I had a very bad reaction to implants and have been told that I may have to wear dentures, what are my options?
Q.
Dear Dr. Glaister
I had an implant of one of my front teeth because one of the posts from my front bridge decayed and actually worked its way out through the back of my bridge which was following 2 years of trying to treat this by my dentist with cleaning, etc. I subsequently had the bridge removed (only 2 of the teeth, one tooth was left from the bridge) and had the root of the decayed tooth extracted. I was then given three options, one being an implant with an abutment, a bridge filing down a 4th tooth or a denture. I opted for the implant, as I thought this was the best option at the beginning of October 2009. I had to have a bone graft as the dentist commented after performing the implant that my bone wasn’t particularly good. I have had my third check up today and have been told that it doesn’t appear to have taken and although I have another check up at the beginning of February, it is likely that I will have to have it removed. I had a very bad reaction when the implant was initially done, a very swollen face and couldn’t face it again. I asked what would happen and was told by the dentist that I could redo the implant(!!) or resign myself to dentures! I am not very pleased about this, apart from parting with £1,000, as I was never advised that it might fail. If I had been told this, I might have chosen a different avenue. Could you advise me please?
Dear Dr. Glaister
I had an implant of one of my front teeth because one of the posts from my front bridge decayed and actually worked its way out through the back of my bridge which was following 2 years of trying to treat this by my dentist with cleaning, etc. I subsequently had the bridge removed (only 2 of the teeth, one tooth was left from the bridge) and had the root of the decayed tooth extracted. I was then given three options, one being an implant with an abutment, a bridge filing down a 4th tooth or a denture. I opted for the implant, as I thought this was the best option at the beginning of October 2009. I had to have a bone graft as the dentist commented after performing the implant that my bone wasn’t particularly good. I have had my third check up today and have been told that it doesn’t appear to have taken and although I have another check up at the beginning of February, it is likely that I will have to have it removed. I had a very bad reaction when the implant was initially done, a very swollen face and couldn’t face it again. I asked what would happen and was told by the dentist that I could redo the implant(!!) or resign myself to dentures! I am not very pleased about this, apart from parting with £1,000, as I was never advised that it might fail. If I had been told this, I might have chosen a different avenue. Could you advise me please?
A.
Sometimes this happens , even when the surgery goes very well. In every medical procedure there are risks and your dentist would normally explain the risks to you before beginning treatment. It’s very unfortunate but it can happen. Are you a smoker? Do you have any other medical problems? Is the rest of your mouth in good condition? do you have any teeth with gum disease? All these other problems can affect teh outcome of surgery and increase the risk of implant failure. If you need a second opinion then go to see a specialist dentist who is an expert in implants.
Sometimes this happens , even when the surgery goes very well. In every medical procedure there are risks and your dentist would normally explain the risks to you before beginning treatment. It’s very unfortunate but it can happen. Are you a smoker? Do you have any other medical problems? Is the rest of your mouth in good condition? do you have any teeth with gum disease? All these other problems can affect teh outcome of surgery and increase the risk of implant failure. If you need a second opinion then go to see a specialist dentist who is an expert in implants.
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