Dentures or Implant ?

[DentistScardeycat]

Hope someone who has experienced the same, can advise. Or maybe a dentist can offer some insight.

I've lost a tooth (next to the front two, so leaving a gap isn't an option).

Dentist said I could have dentures or an implant.
I have to say his explanations were really poor, but I've done a bit of googling since, but was also wondering if someone can tell me what their experience was, rather than much of the google results which seem to be clinics telling me why I should let them do an implant.

I've been told denture would be under £500 but implant would be between £2500 and £4000 but that dentures need fiddling about with every day and, once done, implant is supposed to be for life, and can be forgotten about.

I'm early 60s if that makes a difference and don't like the sound of surgery but hate the sound of 'a plate in the roof of my mouth' every day.

Any insight?

I have visited many care homes and the majority of residents are toothless. Those that don't have dementia usually insist that they be allowed to wear their dentures. All the women I know who wear dentures have exptessed concern about having to remove them when in hospital because they are embarrassed. As for being superficial, isn't all our attempts to make ourselves look more attractive being superficial? Kettle and pot spring to mind 🤔

I had a similar thing happen, I fell and landed on my face knocking my front tooth (one of the two main ones) backwards, so it was almost horizontal. My dentist pulled it back straight for me (and I had metal wires hiding it for a while). He did say I could lose it and it was probably dead so would discolour and he was thinking of root filling it a couple of times (I said no thanks!). This must have been about 10 years ago now! It still feels a bit odd still, I’m careful not to bite down on anything hard with it, and it does still niggle from time to time, but it’s still there!

Did your dentist suggest a bridge to make then more secure? Do you find the whole of your front teeth seem ultra sensitive since your fall?

Yes and it was beyond awful. I wore the denture for about a year before having implants. However, implantology was very new in 1993 and the process has changed considerably since then. For my two latest implants, my teeth were extracted and the titanium posts were implanted in the same appointment. I had temporary crowns for three months before the permanent crowns were placed. The temporary crowns were perfectly acceptable appearance wise, but you do need to take care when eating and brushing your teeth. The welcome bonus to this was I lost half a stone in weight, as I became very conscious of what I was eating and how it might affect my teeth!

Teeth extraction and immediate implantation is very much the norm these days, although some dentists do still opt for extraction and a temporary denture before implantation to allow the gum to heal and in some patients, with gum disease or other issues, this might be the best course. Overall though, same day extraction and implantation is the method most patients prefer, because having a temporary denture further bumps up the cost and no one wants to be left with an unsightly gap.

Having experienced both methods I'd say that there was no difference in either the healing time or the end result.

The one thing I would advise is to ensure you use an experienced implantologist and quizz him/her on their failure rate Failure is more common in smokers, people with underlying gum disease or when a bone graft is involved. Apart from that I can't recommend implants more highly - it's virtually no different from having your natural teeth.

No, he didn’t suggest a bridge. I just had the ‘scaffolding’ around nearly the whole front row holding it in place, but at the back so you couldn’t see it, for quite a few weeks (can’t remember how many exactly now as it was so long ago). He kept saying afterwards, it’ll probably need root filling as it is likely dead, but I didn’t want that unless it desperately needed it, I’ve had one before and it was torture. It was terribly sensitive at first I couldn’t touch it & was on a soft food diet as I couldn’t chew. (The ‘smash your face in’ diet, I called it - I did lose a stone!) It’s been ok since really, apart from it does get extra sensitive and it aches from time to time but eventually settles again. I think the teeth beside it seem to have been shoved a couple of millimetres over, as my bite doesn’t quite line up as it did and my fang tooth now sticks out a bit.

Thanks, it's really useful to hear about your experience. I read that 95% of teeth that have been luxated I.e. rammed into the gum, die so was quite worried. I am seeing my dentist in October and he will x-ray my incisors - this will be 3 months since my accident so by then he'll know if the two incisors that were affected will survive. So far they haven't discoloured but one in particular is mega sensitive. Hopefully they're OK and, like you, I think I'll live with that as can't face more dental work and expense!

Good luck! Fingers crossed for you that they’ll be ok.

Thank you!

I had an adhesive bridge fitted about 10 years ago, it’s not an invasive procedure and it’s cost effective.