I’ve got an old dental implant on my left front tooth. It was first placed in the 1990s with a crown over it. It’s started feeling loose. I traveled back to the dentist who placed it. He said it is infected and needs to be removed and that we could do a bridge to fill in the area. Can’t I just take antibiotics to fix this? I don’t want to go through all this.
Rob
Dear Rob,
I’m glad you wrote. I think I can help you. First, let’s take a moment to be excited over your dental implant lasting over 30 years. That is some seriously good mileage. Great job taking care of it.
Why Antibiotics Won’t Work
While you had a good idea about antibiotics, it will not solve the issue here for your loose dental implant. Antibiotics will help with the current infection, but that infection has gone into the bone, which is why the implant is wobbly. That bone is lost and medication will not replace it. At some point, the implant will fail. In that case it is better to be proactive than spend all your time worrying if it will come out at an embarrassing moment.
What Are My Options
The implant will definitely have to come out. Either on its own unexpectedly or planned with your dentist. What you do from there is where you have some options. First, if you would rather have another implant to replace it, you can. However, that bone loss has to be addressed and you will need some bone grafting done in order to replace the needed structure to retain your new implant.
If you don’t want to do that, then the dental bridge your dentist suggested would be your next best option. It will not require any bone grafting. However, it will require the two adjacent teeth to be ground down in order to make room for dental crowns. If those teeth are healthy, you may not want to do that.
I hope this helps.
This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.
