I had been saving up for this dental implant for some time. My dentist knew this. I was so excited to finally have a permanent tooth there. I was horribly disappointed when I woke up from the surgery and my dentist told me he doesn’t think the implant would last. He also said he knew there wasn’t a ton of bone there to begin with but he thought he could “work around it”. Now he’s giving me the choice of taking it out and going with a dental bridge or leaving it there and seeing how long it lasts. I’ve completely lost faith in this dentist and wonder if you know what the best option is for me. Any advice will be appreciated.
Steve
Dear Steve,
What your dentist did is completely unacceptable. If I understand you correctly your dentist knew ahead of time there wasn’t enough bone and placed the implant anyway. If that is correct, it is malpractice. Especially because there is a procedure that could have been done ahead of time to ensure you would have had enough bone to secure the dental implant for many years.
The good news is, you don’t have to settle for either of the options your dentist provided you with. If you still want a dental implant, you can get it. However, like you, I do not have confidence in your dentist. What I am going to recommend is you ask for a complete refund. He placed a dental implant knowing full well it would fail.
Then, I want you to see an experienced implant dentist. For instance, Dr. Marion is an Associate of The American Society of Implant & Reconstructive Dentistry (ASIRD). Whoever you choose, make sure they have post-doctoral training in implant dentistry. It’s not something adequately taught in dental school.
The procedure I mentioned earlier is called bone grafting. Once that is done you will be ready for that dental implant you have been saving for all this time. And this time, it should work.
This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.