I am planning to get dental implants. I am in need of some bone grafting before getting the implants. My dentist said that he has been doing bone grafting for 5 years. But, I don’t usually think of general dentists for surgery. Is that safe or should I see an oral surgeon for this procedure?
Kenneth
Dear Kenneth,
There are quite a few dentists who do oral surgery on a regular basis and they are quite good at it. Some just do easy surgeries. Others can even do the more complicated procedures such as sinus lifts.
If your dentist has been doing bone grafting for five years, then it is very likely that he is good at that. You could glance at his reviews on Google or Yelp!. It’s likely if he’s bad at it, that information made its way to one of those review services.
The most important thing to look for in an implant dentist is post-doctoral training. There are quite a few good institutes which teach this procedure to dentists. Here are just a few reputable ones:
- International Congress of Oral Implantologists
- Misch Implant Institute
- American Academy of Implant Dentistry
- Engel Institute
- Las Vegas Institute of Advanced Dental Studies
There are countless dental implant horror stories where patients went to a general dentist who did not invest in the training necessary to do a great job. Some of them lost part of their jaws.
You picked the best tooth replacement available, which is great. The best dentists work hard to keep up with both the new technology and procedures in their field, as well as the skills and training to do it well. It sounds like your dentist is one who strives to do that, which is great news for you.
This blog is brought to you by the gentle dentists at Decatur, AL Drs. Drake and Wallace.
Click here to learn how we cater to anxious patients.