Has anyone here had dental implants?

" The dental companies say they can take ten years off your face, but I'm not sure I trust them. "

You make up some stupid stuff.

I don't know about the making you look younger part, but dental implants are a long & expensive process, but I guess it's better than having false teeth

Had 2. Flag football cracked 2 to the root.

Implant post and 4 months later tooth. Of course I paid for the sedation because I didn’t want to be awake for that.

Implants could be one tooth too. If anything I find my one to look abnormally perfect, even if they color matched to my other teeth. They make the others look older.

If you get more than one, maybe a different result.

I don’t have them, but friends that have them hate them, and one even said that dentures would have been a better deal.

My mother got one and had complications. It was a whole thing. Also - very expensive.

Just make you sure you get saline and not silicone OP.

If it’s on the top and in back, implannts can have serious complications or setbacks while mounting the base because they might need to graft bone where there’s nasal cavity.

I had a bridge done instead, about ten years ago and no regrets.

One tooth isn't going to make anyone look younger, OP.

I had two implants (upper right canine and adjacent incisor tooth) along with bone grafting. Cost me around $10K (US) about 3-4 years ago. I moved away from where I had this done about two years ago. Complications with my sinus began about a year, ago causing fluid problems with my eyes (excessive continual watering, mostly right eye). I've had a couple of infections as a result of the fluid build-up under my eyes. Just this past week and today, I have excessive watering in my right eye; so much so that I can't sleep. I've been taking decongestants to try to decrease it. Doesn't help much.

In the past year, I've had to go to urgent care a couple of times for infections in the skin under the eyes. I've also been to an ENT MD (worthless), an eye doc (optometrist), and have been trying to get in to see a local ophthalmologist (rural area, not many local). It's been shitty. Absolutely was no worth it for me. I would not do it again. Just my two cents (or my $10K), Op.

I had one done 10 years ago in Poland. No complications at all. I do not look younger.

drink coffee, r4.

of course if your toothless mouth is caving in, implants will make you look younger, and you will be able to eat corn on the cob once again.

I had two failed implants that caused an infection in my bone, and they were expensive My teeth were bad due to childhood poverty and neglect and then not having the best dental hygiene when I was an adult. A couple of dentists wanted to do bone grafting and implants but I thought about it and declined. After turning 60 I got dentures, they are not easy to eat with, but I steam my vegetables and puree my fruit in smoothies. The only thing I miss is eating pizza and a fresh tossed salad.

R14, so people with dentures can't chew solid food??? I'm probably going to have to go that route eventually, not looking forward to it. Do people with dentures always sound like latter Sean Connery or Liza, or only people with badly-fitting dentures?

I went to Poland to have one about 4 years ago. Good value and no complaints.

I broke one of my upper front teeth as a kid - got a crown in HS. 30 years later the root cracked. Needed a bone graft before I could get the implant - so a few toothless hillbilly months and about 6k total including the new crown, which is a much better match for my real front tooth than the old crown.

I don’t look younger but also don’t look like Alfred E. Newman either. Well worth it.

I have 4 (2 on each side top towards the back). The first one I got in 93 and it lasted 17 years and then I had it replaced. The others are ~15 years old? I expect them to last but who knows. I think an infection might have caused the failure I did have. If they need replacing, I'll do it. Dentures are not for me.

One of my lower molars is cracked, but how far down nobody can tell, even after an expensive high-tech scan whose name I can't remember. The consulting DDS nevertheless wants to extract it and give me an implant. I think I should just get a crown or extract it and stop there. Implants sound like an expensive nightmare.

Seeking advice: can you just have a molar extracted and leave it at that? I mean, how big a deal is it if the tooth opposite it (above) migrates down?

P. S. The cracked tooth barely hurts. Only if I bite hard on it a certain way.

OP, you're a moron. Adding a single tooth will not make you look younger. I had a single tooth implant a few days ago and somehow I look the same age.

I have one dental implant...a molar. I had a root canal, many years ago...it got a little infected. I had the tooth pulled and an implant put in. Out of laziness and lack of funds at the time, my crown was put in three years later. Yes...the one tooth was very expensive.

Get a first-rate specialist and if everything goes fine it'll be great; you'll be really happy, especially considering the alternative. These days there's a lot more experience with implants so the success rate is high.

When teeth come out and aren't replaced by implants there's bone loss in the jaw and that can age your appearance. Still some bone loss with implants, but a lot less.

Single toof, you complete me.

I'll probably need a couple not too far from now, thanks to my grandmother constantly taking her's out and messing with them, dentures trigger true disgust in me.

Just become a hockey player, OP.

I had one a year ago. No big deal (and I’m a wimp about tooth pain). It wasn’t cheap, but, fortunately I have dental insurance (until this October), so that covered 1/2 of it.

Can't. Osteopenia eliminates me as a candidate.

If you're serious, find a competent practitioner who will evaluate bone density or you'll have serious problems. Bone grafts are an iffy proposition since they often fail to produce the desired platform for implants.

Smokers aren't particularly good candidates for implants.

Wow, so many bad experiences with implants. I had one done 6 years ago (maxillary molar). It required first a bone graft followed by 9 months to allow it to take hold. Then the implant was inserted and capped with the crown. Everything was absolutely painless and I haven’t had any problem at all since then. Of course I went to see a top specialist. Don’t try to be cheap when it comes to dental, bitches!

Don't forget many dentists use cadaver particles for bone grafting.

You're literally giving part of someone a new lease on life - if thar ain't younger I don't know what is.

It’s a ground up combination of cadaver bone & coral. They fill the cavity, suture the gums & then you wait 3 months for it to consolidate - like a broken bone. Then the implant is placed, and again it needs to heal for a few months before the crown is made. My regular dentist made the crown, but since I had a fair amount of bone loss I went to a specialist for the bone graft & implant.

R19, yes you can just be missing a molar. It won't affect your smile and you'll get used to it. Ask Dame Judi Dench.

R15, I found it hard to chew certain foods, which is why I steam or puree fruits and vegetables.

r19 Google 'bone loss due to loss of teeth' (or similar wording).

From one website: "The most common cause of bone loss is tooth loss left unreplaced, especially multiple teeth. Jawbone is preserved through the pressure and stimulus of chewing. When that is removed through tooth loss, the bone “resorbs” (reabsorbs) into the body."

From another web site:

Does losing teeth cause bone loss? Bone loss is quite common, usually as a result of either missing teeth or advanced periodontitis (or peri-implantitis). In the first year after losing a tooth, 25% of the surrounding bone is lost and it will continue to wear away over time.

And, another website:

How quickly does bone loss occur in teeth? The body no longer uses or needs the jawbone, so it deteriorates and goes away. The rate the bone deteriorates, as well as the amount of bone loss that occurs, varies greatly among individuals. However, most lost occurs within the first eighteen months following the extraction, and continues throughout life.

But wait! There's more (from another site; I linked to this one):

When is an implant needed instead of a crown? Generally, crowns are more often used for cosmetic reasons and implants are used when the whole tooth must be removed (as a result of injury, decay or trauma).

Good luck.

I admit to not reading all the posts BUT I had the choice between implants and a bridge for two teeth; I chose the bridge. I knew two people in the same situation and they regretted the implants. I went with the permanent bridge and have no regrets.

I had a mental implant, OP. I keep remembering that Scrabble game that led to an epic argument about a word with my brother Allen.

I’m an only child and have never played Scrabble.

I have two implants. One is 15 years old and one is 3 years old. I haven’t had any complications with either of them. One is a back tooth, and I thought about not replacing it at all. My dentist said that one missing tooth wouldn’t visually affect my face, and that you have to lose multiple teeth to cause facial aging. I replaced it anyway, because I wanted the tooth for chewing. I also have a bridge, which I originally got 30 years ago, and had replaced 5 years ago. My dentist said that the average bridge only lasts for 10-15 years so I got lucky.

I knew someone who just ditched their bridge for an implant and is so happy. Dentists do quite a bit of filing/prep to the teeth around the bridge and it's a hassle to clean, so there are downsides.

I had a lower molar's crown go bad and opted for the implant instead of crossing my fingers on rehabbing the remaining tooth. $6500 and 8 months beginning to end, but I'm happy with the result. I went to an oral surgeon for extraction and later, the implant, then dentist for the crown. Looks great, no problems whatsoever.

I'm in the process of replacing my missing upper right lateral incisor with an implant. I had the root removed and post implanted about 3 weeks ago. I opted for sedation, I hate the whole novacaine numbing process. A little sore for a day or so. Stitches came out on their own in the past week. So far, no other issues.

I just had one done on my upper front. My dentist was great, never felt a thing, was never in the chair for more than 10 minutes. Honestly the worst thing about implants is the timetable to allow the bone to heal, etc. But that’s a minor inconvenience.

Out of pocket after insurance was probably ~$1500 all told.

My father was advised to get dental implants that set him back 13K. After only a few months a couple of started to become loose. He went to a different dentist who told him that he doesn't have enough bone density in his jaw to support the implants and they should never have been done in the first place. Got a few removed and now has a plate. Make sure you get a couple of opinions before you go through with it.

Did they not do bone grafting, r42?

R14 here, I also have osteoporosis which says something about my bone quality. I've adjusted to dentures and eat healthy foods although I miss pizza and fresh tossed salad.