4th time around

[Wayne Smith]

I just got home from my fourth dental implant. This is in lieu of bridge work, which is attached to other teeth and endangers them and, on average, lasts 10 years. An implant is a porous ceramic piece that is implanted into the bone. The bone grows into the pores in the ceramic and it becomes part of the bone. The crown is attached to the implant.

My dental surgeon uncovered the bone, drilled a progressively bigger hole in my jawbone, threaded it, and screwed in the implant. He then closed the surgery site. In six months I go back for "the great uncovering" - when he cuts away the flesh that has grown over it and puts in a plug.

This one is all the way back and a little more difficult than the others. I am now on pain meds and will be on a preventative antibiotic.

[Gibbs44]

Youch, that makes my mouth hurt reading it. Prayers for fast healing.

[Hickory]

I think I'd rather have cataract surgery.

[MT Gianni]

My wife had one in the 70's when they used cadaver bone. Hers has held up since then.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I will also pray for your healing.
That sounds like one awful way to spend the future.
Mike in peru

[Wayne Smith]

I'm doing very well. After no sleep the first night yesterday and last night I made up for it. This afternoon I am off all pain meds, spend much of the afternoon setting up my office after a move this weekend. Most of that was unpacking books and putting them on the shelves.

This morning I brushed my teeth and lightly brushed the incision, as instructed. No bleeding at all. God is good.

[mroliver77]

I have taken so many meds and steroids that my top teeth were soft and chalky. I would break them or get cavities all the time. The fixes would not hold and I had thousands of $$ in them.I finally gave up. Had all the top teeth pulled. Then my rear lowers were so bad they had to be pulled as dentures could not line up with them. I have a partial lower and a full top denture now. The bones are not pronounced enough to hold the top well so I slather denture adhesive on it. It holds well but is a pain. I can eat nuts again though!!
Doc said I could get stainless pins put in much the same way as yours. $2000 each and need 2 on top.
I said the first thing I would do with new choppers is buy a good steak. I can't afford one now! lol My freezer died and ruined my deer loin steaks. :( Teeth cost me my SA NM M1A with Smith Ent. mount and S.A. MK4 Scope and a case of South African ball.
So is life.

I hope yours turns out great Wayne.
J

[BSalty]

I hope you are doing well still and the procedure is completed without any complications. I just had 6 of my rear teeth pulled the Monday before your post, in prep for bridge work, so I (literally) feel your pain. I simply can't afford the implants right now, and did not want dentures if I could possibly avoid it.

I will trade you prayers my friend.

[Wayne Smith]

Done! I am healing, but slower than previously. Strangely enough my dentist tells me that the price for bridge work and the price for an implant is almost the same. My Delta Dental basically pays half. He also told me that bridge work lasts on average 10 years and has to be replaced. Inserts are permanent.

[Shiloh]

Had lifelong problems from a ball bat to the teeth in 3rd grade.

Had an area that was constant trouble go south real bad. Dr Sheridan cleaned out abscessed bone and put in an oversize titanium anchor. Took almost a year, but the area regenerated healthy bone around the anchor. No issues in a number of years now. Hang in there buddy!!

Shiloh

[g5m]

Best wishes. This doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun.

[Wayne Smith]

I can't say it's fun, but not agony either. Somewhere in the middle slightly beyond discomfort initially.

[Ramar]

Wayne, I don't think I could do what you did. Glad to hear you're doing good and smiling I hope!

At my age, I would think real hard about doing without them. I can endure the pain I just can't sit still to do the deed.
Ramar

[Wayne Smith]

Wayne, I don't think I could do what you did. Glad to hear you're doing good and smiling I hope!

At my age, I would think real hard about doing without them. I can endure the pain I just can't sit still to do the deed.
Ramar

Ramar, I like eating way too much to go without!

[Ramar]

"Ramar, I like eating way too much to go without!"

I guess I would have to go back to drinking. I did prefer drinking over eating many years ago.

I'm really jealous with a lot of respect.
Ramar

[patsher]

Glad to hear you're doing well, Wayne! I have about 8 implants in my mouth now. Couldn't afford them here in the U.S. -- they wanted about 3K each. So I go to Mexico. Algodones, just across the border from Yuma. That little town has about 300 dentists, and most of them do implants. Most of them are U.S.-trained, and they use the same brands of implants as U.S. dentists do. Digital x-rays, the whole works. Very skilled. And only $1100 each. That's up from the $1000 it cost for the first 2 or 3. (I'll be glad to give referrals and information to anyone who is interested).

I wish I had known that "permanent" bridges only last about 10 years! I had one tooth missing, and my dentist at the time (years ago) talked me into a permanent bridge. What he didn't explain very well was that they had to cut down and cap two perfectly good teeth, one on each side of the missing tooth to act as anchors for the bridge. WHAT???????!!!!!! So, 10 years later, the teeth are bad underneath the caps, and now I have THREE teeth with problems. So we went through root canal fillings (which worked for a while), then those cracked and they went bad again. Then you're into extractions, and decisions about "what do I do NOW?!!" So, for me, when one of our business associates mentioned that her husband just had an implant at Algodones and how reasonable it was, and how good the dentist was -- I was hooked. Went down, had the first one put in, it was like a walk in the park. No pain doing the work, just a long time in the chair. And very tolerable soreness afterwards. They give you a pain pill and one for swelling right after installing the implant, and then a prescription for more, so they get you on top of the soreness right away, so that it never gets bad. I've had really good luck down there. And I'm VERY VERY glad I don't have to deal with dentures!

[Wayne Smith]

Sounds like a good deal. I pay just a touch more with insurance. I'm a little far to take advantage, though.

[Wayne Smith]

Just an update - I broke another tooth! Had the root extraction today. Because Delta Dental only allows one a year I'll wait until July to get this one done. By then the 4th will have been finished, with the crown in place.

[mroliver77]

What do you eat Wayne? :)

I took so many cortisone shots and took so many meds that it messed up my teeth. They got very soft and would break easy. The expensive fixes never held.

Does milk(or calcium supplements) help older folks teeth?
J

[Wayne Smith]

Unfortunately this one had a root canal years ago. It was dead, thus nothing I could do would change it. Any tooth needs a blood supply for anything done now to effect it.

This is part of our genetic heritage, my grandfather, my dad, my brother and me all have weak/soft/brittle teeth.