Question:
Do you realize how long it takes to get implants?
I have 5 front teeth and they were $17,000. There's the initial
surgery, then you have to wait about six months for the gum to recede if
you have enough bone and don't need a bone graft. Add more time for
that. All together it will take about nine months.
If nine months is not too long for you to visit New Jersey every couple
of weeks for the dentist and the surgeon to check on your progress then
the $850 isn't too bad.
However, even at the dental school here with students who are paying
$80,000 a year tuition doing the work for free the implants are still 4
for $5,000, for titanium.
It was a pain to get them - financially, yes. But it was an even
bigger pain to make all those trips to the dentist and to the oral
surgeon who specializes in implants and then it takes the regular
dentist to put the cap on. The surgeon just pulls your teeth and
hammers the base into the bone after your bone has shrunk - that takes
about 6 months.
Answer:
I had a friend back in the 70s(!) that had implants done in New
Orleans and she was thrilled with them. On the other hand I knew
someone that got them in the 90s and had major problems with infection
etc. and had to bail on the procedure completely.
I heard that in as little as 5 years they are going to have a process
perfected that allows a person to grow a NEW tooth! I wonder how
that's going to work? But I'm all for it!
Probably won't happen until they can implant shark genes. I think it
would be SO cool to have auto-replaceable teeth, and the sharp points
might be pretty neat too.
Whatever -- the only people who really care about dentistry are
dentists. Come on, face it, no matter how personable or charming you
are, NONE of your patients really want to visit you. It's my
understanding that the weaker dentists turn to drugs and strong drink.
Can't take the rejection.
A friend with long-time py... gum problems has opted for full-mouth
implants. If you're going to have a complete replacement, it'õėrŪrd to
figure out why you might need individual teeth -- just make a
properly-sized white arc and snap it in. NO MORE FLOSSING! Kind of fun
to watch people trying to not be obvious about staring while they try to
figure out just what's wrong with your mouth.
Just went to the dentist after years -- only thing I need is a
root canal down through a gold crown. I've had one of those -- same
tooth on the other side. Piece of cake. Apparently everything that was
going to rot has already done so.
