I had teeth extracted 23 years ago can I still have dental implants

Q. I had my four front upper teeth extracted after breaking them in an accident 23 years ago. I now wear a denture. Can I still have implants after this time or what is my best option? N
A. Dear N,

One of the main determinants for us to be able to place dental implants is to have sufficient bone in height and width to accept them. Your jaws are made up of 2 types of bone - basal and alveolar. The alveolar bone gradually dissolves away when you lose your teeth. As you lost your teeth 23 years ago their may not be enough bone to place the implants. A graft of bone can be placed to replace the missing bone but this is an advanced surgical procedure and has its own draw backs. The only way you can definitely know whether there is enough bone is with a dental x-ray assessment of bone height by a dentist - this sometimes requires a CT scan for accuracy.

The other options to replace the missing teeth is a new denture ( they can be far more refined nowhere days using special precision attachments for a more secure attachment ) or a fixed bridge - this is dependant on how far the span is that we are trying to bridge and your bite ).

A full assessment by an experienced dentist would be the first step that you need to take.

Kindest regards

Dr Julian Caplan BDS
Aviva Cosmetic Dentistry
Director on the board of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry

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Tags: dental implants

This post was published on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 7:37 pmand is filed under Dr Caplan's Answers, Experts Answers, Q. Dental Implants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “I had teeth extracted 23 years ago can I still have dental implants”

1. Aberdeen lass Says:
   April 30th, 2008 at 8:14 pm

   My hometown is Aberden in Scotland although I have worked away for some years now. I need to have at least one crown replaced and I am interested in implants as I have a double tooth missing at the back on the top. I need some recommendations regarding Aberdeen dentists who participate in this kind of work at a highly skilled level. Can anyone help please as I do not know any of the names provided on the listing.

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