Can someone speak to me about tooth implants please....?

[Givingup123456]

I'm a bit upset. İ have just had a third tooth removed in the last 2 months. With potentially one or two more. The one today was my lower molar. İ had the pre molar removed 2 weeks ago. All from pregnancies and dodgy work from a previous dentist. He put fillings in where there should have been crowns causing them to crack and be unsalvageable. One my daughter kindly headbutted me very hard and it broke in two and was also unsalvageable.

So my dentist said i should really get an implant for the molar so i don't rely on the other side of my mouth for chewing. The last molar on my extraction site might also need to be removed because again my old dentist did a root canal and filled it with a huge filling and my new dentist thinks it will crack too and will need a crown or possibly extracted. So that would mean 3 missing teeth in a row!

He said i only have 3 months to sort an implant though! İ thought i would have at least a year somincould save for it. İs that right? 3 months. İ could possibly have it done on finance but it would cost me more than if i saved due to interest etc

I'm really upset as i only 28 and could possibly be missing 5 teeth before my next birthday. İf i can have time I will get the implant and possibly a bonded bridge for my tooth at the top. İt's in my smile but only just.

When I lost a tooth, I was told I had to have a false one on a plate to start with, to allow things to settle, so I'm a bit surprised that they want to do things quickly. There didn't seem any rush to do the bridge.

Do you have an under-one at the moment? I wonder if there's a difference in the costs if you have it done while you do, which might be a reason for the timing. (My lost tooth had to be extracted - the dentist said we could leave it until needed doing as an emergency, but she recommended that I have it done before my daughter turned one, since then the extraction would be free.)

I know it's Covid right now but have you thought about maybe getting it done abroad? Way cheaper and much more reliable!

Similar experience to others here. I had the tooth out in September and the surgery to put the implant posts in just before Xmas. I did look like a hamster. I was suppose to have the top pillars put in just before lock down so I've only just had them done, I had the scan for the crown's this week and I should get them fitted in a month or so.

In my case one of the teeth I had out about 30 years ago so there was bone loss, hence having to build it up, and I can only have two crowns where there once were three teeth. But that's more than I had! So maybe that's why your dentist suggests getting it done sooner rather than later (but you do need for the extraction site to have settled down).

@madcatladyforever thank you! I am only half an hour from Brighton!

Thank you everyone. DH just got home and said as we haven't had a holiday in 7 years we could go abroad and do it! And if it's cheaper possibly have the top one too! But it depends on cost and reliability! What's Spain like for implants?

If you don’t mind having a gap for awhile, you can wait, esp to save up money.Implants costs thousands, and if you need several, then it could get close to £10k.
It takes quite awhile, from initial prep to finished implant. And the density of your jawbone needs to be good. If you lose teeth, the jawbone density diminishes. The implant is screwed into the jawbone, and material is added to augment the bone density & to build up strength around the jawbone. To prepare for this they may do a headscan type MRI. The first operation is painful, as they cut into the gum to create a place for the screw. That has to heal, & screw needs to bed into jawbone before they attach the tooth. That is the relatively easy & painless bit.
As a caution, I had my first implant fail & it had to be replaced. Fortunately, they were able to re-use the original implant, but it ended costing £4K x 2. I am happy with it, but I doubt I would have another, an awful lot of grief.

Ask lots of questions about how much gum you will keep. I had an implant and it's great and very solid but I had massive gum recession between the extraction (that they also did) and the implant being fitted. I have huge gaps in between the implant and the two teeth either side which I don't like (although no one else would notice as it's a molar) and probably more importantly loads of food gets stuck in it.

My gum has also badly receded on he tooth next to the extraction. And that has receded more since the extraction/implant and we don't know why.

I think I am a bit annoyed that they didn't warn me these things could happen and when I brought it up they were quite flippant as if I should have known.

I'd rather have gone into this knowing what to expect.

Re abroad, I do not know how you get around the several months gap between placing the screw in the jawbone, waiting for it to embed and then final tooth placement. Several trips?

That's a point. Will stick to UK. Will speak to the Brighton one tomorrow. Thank you everyone

DH specialises in implants and it's fairly straightforward procedure done under local anaesthetic and takes 1-2hrs. However you need to plan at least 2-3 appointments, possibly more if you need bone augmentation/sinus lift. Sometimes there isn't enough bone to solidly screw the implant in place so they have to inject extra bone material and wait for it to heal.

Having it done abroad isn't always the best option because of liability issues in post-op care. Should there be a problem, it will be difficult to find a surgeon willing to fix another clinic's case. Eg DH has been asked to remove stitches from patients who had implants done abroad which he always turns down. Partly because he doesn't want to be involved in the chain of care for an op carried out by a third party. In case there's an infection or the implant fails he could be blamed for it.

Also, the costs of travelling 3x to a foreign country will probably offset any savings made on the procedure. Be slightly wary of any clinics offering "instant" implants that are fitted within one sitting. Those are still a relatively new field and failure/complication rates higher than the traditional method with 2-3 sittings. The safest route is to choose a place closer to home with reasonable travel costs. You may not be fit to drive after the surgery so it's best to have someone come with or stay overnight in a hotel.

True complications are very rare, but just in case any crop up, it's safer knowing the clinic is close by and responsible for your care.

It's much better to have it done at the Brighton implant clinic than go abroad. They are the experts You have to go several times over 6 months before you get your tooth so that would mean several trips abroad plus the cost and accomodation and would you know who you are dealing with?
At least the BIC is registered over here and if there are any problems you can go straight back instead of having to fly somewhere.
Ask for Bruno Di Silva, he is the expert. I got a loan out.
Also they told me you can't have a bridge between an implant and a normal tooth because the implant is rigid whilst the normal tooth moves so one of them will break, just bear that in mind.

I had an implant. My dentist assured me it would be amazing, but the process was quite an ordeal. Especially the fitting of the implant, i go to the dentist a lot and have lots of procedures but I found it quite tough. The bond graft didn't work. I'm absolutely gutted. I don't know where we go from here, all that money and time down the drain - and it's a front tooth. Would I have done it again? Yes, front tooth so worth it. I think I was very unlucky but mentioning it as failure was not really discussed.

Thank you everyone. And thank you @madcatladyforever a d @CrystalPuff i will call the Brighton clinic tomorrow and see what they say. Even if i just replace my molar i will be happy and maybe have a bonded bridge for my upper tooth.

Just an update i called around and London was expensive! Brighton as suggested by catlady was £1140 for one tooth. So I'm going to do that and look at other options later for my top tooth. As long as i can save my chewing tooth!

Hope it all goes well for you, it will be worth it 😁

Thank you! She said the whole process will take about 6 months. But the actual procedure wouldn't take more than an hour. İf they have finance options i will get both teeth done. I'm so excited i thought i was going to be toothless and slowly loose them all from over using other ones

Hi OP, no I didn't need a bone graft as there was plenty left even after all that time. Has your dentist done a x-ray, or just told you it's three months? If the latter, I'd be thinking they're trying to bounce you into a decision and may therefore not be the right person to do this for you. It's really important to find someone you trust, so don't be afraid to shop around.

Sorry, just saw your latest update and great to see you've found your right dentist. Very best of luck and please let us know how you get on.