Implants

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 11:09 am

Anyone have an implanted tooth made out of titanium?

I bit down on a baguette the other day and heard a crunch - and immediatley thought I'd rendered my crown loose. The pain subsided until this morning. Another chewing injury and this trip to the dentist and an x-ray revealed that I'd broken the post (what they whittled down from the original tooth). Now I've got some extensive dental work in my future - I wouldn't be so vain, but this is my left Bugs Bunny. I'm getting what remains of the tooth pulled on the 16th (12 days after I pass my driving test) and a temporary fitted. They're recommending the titanium implant - but the procedure takes months and is very expensive. Other options include extensive bridge work (cheaper - but not as durable)

Anyone had a temporary replacement tooth?

I'm thinking of just going with the temporary for a year or two - and having the titanium deal done in the U.S. (at about half the price).

The insurance I have here won't cover the procedure.

This is all the result of a deep fly ball to left center field about fifteen years ago that I would have caught had the post in the chain link fence not punched me in the face.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 11:15 am

Errr, I have one tooth with a root problem that is going to require an implant sometime over the next few years. For now, they've sort of bonded it to another tooth to stabilize it, but it's going to have to be replaced down the line. I don't know how expensive it is over here, but the idea that I'll have a fake tooth in my mouth doesn't appeal to me.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 11:56 am

I thought this would be about something else. Don't have those either.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:12 pm

Yeah, BWAP -- just be glad it's your tooth that needs a special implant or replacement and not, er, something else. Of course, if you ever do need that, this guy just e-mailed me today about it....

Goody2Shoes · Post by **Goody2Shoes** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:26 pm

I have one. It is, indeed, a months-long process, mostly because everything has to heal well between the multiple steps, because they don't want to put that titanium thing in there if there's any chance that there's any infection in there. I have to say that I've had a bit of trouble with mine; not with the implant per se, but with the crown that goes on top of it. I had the implant done 11 or 12 years ago. The first crown was, apparently, never "seated" correctly, or some other kind of dental mumbo-jumbo, so I had excess bone grow up over top of the implant, and that had to all be scraped out before a new crown could be made. That was 6 years or so ago, and I've not had a bit of problem with it since then. The technology has improved lots since I first had mine done, too.

My insurance covered the implant, but neither the crowns nor the bone-scraping and gum-flapping procedure. I've spent thousands on it. But a bridge is going to cost you thousands, too, and isn't so reliable.

Mr. Average · Post by **Mr. Average** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 1:36 pm

And the failure rate of implants is higher than they like to tell you. I decline implants because the rejection rate was more substantial than bridge prosthetics.

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 2:09 pm

Mr. A wrote:

I decline implants because the rejection rate was more substantial than bridge prosthetics.

The problem with the bridge, as I understand it, is that they will have to crown one of my teeth that is perfectly healthy and normal.

Are you happy with your bridge?

When did you have yours done? Goody indicates the technology has improved in recent years.

Also - does anyone know how long the temporary replacement tooth can last? Can I use this for 18 to 24 months?

verena · Post by **verena** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 3:47 pm

Problem with crown and bridge is that they kill two teeth, not only one Boy.

Mr. Average · Post by **Mr. Average** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 7:48 pm

I had extensive bridge work done and it is working out great. They anchor on healthy teeth and I have all the benefits of a healthy set of teeth.

In my case, the implants had a high probability of failing. There is an index....some sort of coefficient that is a good predictor of whether they will 'stick' or not. It has something to do with the depth of the socket coupled with the gum line, in millimeters, above the socket opening. They did the measurements on me and I was a 50-50 proposition (story of my life). So I declined and the bridge work has been great, less expensive, durable as hell and I can chew like a rottweiller.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 12:05 pm

This whole thread is grossing me out. At least it's not about eyeballs.

Tim(e) · Post by **Tim(e)** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 5:47 pm

Wood is probably a lot cheaper than Titanium... and I hear they were all de rigeur in England in days of yore.

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Post by **ReadyToHearTheWorst** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 6:42 pm

Tim(e) wrote:Wood is probably a lot cheaper than Titanium... and I hear they were all de rigeur in England in days of yore.

Weren't George Washington's teeth wood? Must have had an English dentist (is that what made hime so cross?)

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:05 am

There you go Boy With a Tooth Problem - wooden teeth. And replacements cheap and a-plenty

Did George Washington's teeth fall out because he told a lie or is my American history knowledge a bit skewiff?

SweetPear · Post by **SweetPear** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 4:35 pm

I've got to have something along these lines done too. I'm not sure what a "bridge" is, I'm pretty sure that's what I'm having done. I had a big piece of a molar break off, so that and the tooth next to it were ground down and I was to get porcelain crowns. BUT, in the process of grinding down the one tooth, it was realized that the crown would not be able to be placed properly because there wasn't enough bone to place it on, or something like that. SO, I had a very beautiful (so I was told) temporary put in until I could go through the proceedure of "crown lenghtening" to scrape the bone so the crown will fit properly.
That was about 10 months ago that I got the temporary put in. I had to postpone the proceedure because of some other medical stuff I had to take care of because i was told I would need at least 6 weeks of healing time after the proceedure and would be at risk of infection.
My dentist told me she's seen people keep the temporary for up to three years....although she wasn't recommending that I do that.
Anyway, Friday is d-day when I go see the periodontist to start this ball rolling again.

I don't want to go.

And yes....very expensive. I do have dental insurance but it doesn't cover the cosmetic stuff. This will be putting me back about three grand.

Goody2Shoes · Post by **Goody2Shoes** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 4:57 pm

verbal gymnastics wrote:There you go Boy With a Tooth Problem - wooden teeth. And replacements cheap and a-plenty

Did George Washington's teeth fall out because he told a lie or is my American history knowledge a bit skewiff?

Nah, the teeth fell out in retribution for his chucking silver dollars across the Potomac River. His lying caused cherry trees to fall over en masse.

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 3:38 pm

i ran into a kid's head in high school and busted a front upper in half. they yanked it and i had a tooth on a plate for a couple years. had to super poligrip it to the roof of my mouth everyday to play trumpet. when i was a senior, an old dentist ground down my other bugs bunny and the one on the other side and glued in a bridge. 30 years later, it has never been touched, something i'm surely jinxing by mentioning.

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:47 pm

S Pear wrote

My dentist told me she's seen people keep the temporary for up to three years....although she wasn't recommending that I do that.

That's what I wanted to hear.

In the meantime, I've been traveling all week and now have an infection way up in the root - bad stuff - hopefully I can get some antibiotics tomorrow before I get on another plane late afternoon. killer schedule this month.

ice nine · Post by **ice nine** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:01 pm

Since we are on the subject of dental hygiene, I just bought a SoniCare®. I have had gum surgery in the past and I figured I should buy one to stop even further recession. I must admit that I hardly ever floss.

Goody2Shoes · Post by **Goody2Shoes** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 2:24 pm

ReadyToHearTheWorst wrote:
Weren't George Washington's teeth wood? Must have had an English dentist (is that what made hime so cross?)

During last night's dinner conversation, darling daughter tells me that while he probably had a set made of wood for "everyday" wear, his "dress teeth" were made of hippopotamus teeth, a widely-used material in the 18th century. Hippo ivory is sort of yellow, and someone at some point discovered that coating them with a radioactive material made them glowy-er, and thus more attractively white. This practice was later abadoned. Chew on that.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 2:33 pm

Goody2Shoes wrote:
ReadyToHearTheWorst wrote:
Weren't George Washington's teeth wood? Must have had an English dentist (is that what made hime so cross?)
During last night's dinner conversation, darling daughter tells me that while he probably had a set made of wood for "everyday" wear, his "dress teeth" were made of hippopotamus teeth, a widely-used material in the 18th century. Hippo ivory is sort of yellow, and someone at some point discovered that coating them with a radioactive material made them glowy-er, and thus more attractively white. This practice was later abadoned. Chew on that.

So he died of radiation poisoning?

George did a stretch in our little town of Pawling and his headquarters was the John Kane House, just a stone's throw from here:

http://www.pawlinghistory.org/auto_tour ... _house.htm

Contains a terrific typo - see if you can spot it!

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 3:20 pm

Tooth pulled today - didn't hurt coming out - headache after the novocaine wore off - the plate on the temporary feels very awkward and unnatural - hopefully I'll get used to it, but I have a feeling I'll be going sans tooth quite a but. I'm not doing the the titanium implant until I get back to the US where it's cheaper and I might have some insurance coverage.

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:45 pm

Anyone on the board travelled to Hungary to have dental work done? I think I can get my implant at a fraction of the cost, plus Miss Aniko Markoczy (click on references and scroll halfway down) looks like a very capable dental assistant. Any advice would be appreciated.

http://www.dentistabroad.co.uk/dental-s ... on-uk.html

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 4:26 pm

i don't think you can go wrong really. she knows step by step what is coming. and if you have any billing problems or other paperwork issues, i'm certain Miss Timea "the most talented Hungarian in London" Milovecz will fix you right up.

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Thu May 08, 2008 7:54 pm

The implant procedure starts tomorrow. Hoping for a vicadin prescription to go along with the herbal medicine my next door neighbor was able to source for me today. I'm actually looking forward to getting half a day out of work for this!

The surgery tomorrow includes taking the root out of the gum and rebuilding some of the upper jaw with cadaverous bone. I wonder if I'll take on any of the bizarre personality traits of the donor. Would anyone notice if I did?

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Fri May 09, 2008 7:31 am

Probably not.

Good luck - I am having the heebie jeebies for you.

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