dental implants

Is your DDS an oral surgeon? I think it's up to this DDS to understand whether a medication could reduce the success rate of his procedure. If he doesn't know it seems like he should find out or refer you to someone who does know. (like a clinical faculty member at a dental school).



Have you had a DEXA scan? I suspect there may be some debate about placing implants in patients with osteoporosis.

Mama...have implants....never had a problem.....they did bone graft, but had nothing to do with BC......the drugs that affect the jawbone are the ones for Osteoporosis, Prolia, Reclast, Boniva etc.....just make sure you o to someone who specializes in implants....today everyone says they can do them.........they can't......



Also for the root canal question.....did you go to an Endodonist..........they are the only ones who can tell you what is the right thing to do.......learned that the hard way....goo luck

mama, is it a general dentist who can't do a crown based on the amount of tooth that remains? It's possible that a specialist (prosthodontist) could do the crown, perhaps by placing a post in the remaining root. I agree with the other person who recommends seeing an endodontist for the root canal.  So, you may want  to consider a second opinion, since you have to wait to see the oral surgeon anyway. (FWIW, I had that same delay trying to see an oral surgeon around Christmas one year. All the college kids were home getting their wisdom teeth removed).

That said, I've had two implants and am very happy with them. I had them done (on separate occasions) by two different oral surgeons who were implant specialists. They wanted to wait 4 months after the extraction before placing the implant. I think that's the more reliable way to go. I sometimes see ads in the newspaper advertising same-day implants (they extract the tooth and immediately place the implant).  Neither of the specialists I saw recommended that. Good luck! And while you're recovering from your oral surgery be sure to treat yourself to lots of ice cream and milkshakes!

dogsandjogs, If you have very few teeth left, I doubt that a prosthodontist would recommend single implants.  I had only front teeth and very poor gums - the remaining teeth were un-salvagable.  I have full implant-supported bridges - 5 implants upper and lower supporting the bridges. You'd need to see a specialist to advise of the possibility in your case.

Expense - HUGE! 7 years ago I paid around AU$80,000.00 - yeh! $80,000.00. (I was fortunate to receive an inheritance around that time)

An alternative could be 4 implants which support dentures - the dentures clip on to the posts - which would be better than normal dentures and much cheaper alternative.

I decided on the implants when I was about to lose one of my front teeth and thought the same as you but to have only one implant would have been a complete waste of time and money - and I doubt that they would have done it.

This was 7 or 8 years ago - much will have changed

dogs, I may have been wrong about osteoporosis and implants. This week I talked to my bone doctor (endocrinologist) and he said osteoporosis (or being post-menopausal or having both ovaries removed) does not impact the bone's ability to heal from a fracture or from a dental extraction or to heal from a bone graft. He said it should heal just as well and take the same amount of time.   I don't know if "severe" osteoporosis is different--you should get a professional opinion.I read somewhere that some dentists prefer to place implants if a patient has osteoporosis (vs. giving them regular dentures) because the implant can keep the jaw bone from resorbing. 

Placing a single implant costs $2000 or more (to the oral surgeon). Then you need to "restore" it, with a crown (or bridge or denture). Most insurance companies won't pay for the cost of implants. But, most insurance plans have a relatively low limit (like $1000 or $1500 per year) so with most dental treatments you may exceed that pretty quickly.

You should definitely do the root canal surgery and then go for dental crown as your teeth is threatened by the large cavity. Getting an implant would be very painful to you and taking Arimidex drug after implantation would be nearly impossible.

You can go ahead for getting dental implants. And also use tooth sensitive toothpaste.