I am so sick of dealing with my dental implant problems! My dentist convinced me that a dental implant was the best option to replace my missing tooth, which had been gone for over 10 years. He explained that there was bone loss near the site, so the first step was going to require bone grafting. Of course, I took his word for it, I have no idea about dentistry. After the bone grafting, I had to wait for it to heal. After a year, I was finally able to get the dental implant placed.
I was literally in tears when I bit down after two weeks and the dental implant broke. The entire thing just snapped out. So, the dentist started the entire process over again, with the dental implant surgery and healing time. Another year went by and the implant made it a few months before it broke again.
Now, the implant dentist wants to do it over again. I simply don’t have the patience or trust anymore. Do I have any options?
-Jackie in Illinois
Jackie,
Your dental implant experience is not a common one and is unacceptable. Sadly, it’s time to cut your losses and find a reputable implant dentist in your area. It is quite rare for a dental implant to break.
There are some possibilities as to why this is happening.
- Poor quality parts – High-quality dental implants come from American laboratories and tend to be expensive. For example, a dental implant may be a few hundred dollars from a reputable lab compared to a few dollars when purchased overseas. Some dentists justify the cost savings and get away with it. This may be what caused it. However, the dentist should have realized it after the initial dental implant failure.
- Dental implant placement – Another possibility of your broken dental implant may be due to incorrect placement of the implant post. The restoration must endure extensive chewing force, including grinding. When the dental implant is properly placed it is able to withstand the pressure.
The bottom line is that your implant dentist is cutting corners or may not have the necessary training and experience in dental implant placement. It doesn’t sound like he will be the one to solve this issue for you. It would be best to find a new implant dentist, one with a proven track record that can show you plenty of similar success stories and that has implant dentistry credentials.
Sorry, you are having to deal with a new dental implant all over again. Hopefully, by sharing your story, you are able to help another person that is considering dental implants to replace missing teeth. Best of luck!
This post is sponsored by Barrington cosmetic dentist James T. Gavrilos, DDS.