The Dental Apocalypse weekend and falling apart piece by piece.

[Nemo2]

Back from the dentist...he removed the molar root, (and I currently have a wad of gauze in my mouth)........options are a bridge, an implant, or because it's the middle molar and unseen and will barely affect chewing or anything else, fuhgeddaboutit.

No need for an instant decision.

 

[zinger1457]

Back from the dentist...he removed the molar root, (and I currently have a wad of gauze in my mouth)........options are a bridge, an implant, or because it's the middle molar and unseen and will barely affect chewing or anything else, fuhgeddaboutit.

I just went through something similar with the same options. There were two bridge options, a single tooth removal bridge and a permanent three tooth bridge that attaches to crowns on the two adjacent teeth. I went with the removable bridge and it was a mistake IMO. No pain, just don't like the way it feels with the metal clamps so I end up leaving it out most of the time. I'm now looking at the other two options but leaning towards the implant. I was told that one of the problems with doing nothing is that it could cause your other teeth to shift over time.

 

[Nemo2]

I just went through something similar with the same options. There were two bridge options, a single tooth removal bridge and a permanent three tooth bridge that attaches to crowns on the two adjacent teeth. I went with the removable bridge and it was a mistake IMO. No pain, just don't like the way it feels with the metal clamps so I end up leaving it out most of the time. I'm now looking at the other two options but leaning towards the implant.

Luckily I don't have, (yet, anyway), crowns on the adjacent teeth, and they appear to be in pretty good shape, (at the moment)........and, as a gagger, I think a removable bridge would be a Royal PITA for me, (Yeah, I know, that's not where the bridge goes ), so I'm, (but it's only been an hour), leaning towards doing nothing.

(DW says it's unnoticeable unless I leap out from the depths to take a bite of the the hull of Quint's Orca.)

 

[harley]

You may be out of luck. We all know dentists no longer work on Fridays, and that's when the most serious problems, like serious toothaches, happen. Pain never comes Mon-Thur.

I found a dentist that has a CNC machine that carves crowns out of a solid porcelain chunk in 6 minutes. She scans the mouth in 3D, and makes electronic adjustments before she starts the machine. I can be in and out and not have to come back 2 weeks later. Best news is that she's $100 cheaper than my regular dentist since the procedure takes less time.

Nope, it worked out OK. They saw me at 10 this morning and got the new temporary crown in. Hopefully it will last through the weekend.

My dentist up north also has the same day crown system. I've only had one experience with it, and it wasn't that great. The crown never fit quite right, and I ended up getting it replaced. I can't make a judgement on the system based on a single experience, but I know I like what I get with the two week turnaround in my southern dentist, so I'll stick with that whenever possible. Hopefully I won't need to do either anymore after this one.

 

[Nemo2]

Brother you have my sympathy I write this with a sore mouth from Monday's extraction and implant. I keep checking to make sure nothing else will fall off this old body.

Dentist insisted on giving me a script for Tylenol 3, (which I haven't bothered to fill)....DW just asked how I was feeling.......said that, a few times, I've had to tell the gum discomfort to get in line behind all the other aches & pains, and to wait for its damn turn.

 

[braumeister]

a few times, I've had to tell the gum discomfort to get in line behind all the other aches & pains, and to wait for its damn turn.

Great line!
Thanks for that; I'll be using it.

 

[JoeWras]

Every time I read this thread, there is a "Polygrip" ad on the right with some lady chewing on a bone.

Hilarious!

 

[W2R]

I'm seeing my dentist yet again tomorrow about a problem tooth, and fully expect he will tell me that I have to get yet another implant.

He has been knocking himself out, trying to save the tooth (a lower back molar), but it's not working. He says no charge for his efforts if I end up having to have an implant. I like that he is at least trying to save it.

 

[audreyh1]

Best forum thread title yet!

 

[target2019]

When my crown/filling mess broke off at root, I went back and forth about implant/no implant. When I decided implant, dentist sent me to oral surgeon. This guy had a two-stage process, meaning extraction/bone graft, then implant about 3 months later. I had no problems whatsoever. I went for two rounds of conscious sedation, one each visit. Cost more, but what a nice sleep.

Dentist will do the restoration, but has dropped the ball on the insurance pre-estimate twice.

 

[W2R]

When my crown/filling mess broke off at root, I went back and forth about implant/no implant. When I decided implant, dentist sent me to oral surgeon.

I had that happen in December, 1999. A tooth broke off at the gumline, leaving the root but not much else. My dentist did the other procedure of putting in posts and building a tooth around them. That lasted for almost 13 years, but then I had to have an implant done on that same tooth anyway. So your decision sounds like a good one to me.

As for my recent problem tooth, my dentist referred me to the oral surgeon. I'll be seeing him Wednesday and expect to be getting the tooth extracted in preparation for yet another implant.

 

[Fedup]

This thread reminds me what I did this weekend as I was chewing on peanut brittle on my front teeth then I realized I had broken one front tooth by doing the exact same thing years ago, so I decided it's best to chew on my back grinders.
I don't want the hassle to have to go back and forth to have it fix again. This time he may suggest implant.

 

[target2019]

I had that happen in December, 1999. A tooth broke off at the gumline, leaving the root but not much else. My dentist did the other procedure of putting in posts and building a tooth around them. That lasted for almost 13 years, but then I had to have an implant done on that same tooth anyway. So your decision sounds like a good one to me.

As for my recent problem tooth, my dentist referred me to the oral surgeon. I'll be seeing him Wednesday and expect to be getting the tooth extracted in preparation for yet another implant.

I believe my broken tooth had root canal that was quite old, and filling. So it made no sense to do anything else.

The oral surgeon I went to was fun to work with. He was helpful in explaining which way to go. It really helped having conscious sedation minutes after I saw him.

Ask about bone graft at time of extraction. It worked very well, just had to go a few months with flapper as it healed. Then back for the implant.

One place I went to for a second opinion was a very high price. They were going to do everything at once. The price was driven up by full sedation, which was not reimbursable at all.

 

[W2R]

I believe my broken tooth had root canal that was quite old, and filling. So it made no sense to do anything else.

The oral surgeon I went to was fun to work with. He was helpful in explaining which way to go. It really helped having conscious sedation minutes after I saw him.

Ask about bone graft at time of extraction. It worked very well, just had to go a few months with flapper as it healed. Then back for the implant.

One place I went to for a second opinion was a very high price. They were going to do everything at once. The price was driven up by full sedation, which was not reimbursable at all.

My oral surgeon likes to do a bone graft at the time of extraction, too. Then I have to wait months before the actual implant is done, and then eventually go back to my dentist to get the crown. Waiting is no fun, but it does help to spread out the expense over a long time so it isn't such a financial blow. My oral surgeon uses lots of Novacaine and I usually ask him for laughing gas, too. This will be my third implant. My dentist thinks the tooth is probably badly cracked (underneath its forty year old gold crown) because the pain comes and goes and root canals done through the crown did not help. I will be glad to be done with this painful tooth.

 

[Nemo2]

I was reading about bone grafts for implants, this is (relatively) major stuff.

 

[athena53]

I was reading about bone grafts for implants, this is (relatively) major stuff.

More expense, and it will get you a deferral from donating blood, but in my experience not much else. I've been fortunate- grafts integrated very well. By the second time I had implants the oral surgeon said there was some expensive med they could use to give the graft a better chance of success, but he didn't use it for me.

 

[W2R]

I was reading about bone grafts for implants, this is (relatively) major stuff.

Nah, my oral surgeon just opens a vial of bone stuff (taken from corpses, which sounds freaky, but it is irradiated to make it safe). He brushes that on in about 5 minutes, totally painless. No problems whatsoever. For me the bone graft costs $400 and the tooth extraction just beforehand is an additional $290. Then I have to wait a few months (? I don't remember exactly how long) to see if it worked and "beefed up" the bone where the implant is supposed to go. So far it always has done a great job.

The major stuff is when they drill into your jawbone to seat the implant. But I just giggle my way through that with laughing gas.

 

[Fedup]

No it was no big deal. I have one implant and the doctor did some bone graft to make sure the area is big enough or something like that for him to work on. My sister did have the same except she had infection rejection of something. Mine went smoothly.

 

[Fedup]

Nah, my dentist just opens a vial of bone stuff (taken from corpses, which sounds freaky, but it is irradiated to make it safe). He brushes that on in about 5-10 minutes. No problems whatsoever. I think it cost $400 IIRC. Then I have to wait a few months to see if it worked, and so far it always has done a great job.

The major stuff is when they drill into your jawbone to seat the implant. But I just giggle my way through that with laughing gas.

What corpse? I thought it was animal bones, now I'm worried.

 

[Nemo2]

What corpse? I thought it was animal bones, now I'm worried.

Bone Augmentation Article | Dentures & Dental Implants | Colgate® Oral Care Information Seniors

bone taken from the patient's chin or from a cadaver can be used to "rebuild" the lost bone so that it can support an implant

 

[W2R]

What corpse? I thought it was animal bones, now I'm worried.

No need to worry, even if yours comes from cadavers too (and maybe your oral surgeon uses another source). According to my oral surgeon there have never been any issues or complications due to using bone material from his supplier, who gets it from cadavers.

His supplier has many years of experience and even I do not worry about it. I'm a total worry-wart too, and would be terrified of getting a blood transfusion. But this is not a big deal, IMO.

 

[Nemo2]

Funny how (some/many) people don't have problems with bones from a deceased 'other species', but balk at dead humans........me, I'm thinking if I could get some from Elvis I could go on tour.

 

[W2R]

Bone Augmentation Article | Dentures & Dental Implants | Colgate® Oral Care Information Seniors

That article says IV sedation is necessary for the bone graft, but in my case I had Novacaine for the tooth extraction and nothing further was needed for the bone graft. Honestly as far as I could tell he just used a brush and brushed on some liquid or gel or something that he got from that vial of bone matter. That was it, done, fini. I've had manicures that were more painful than that.

 

[athena53]

No need to worry, even if yours comes from cadavers too (and maybe your oral surgeon uses another source). According to my oral surgeon there have never been any issues or complications due to using bone material from his supplier, who gets it from cadavers.

Which is why it annoys me that the blood bank defers me. My oral surgeon uses cadaver-sourced material, too.

 

[Nemo2]

That article says IV sedation is necessary for the bone graft, but in my case I had Novacaine for the tooth extraction and nothing further was needed for the bone graft. Honestly as far as I could tell he just used a brush and brushed on some liquid or gel or something that he got from that vial of bone matter. That was it, done, fini. I've had manicures that were more painful than that.

It appears that there are various options:

Bone Grafting before Dental Implant Placement

There are many types of bone grafts, but they all fall into one of several categories:
Autograft – bone used from the patient’s own body.
Allograft – bone from a genetically similar organism
Xenograft – bone from a genetically dissimilar organism
Synthetic – a synthetic biocompatible material
The type of bone graft that will be chosen will depend on the situation, and on the amount of bone required.