Dental Implant?

[DentalDisaster]

Does anyone have one? Did you previously have a bridge or a gap?
what sort of cost for one front tooth?

Bupa dental care website just says ‘ From ‘ £1995 so I know it is going to cost a LOT more.
I don’t have the money, can’t afford it but I can’t live with a missing front tooth! The bridge keeps failing and falling off and my confidence is crushed. Help!

I had one about 7 months ago - amazed at how painless and easy it was. No problems at all.

My regular dentist is private BUPA and was advised that it would cost from £3K. Thankfully they kept messing me around with long waits for appointments and the cancelling them at the last minute. I had ready had the extraction so couldn’t wait any longer…ended up getting it done much cheaper (£1700 + scan £120) with a really experienced implantologist who trains others so agree with comment above about shopping around.

my dentist says that if the implant fails in 2 years they do it again.
i had a lot of bone loss from infection which is why it took so long but its rock solid now.

im glad i spent the money but hope to go i dont need to do another one!!

Sorry! I was replying to your OP! Read rest now!

@DentalDisaster the implant was too big for my mouth and it failed. I was livid. When it didn't work he offered to redo it for £2.5k, I said no thanks. The dentist who I now go to said I should have taken it up with the professional standards body for dentists as I was royally ripped off by this guy who in his mind was a total cowboy, sadly too long had elapsed in between when I met my super honourable dentist. He is straight talking and not in it for the money and also works as an NHS dentist in an area of major deprivation, he calls parents and makes sure they bring their kids even offering to see them out of hours if the parents work or kids are at school and can't make it. He will call numerous times of necessary. He is a champion🏆

Thats awful @SuperGinger
Of all the complications, incompetence hadn’t occurred to me. Your new dentist sounds amazing!

Its being done in 3 weeks, I’m terrified it won’t work, or I won’t like how it looks when the crown eventually goes on, but I just can’t live like this anymore.

HELP!!

So, after spending£3,500 on an implant that I thought would restore my confidence, I find I’m worse off than before AND I’m in pain.

I am devastated.

I have been back and said I’m not happy, I’ve said I’m in pain, their response was they will discuss with the technician that made the crown and see what can be done cosmetically and get back to me. I don’t see what can be done as it’s so big purely to cover the end of the post! It seems to have been put in wrong from the way the dentist was struggling to find the end after the initial healing. All they said about the pain was ‘you shouldn’t be in pain’. Where do I go from here?

Hmm sounds a bit odd. They are right you shouldn't be in pain. There is no tooth or nerve left to feel. Where is the pain - deep in the bone or around the gum line?

Implant sockets can be susceptible to infection if you don't keep a good hygiene routine. I have one implant to the back of my teeth and I floss and use interdental brushes twice a day and have my teeth properly cleaned every six months by the hygienist, with extra concentration on the implant..

In terms of looks, is it the canine to the left of your front tooth? If so it looks fine to me!

It’s much longer than all the other teeth though so looks really odd. When I Google ‘long implant crown’ images come up under ‘when implants go wrong’ or ‘badly done dental implants’! Other implant images of nice looking ones are all the same size as the other teeth and look like they are coming out of the gum. I think this actually looks worse irl than in the photo tbh.

I think it’s pressing against my front tooth so I’m getting pain in that and I think the crown is pressing on my gum/palate as I’m getting discomfort there too. Also, when I bite my teeth together, the crown hits my bottom tooth so I feel something all the way into where the implant post is.

I’m having such a nightmare I wish I’d never had it done. It wasn’t easily afforded either and I could have done so much more with that money. 😞

Can you show a picture of the other side so it's possible to see the symmetry

How does it feel when you bite? Does it feel too long at the top?

I had the same tooth finished a few weeks ago and mine is just amazing so hope we can get you some help!

The crown of mine is bulky behind. But I'm getting used to it. My dentist took ages adjusting the bite with two types of special paper. He also adjusted the bite of a bottom tooth as well.

Did you have the healing screw put in at the same time as the implant and do you have a bone graft?

Did they tell you how much bone you had?

No bone graft. Screw was put in then a few weeks later the dentist looked for the end of the screw to change it. They cauterised a huge hole in my palate looking for the end but it wasn’t where they thought it would be!
They then cauterised the gum off at the front and the end of the post was there.
I feel if it had been at the back, as they expected it to be, the crown wouldn’t need to be so long as it wouldn’t have to cover all the metal work that is now visible after they cauterised the gum away.
Yes when I bite the top of the crown is pressing the gum so it does feel too long at the top. It can’t be shorter now because of the end of the post.

I have a gummy smile. It just looks so obviously fake being so high up sitting on top of the gum. You can even see the grey of the metal at the very top of the crown!

I am now keeping my head down, not talking to people as much, not smiling as much and having to cover my mouth when I laugh. I just feel so self conscious.

The pain could be from the implant/crown being high in your occlusion so it’s constantly having low grade trauma/irritation as well.

It’s not great as it looks more like a canine. I would ask if there was a way to square of the crown to it looks more like a lateral and also make the buccal aspect less bulbous and more flat so again more like a lateral. Then some composite bonding on the other lateral so it’s bigger would help it look more symmetrical as that’s part of what is drawing the eye to make it more noticeable.

if an implant is in the wrong place/angulation it’s hard to compensate for that in the crown, there is only so far it can be disguised. I hope the above makes sense and you can get it to a more acceptable appearance.

That does all make sense, thank you. It is bulbous, I couldn’t think how to describe it.
I have lost so much confidence in them I’m dreading them even trying to fix it, but I can’t live like this. I’m popping pain killers all day long and they don’t even have much affect.

Ahh yes, I see not compared with the other one it is a lot bigger. They should definitely fix that.

Such a shame this has happened. I was so pleased with my implant, it has been just like a real tooth. It is a lower pre molar though, so not really visible.

It all sounds really strange

I had ct scan and then they create a drilling guide from that 3d image and know exactly where the implant is, the angle thickness and depth. It amazingly precise

My dentist intentionally buried my implant to allow to heal before putting in a healing screw.

Anyway it's easy to see now why you are unhappy. Had your gum receded when they took the impression for the crown? Assuming so. The good news is there is a a gum graft that is possible as hideous as it sounds. Can you find a clear image of before to show you pre surgery gum line. I think I'd be looking also a recompense for this.

I don’t see how they can fix it [GinMonkey if they make the crown shorter more metal will be visible.

That’s the thing VeryMerry My gum was perfectly fine before it was all cauterised away to find the end of the post that they couldn’t find when they were looking for it at the back! (Along with a few other things that never happened that are suddenly being said to make out it’s a me issue, rather than their cock up) I am being gaslight though almost, as they are trotting out ‘well your gum receded’ but it hadn’t, it was absolutely fine when I went for them to find the end to put a shorter screw on. They did this to me. I still have a big gouge out of my palate where they spent ages looking there.

I’ve been trying to find before pictures but anything I zoom in on just looks blurry so isn’t clear enough. I don’t want recompense, I want a smile I don’t have to hide, but this can’t be fixed without drilling out the post and starting all over again and at this point wouldn’t trust them to be able to do it!

I don't think you should be feeling any sensation in the metal hardware now. It should have fused into the bone.

Sorry but I don't understand a few things you said. I I'm in the process of finalizing 5 implants right now, one of which failed along with the bone graft, so that was redone which has delayed all the crowns.

Why was your palate and gum cauterized? I'm not understanding why they opened your palate. It sounds like they had to reopen up the area where the implant was put in, to add on the abutment. This is the sticky out bit of metal to which the crown screws on to. And then there is a stitch or two to close up again and into healing again for a few weeks.

I also don't understand how they couldn't find it the implant? Did they not xray or scan you first to
a) check that the implant has taken ok
b) to check the placement of the implant

And what has the time frame been between implant hardware in and crown being placed? In my case they will not do the crown until after 6 to 8 months.

You are right that it isn't matching up well with your other teeth, but at this stage I'd be more concerned about the pain and sensation than the look. Something isn't right.

Don't let them fob you off. Maybe the implant isn't fused properly yet, as I am pretty certain you should not be feeling anything in the gum.

I see you had it done in July OP.

I am under a surgeon as my case is quite extreme, but what he and the dentist who will be placing the crowns says over and over, is that this is not a quick fix option. So it's been not quite 4 months since your implant post was placed? It seems very quick to have the process completed already.

It sounds like they had to reopen up the area where the implant was put in, to add on the abutment
The explanation was to remove the long healing screw end they had put on when they put the post in, to replace it with a smaller one. They didn’t put the abutment on until the day they fitted the crown so this was just to cover the end before they did that. They looked for it digging around in the roof of my mouth first, but it obviously wasn’t facing the way it should have been, so they then went round the front and burnt all that area away looking for the end.

No X-ray after it had been put in. They attached something to the post to take a reading to check it was solid.

I think it’s all been done in around 4 months.

Im pretty sure the pain/feeling in the gum is because the crown is sitting right on top of part of it and pressing it, so I’m also concerned the bit of gum it’s on is going to be damaged beyond repair.

The sensation in the bone is when I bite too hard and the crown hits my bottom teeth. Even if I bite my lip with the crown it’s a horrible jolt of pain. I’m having to alter the way I move my mouth/eat etc to try to minimise it hitting my other teeth.

Yes, 4 months does seem pretty quick. They seemed really pleased it had all taken so well. waiting another couple of months wouldn’t have made a difference to the look though because it just seems a bad job altogether.

The sensation in the bone is when I bite too hard and the crown hits my bottom teeth. Even if I bite my lip with the crown it’s a horrible jolt of pain

This sounds concerning DD. I don't want alarm you but this doesn't sound right. I had a failed implant and the shocking sensation sounds familiar. I also had a numb feeling in my face in the area. Tbh, not even the scan picked up that it had failed, it's when he opened me up again, intending to add the abutment, said he needs to check it himself after me telling him these symptoms.

Also, adding the abutment the same day as crown? I'm not in the UK so maybe things are just done different here. But maybe someone else here having UK treatment can comment if that is the norm there. I am actually having my abutment placed on one post tomorrow, yet I still need to wait a few months for the crowns.

Is there another dentist at that practice that you can ask to see? I really think you need to have it looked at by someone else.

Usually implant failures are redone without charge if it is found this is the case.

I am so sorry you are going through this. I have been following your journey since the beginning due to having similar issues. I just think you need a 2nd opinion now.

And I'm quite horrified as to what they have put you through.

Sorry op I wasn't clear I mean recompense to mean put it right, not financial compensation.

Also I meant had they caused the recession in your gums before they did did the impression.

It sounds very complicated and traumatic OP. It's a stressful process and I can imagine how you feel so sending

Hopeful you can get a second opinion and maybe a gum graft I hope they put it right for you

I know I need to try and speak to another dentist. I just feel so defeated. I have terrible anxiety in general anyway so I feel such panic at even trying to sort this. From your experiences isthismylife it sounds like it’s all wrong from start to finish!

verymerry sorry, I misunderstood you. Yes, they had done that to my gum before taking the impression. Thank you, I really am feeling quite traumatised atm, the thought of a gum graft makes me feel slightly nauseous tbh.

I’m almost contemplating telling them to remove it and the abutment, stitch my gum together (if possible) and make me a denture. I really wish I hadn’t gone down this route at all.

@DentalDisaster just checking in to see how you are and if you have been able to sort out your implant issue.

I was thinking of you and this post as my crowns will be placed in the next few weeks, and I had a million questions about the final step. As I have had such a long journey I had not yet processed what would happen at this stage. Was your crown cemented on? I only found out today that my abutments will be removed and my crown will have the screw be screwed straight in. She said it reduces the visibility of of metal which made me think of you.

I just hope you are not still having pain when you bite though.

I still haven’t phoned to make an appointment.
A combination of loved one being seriously ill and in hospital for a while, now out but still needing care, and just not knowing if I need to demand to see the different dentist or would that be classed as kicking up a fuss, what resolution I would be happy with, time needed for any appointments etc etc. I just haven’t been able to face it, although I am still getting pain. I can’t eat on that side and there are times I’m woken in the night because of pain.

I only went ahead with the implant because I was assured it would be screwed in so, if it became loose, it could be tightened. However, I don’t have a screw and it’s just glued on so I am constantly checking it hasn’t fallen out.

You are on the home stretch. Hopefully everything will go smoothly for you and you will be really pleased with yours. I read so many posts on here from people who were so happy with theirs -just my luck to have my experience! I will try my best to phone the dentist tomorrow and book so I don’t leave you hanging on without knowing if there is a resolution, you might have just given me the shove I needed.

I am sorry you've had such a difficult time recently.

I do get that this process is very time heavy, but I think being in pain long term is quite detrimental, especially if it's affecting your sleep.

You paid a lot of money and haven't got a good result, so I don't think you are putting up a fuss at all.

We have been on long journeys at the same time, even this thread goes back a while so while I didn't mean to push you on this, I also just wanted to check in and was hoping you had positive news.

Sending gummy hugs your way. I'm sure that is not MN approved, but meh, sometimes we just need to know someone is on our side. 💐