I’ve been losing my teeth. I was hoping to get dental implants but my dentist said that I’d need to see an oral surgeon and get bone grafting, so He recommends I just get dentures. I have a friend who had bone grafting done by her dentist and the dental implants. I’m not sure why I have to use an oral surgeon.
Maggie
Dear Maggie,
Before and after facial collapse.
There are are dentists who have trained and do bone grafting. However, it sounds like your dentist isn’t one of them. Don’t push him into it. The fact that he is pushing you toward dentures, tells me that he doesn’t know how to do dental implants either. I also wouldn’t push him into that. There are countless dental implant horror stories by patients whose dentists had no idea what they were doing. Some of them even lost part of their jaw.
I have to say that I don’t think you’re with the best dentist. Completely removable dentures are not a good thing for you in the long term. When your teeth are removed, your body begins to resorb the minerals in your jawbone in order to use them elsewhere in your body.
This results in your body being able to use its resources wisely. The side effect, however, is that your jawbone will slowly shrink. Eventually, you will no longer be able to even keep your dentures in place. In dental circles, this is known as facial collapse. Because of that, I think it is important that you go with your original plan to get bone grafting and dental implants. You’ll just have to do it with another dentist. If your friend’s dentist is local, you may consider having him or her do it. Otherwise, I would look for a dentist who has post-doctoral training in dental implants along with a high success rate.
This blog is brought to you by a friendly dentist in Kalamazoo, Dr. Susan Dennis.