I had a dental bridge to replace all of my incisors done at Comfort Dental. The canine teeth were my anchor teeth. Those eventually became loose and I lost those teeth as well. They made a removable partial denture for me but it was quite uncomfortable. I had a difficult time wearing it and asked for another option. They’re suggesting I replace my teeth using dental implants. They will keep the cost down for me by using mini-implants instead. I decided to get a second opinion just to be safe and was thrown by how different the treatment recommendation was. Now I’m not sure which is right, though Comfort Dental’s plan is definitely less expensive. The other dentist wants to do a dental bridge but with three full-sized dental implants. Two on each side and one directly in the center. I don’t want to go for the cheaper one just because it is cheaper if I will hate it as much as I have everything else they’ve done for me so far. Do you have a recommendation?
Evelyn
Dear Evelyn,
I am going to recommend you go with the second dentist’s plan. There are some real concerns with Comfort Dental’s recommendations. I know the other treatment was less expensive, but it will end up costing you more in the long run. Mini implants are not meant to support implant crowns. Instead, they will just help stabilize a denture. I wouldn’t expect them to last very long. Then, when they come out they will take some bone structure with them. In order to replace them, you will need some bone grafting done and then start over.
The plan the other dentist recommended is much more secure and based on sound engineering principles. Replacing all your front teeth is hard because of the twisting forces involved.
With a dental bridge, it is ideal to have the abutment teeth (anchor teeth) directly on either side of your missing tooth, such as you can see in the picture directly above.
However, when you are talking about your front teeth, it is very hard to achieve this placement.
Why Three Dental Implants
If you look at this image above, you can see the type of bridge Comfort Dental provided you. With the twisting forces that happen to the abutment teeth, it is no surprise those teeth failed. If you only put dental implants in that same position, even with full-sized dental implants, then you’d have the same problem with failure. By placing the third implant in the center eliminates all the twisting forces thereby keeping the implants secure.
This blog is brought to you by Michigan Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.