bone. Yours, however, are failing because the implant fixtures are breaking. Because the implants themselves are made from titanium, they are very durable. I know of two possibilities that they would break. The first is if your dentist is trying to save money by purchasing cheap implants.
In this country manufacturers are held to high standards. Implant fixtures will cost several hundred dollars. If a dentist purchases his implants from elsewhere, he or she can get them for just a few dollars. The problem is that they are usually defective and do not last nearly as long.
However, if your dentist purchased one of these, I would think he’d catch on after one broke so quickly and up purchase the next one from a more reputable manufacturer. This leads me to think that the real problem is how or where he is placing the implants themselves. Placing dental implants is not taught in dental school, so dentists need to invest in the training post-doctorally to develop the skills necessary. Your dentist may not have enough training yet.
My suggestion is to get a refund from your dentist and then find a more qualified dentist to place the implants you need.
This blog is brought to you by Libertyville Dentist Dr. David Potts.