I’m writing to you because I am having a dental implant procedure done soon at Clear Choice, but I haven’t told them that I am on methadone. A friend told me that they’ll freak out and not treat me. But, I’m afraid if I don’t tell them that maybe there could be a reaction and I’ll die. Is it safe for me to tell them? What will happen if I don’t?
Bennie
Dear Bennie,
You absolutely must tell them about the methadone dose you are on. I’ll explain why in a moment. But, I don’t want you to hear that and decide not to get your procedure or try it without telling them. You can still get your dental implants. However, for your safety, they need to know. But, they will have to adjust your dose. What your dentist will have to do is adjust the dosage as well as the mixture of the dental sedation medication that they give you. This will be important.
Remember, you can have your dental implants and dental sedation, but you need to do it safely by letting them know ahead of time so they can adjust what they give you.
A Concern About Using Clear Choice
I will say that you may be better off with a private dentist instead of Clear Choice. Now bear in mind that each of these centers is different, but they are a corportation. Because of that they have a procedural way of going about things and they are not great about deviating from that.
How this applies to your situation. They may not be great at adjusting if they don’t already have those procedures in place. I recently heard of a story where a patient of Clear Choice told the practitioners that his body requires a higher dose of sedation. They just followed their normal procedures, ignoring what the patient warned them about. He woke up in the middle of the procedure. Then, rather than just give him another dose, they physically restrained him. This poor patient ended up with the teeth crooked, likely because he was writing in pain.
Know Your Dental Implant Options
Another concern I have is that they tend to do the all-on-four dental implant procedure for just about every patient. But, there are other (often better) options. If you don’t have bone loss, then there is no need for it at all. If you do have bone loss, then bone grafting may be a better option. Plus, I’m not convinced that they tell every patient that if one part of the unit fails, the entire thing will have to be replaced.
If you stick with them, make sure they tell you their plan for mitigating the methadone as opposed to how they normally dose their sedation. If they can’t do that, then run.
This blog is brought to you from a compassionate dentist in Kalamazoo, Dr. Susan Dennis.