I am losing pretty much all of my teeth. I was hoping to get dental implants but have a severe nickel allergy, which even makes me sensitive to stainless steel. My dentist told me that because of those allergies I will not be able to get dental implants. What is my next best option? I’m really hoping to avoid dentures.

Kaitlyn

Dear Kaitlyn,

A nickel allergy is fairly common. If you are severely allergic than the stainless steel issue makes sense too because it contains nickel. However, most dental implants are made from titanium. Your dentist should know that too. This is very biocompatible. In fact, I don’t even know of a titanium allergy. Even if you were allergic to titanium, there are now zirconia implants that are completely metal-free. If you decide to go the zirconia route, then I suggest you look for a metal-free dentist.

My suspicion is that your dentist is not trained in dental implants ard therefore is steering you away from the implants toward dentures, which he does know how to do. Even though you can get dental implants, I do not recommend that you pressure your dentist into providing them for you. Without that training, it would be a complete disaster. It is quite an advanced procedure and there are countless dental implant horror stories. You do not want to be one of them.

I would simply go elsewhere to have your dental implants done. Just make certain whatever dentist you use does have some post-doctoral training in this procedure. This is important.

One other point of importance is how to handle it if you need a dentist and an oral surgeon. While the oral surgeon will place the implants, it needs to be the dentist who determines the placement. That is important so make sure you see the dentist first.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.