Dental implants - your experiences

[EmeraldRoulette]

Hello all

Please could you tell me your experience of having dental implants?

I have cracked more than one tooth and damaged them from grinding my teeth. I'm looking at a very large bill (and probably about six appointments ) and I wondered if implants would be a more sensible use of that money. I'd obviously have to find a way to stop grinding my teeth as well because imagine if I broke implants!!

My impression is, it's a lot of hassle, pain and unpleasantness

As far as I can see I'm looking at

Preliminary scans and x-rays

Then, if all goes well with those, I'd need a couple of extractions and whatever they do to cover up temporarily

Then have the steel post put in with the temporary tooth

Then more scans and checks to make sure the steel has bonded with the bone or whatever the word is

Then ultimately the final tooth

And that's if I don't need a bone graft or a sinus lift

It sounds deeply invasive and unpleasant

Yet I meet people who say it was easy.

I'm not sure if some of these people have forgotten how much hassle it was maybe?
My mum has a couple of elderly friends who has it done and frankly they will have seen all the appointments as being a bit of a day out!

so I'm keen to hear all your experiences. Thank you. If you had a burning urge to talk about your dental implants, here's your chance 😂

it might go without saying, but I absolutely hate going to the dentist and the idea of having dental surgery horrifies me. However, the idea of handing over thousands to a dentist for what might be a temporary fix also horrifies me!

@EmeraldRoulettePotentially but I am not sure that all dentists are keen on doing it at the same time. You would still need the temporary denture for a time as the implants have to be left with nothing attached for a period of time so that they can fuse to the bone and heal.

Honestly I was petrified of having it done. I had diazepam before I went which I wouldn’t bother with again as it did nothing! But the whole thing was so much better than I had imagined, for what you are having done it is very minimal pain.

I have one implant. I put it off for several years after looking into it and deciding it sounded like a big procedure, possibly needing bone grafts and all sorts.

then my dentist happened to mention it- an implant would reduce bone loss, reduce the impact on other teeth and reduce the chance of them being damaged, plus a few other positives.

so went for the consult and they pretty much said yes it needed doing to keep my teeth into old age 🫣

i didn’t have x-rays, they did a ct scan. Once that was reviewed the implant was designed to my measurements.

the post fitting was fine, didn’t feel much at all. No worse than a filling/removal.

i didn’t have a temporary tooth. The implant had a cap so just a metal circle flat to my gum. That was left for a few months until the implant/bone had integrated, then the tooth was fitted.

overall much easier process than I had imagined. Would have done it years earlier if I’d known!

@AndrewMountbattenWindsor thank you for that link, I can get to the London one. I'm dithering about that as well because if I go to London, I might well get somebody better? I don't know. But then it will be all the faff of travel for the appointment.

@Dottydoodoo yes I can see that it's not ideal, but I just think if they've got to do an extraction, if it's possible to get the unpleasantness over within one go, I wonder if that's sensible. So that's a question I will ask

It also means that I could actually wait until I am convinced an extraction is necessary.

One of the issues is that if I have teeth extracted that could be sorted or replaced with a bridge otherwise, and the implant fails, I would never forgive myself, and I'd have twice the bill - it's eye bleedingly expensive already.

People who have mentioned mouthguards - I have had one but it was deeply unpleasant and I just couldn't sleep with it in. I have had insomnia since I was a teenager. Believe me that is a long time to have an insomnia problem. So to have something that adds to it isn't a great idea. I could also feel myself grinding and clenching through the guard and I do know people who have just ground holes in the guard. I realise that's probably protected their teeth to some extent.

I actually thought I had stopped grinding my teeth, but the dentist said it's possible that I no longer wake up in pain because I've got used to it? I did have masseter Botox once so obviously I've got to look at that again.

it's all just so overwhelming. One minute you're fine, the next minute you break a tooth and then somebody's telling you loads of your teeth have issues - I genuinely thought I would have dentures later in life, but now I'm finding this one really annoying, it's hard to accept.

@EmeraldRoulette , I didn't get treated there but it was with the same group.

Don't go somewhere cheap advertising in Metro.

Dental Fees | Bromley Private Dental Treatment Price List Kent - that's just an example of somewhere nearer, quite a few came up when I searched 'dental implant bromley'

@AndrewMountbattenWindsor don't worry, I don't see the Metro.

I somehow get reassurance from the fact that it's a group - around here it's all individual practices - but then there's also the fact that I have other work to do and I should probably go somewhere within easy distance.

some of the places I found are charging substantially less for a bridge as well, but that might be because they haven't priced in the additional work needed to place a bridge.

I'm going to have to make a spreadsheet... boring but necessary.

I have dental implants on the top, full row, think it was four implants

I had a consultation as my teeth were very lose and looked bloody awful, I wouldn't smile and eating was becoming a problem.

So I can't remember the breakdown of the costs but altogether it is €7050

I had all my top teeth taken out and implants placed on day one, it was about an hour and a half and I was sedated.

Next day I had temporary teeth/dentures fitted, I didn't love them but they weren't bad to be fair.

Nine weeks later I had the x-rays and scans to see how I had healed and how the implants had taken, dentist decided to change my temporary set as she wasn't happy with them, got them a week later.

Eleven weeks had the scan again and dentist said she was happy with everything so I had to pick a colour and shape we were both happy with and two weeks later they were fitted.

So thirteen weeks in all, the hardest part undoubtedly was the food, soft food diet the whole time wasn't easy, it was boring and frustrating.

I'm delighted now and love them and have no issues smiling at all, they also made my face look a little bit less wrinkly I think (could be my imagination)

They also look very like my own teeth from before I was sick.

Oh the reason I had to get them was because cancer treatment had done a right number on my jaw bone.

Also I'm in Ireland, I did look into other dental practices and most were a similar treatment plan

Best of luck @EmeraldRoulette

@Ellenanora7 thank you
Sorry you had to go through such a lot and I'm glad you're happy with them.

I wonder why the temporary teeth are so bad, surely it's a terrible advert for the dentist?

A gap in the market perhaps for an enterprising dentist - temporary teeth that look decent.

Similar to others here, I’ve got one implant (tooth cracked after having an abscess) and it was well worth it. I’ve had it about 15 years now. I was advised at the time that it’s better to do it in stages, rather than implanting it straight after extraction. I had a temporary denture which I absolutely hated, the whole process took about six months because you have to wait for it to heal up between each stage.

It was painless, certainly not as bad as root canal and not as bad as having an apicectomy (I’ve had two). I would do it again like a shot, not withstanding the cost. It’s amazing to be able to bite into an apple again.

I somehow get reassurance from the fact that it's a group

I wouldn't particularly take reassurance from it being a chain but my dentist is good. I was a patient of her colleague who was in his own practice when she joined as a graduate. The practice was taken over a few years later.

My first implants were done by another dentist at his practice who was recommended to me by my then dentist and he was great.

My then dentist retired so I went to his colleague and I've had (3 lots of) implants done by her.

My advice would be to ask your dentist for some recommendation. What I remember that Mr Dentist (I knew him before dentists were called Dr) was impressed by his new young colleague having been trained at a top university dental school. He said it mattered.

I'd also recommend you pick someone you get along with and feel you can trust - it is quite an intimate procedure, if that's the right word.

(The Metro paper is the free one but I'm sure that other newspapers carry adverts for cheap cosmetic dentistry - I wouldn't even go there.)

Really interesting to hear everyone’s experiences. I have to have major work done at the end of May - 3 extractions on upper front teeth, 2 of which are crowns supporting a bridge. So the plan is, extractions, temp denture which I utterly dread, roughly 3 months later implants fitted, but will still need to wear denture for months because implants will not be fully finished for quite some time.
I’ve read that it’s recommended you remove denture at night and I’m wondering if this is true? I dread looking like a toothless hag each night!

@KittytheHare that sounds like a part of the work that I need doing, I really feel for you. We can use this thread as a "dentist stress" thread if you like and try to cheer each other up?

NGL I even wondered if I needed the whole upper jaw doing but I think that's probably excessive!

If you're talking about a temporary flipper denture, I had one tooth removed and yes, I am having to take that denture out at night - it is grim. I do hate it. Some people would take it much more lightly though.

That's one of the reasons why I was asking if some sort of implant can't be done at the same time as extraction

if anyone is curious, I did go for a second opinion. That was in my area. She was very nice, but the whole practice seems to be full of people who are only there for one or two days a week and she can't even start the other work - I have a root canal and crown to do before I even look at the teeth that may need replacing - until the end of the month.

So all I've done there really is waste time and money.

I rang round other dentists and it seems to be pretty common that they have several part-time dentists, the one I saw was only in one day a week.

I was actually wondering what the benefit is of people who are basically working five days a week but all in different places. I suppose some of it is splitting NHS and private work. If they're working five days a week, I'm surprised they don't want to work in the same place.

Sorry that's by the way.

It's really therapeutic to have a thread on this because I can't bore my friends with it.

I really don't want the whole summer being ruined by this. I'd rather do the work that it's essential now and get the implants done in winter - if they can be done! The second dentist did say "if your jaw bone and your gums are fine on an intraoral scan, then they're probably fine" - she may have just been trying to be reassuring.

The implant specialist at that dentist is only in one day a week. Hence, I think it might be better to go to one of these implant farms.

I still haven't decided. I thought I'd get the front tooth root canal and crown out of the way, the small fillings out of the way - and then try and have a relatively peaceful summer before addressing the rest of it.

The second dentist did tell me something that may be obvious, but the first dentist didn't mention - all the little cracks from grinding your teeth make your teeth more prone to bacteria?

But I've been grinding my teeth for ages and it's never been flagged up as being so hugely problematic before. Again, I think that's because the NHS dentist didn't do such a detailed scan. He did advise me to get masseter Botox but he didn't express the concerns that these dentists have.

@EmeraldRoulette thanks and I think a dental de stress thread is probably a good idea. I understand what you’re saying about having extractions and implants done at the same time, but my dentist whom I really trust, and the dental surgeon who will be doing the extractions have both explained that the only way to have implants successfully is to have this prolonged process. And then you read about these people who go to Turkey for week and have their whole mouth done?

It's really therapeutic to have a thread on this because I can't bore my friends with it.

Before I had the first implants done I had crowns that kept falling out - front ones. My then partner was perfectly ok about it and I had mention getting implants quite a few times. Then one day, he must have actually listened hard enough to hear me say implants and he looked at my chest and said 'But you don't need implants, your boobs are fine as they are'.
He only had a transmit mode.

@AndrewMountbattenWindsor your crowns kept falling out? Oh my God, that's scary. What happened? Why did they fall out?

Part of me thinks the root canal and the crown might be a total waste of money - but I really can't cope with doing anything else right now and the implant process is obviously quite long.

@KittytheHare yes - I get confused by that as well. A friend of a friend has apparently done that. At the very least, I wonder why there has to be a three month gap between the extraction and the implant being put in. If you're healing up nicely, then couldn't it be less?

I feel like it makes more sense to have all of this done over autumn/winter - my life is a lot different over those months. But I'm conscious that that means probably starting the process in August?

Then balancing out all the cost. I have no idea if I'm spending money pointlessly on teeth that should be replaced by an implant.

But my current bridge has been in for 25 years.... I could do the whole lot of work with bridges and crowns and if they lasted another 25 years, frankly speaking, I'd hope to die with those in. But you genuinely can't say that to a dentist. They'd completely freak out.

It is a valid consideration in my case. I'm 50.

Anyway, I'm thinking that I would like to put a pause on this for May, June, July - I will still have several dentist appointments in that time but perhaps at the end of it I will feel clearer about what to do.

One option is actually wait for the emergency to happen. My left incisor is a root canal and a crown. All done in one day because my tooth broke. The guy said he would guarantee the work for six months. I think that was done five years ago.

he did an awesome job, but the root canal and crown that I have to have on my front tooth now (so a different tooth ) is apparently going to be completed over three or four visits. I know they approach it differently when it's not an emergency.

It's also coming out nearly twice the price of the repair that he did, but perhaps these prices really have doubled in the last five years. That's two dentists who have given me an almost identical estimate now.

also, both the dentists have looked at that incisor repair and said "that is fantastic". I might have to go back to that guy at some point. Apparently, he does implants now. It would be a two hour journey there and back which isn't great... especially if I need somebody to pick me up and bring me home twice - no idea how I'm supposed to achieve that.

@EmeraldRoulette your crowns kept falling out? Oh my God, that's scary. What happened? Why did they fall out?

They were crowns I'd had for years and had come to the end of their lives. It was well before the implants, so I had those removed and the implants replaced them.

@AndrewMountbattenWindsor okay thanks

I think that my bridge and crown that lasted 25 years is probably an outlier

I bet money they don't make them as well now.

Crowns can last about that long. Many won't.

I had an implant a few years ago in my late fifties. My dentist's words were " that'll see you out". He expects the implant and crown to last 30 years at least.

At the same time as the implant I had a crown replaced on the next tooth, to match the implant crown. There was no problem with it apart from modern crowns looking more like natural teeth. That crown had been on a tooth which had been root canalled and crowned 36 years previously.

Mine was a disaster, and I’m stuck with it. I’m in constant pain, and it looks ridiculous so I have taken to holding my hand in front of my face when I smile or laugh. I wish I’d never had it done. No one else will touch it, and I don’t have the money to fix it anyway.

@DentalDisaster oh mate
I really feel for you

What did the surgeon say about it? How can they just leave you in pain?!

from the embedded description, it looks like they placed the screw incorrectly and then did the crown wrongly as well? Have I understood that properly?

I had my front tooth replaced with an implant as I knocked it in by accident. It was a long process about 9 or ten months and I found some of the procedures quite painful like the stitches.

@ScabbyHorse nine or 10 months? Can I ask why it took so long, please?

It really is good to have all the information. Maybe I should just stick with the bridges and crowns options.

Yep. It’s awful. When I complained I faced aggression and gaslighting. They said it was impossible for me to be in pain, it’s only 4mm above the other tooth so doesn’t look bad and, when they finally begrudgingly agreed to drill it out and start the process again, made sure to make it clear it would be excruciatingly painful. I was in no doubt he would make it as uncomfortable as possible, so I was too terrified to go back.

The process of having it done in the first place went like a dream, up until the abutment & crown fitting. I didn’t find any issues with the actual post fitting or the sutures or anything.

@DentalDisaster isn't the post in the wrong place? I'm struggling to understand what's happened here.