I’d lost my lower teeth and had to get dentures because of finances. I’d been saving to get the dental implants, but it took me a bit. Now my dentist is saying that in order to get the dental implants that I will need to have a bone grafting procedure in order to get the dental implants. If I do that, then I will no longer have enough money to get the dental implants. Is this bone surgery really necessary?
Steven
Dear Steven,
If you’ve lost enough bone, then, yes, it is necessary. This is because your body immediately begins resorbing the minerals in your jawbone as soon as your teeth are removed. This has the side effect of shrinking your jawbone. In order to retain your dental implants, your body will need enough bone to support the implants. Without that, the procedure will fail so there would be no point. Though, there is the additional complication of remaining in dentures. Eventually, there will no longer be enough bone in your jaw to even keep your dentures. This is known as facial collapse.
You have a couple of options. You can continue to save up until you can get both the bone grafting procedure and the dental implants. A second option is to have an all-on-4 procedure done. This is a special procedure that angles the implants in a way can allow people with less bone to still have dental implants placed. Not everyone is a candidate, but if you are it could save you the cost of the bone grafting procedure.
Be aware that the longer you are without dental implants, the more bone loss there will be.
Whoever you get to do the procedure will need to have advanced implant training. If you are having the all-on-4 procedure, you will also want to make sure that they have the specialized training and experience that it requires.
This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.