Q: I have lived in a remote area for most of my life. Over my lifetime, if we wanted or needed anything more than just the basics we had a three-hour trip in one direction or a five-and-a-half-hour trip in the other. To say the least we saved up our needs and wants, so going to the city was a very busy day or two experience. That’s how our dental and medical got taken care of. Over time I gave less to my health than I should have. For me it was a tooth I let go. It got bad and broke off. I then experienced two days of hell. I can’t tell you how that hurt. It finally began to swell to the point it shut my right eye. My wife finally took me into the city where I got it pulled but the dentist said I’d lost a lot of bone around the root during the infection. After the thing settled, I went back to him and he put in a flipper which I hated. I didn’t want anything in the roof of my mouth, so I only wore it during social times. I got on the internet and looked up implants because I want a permanent tooth and I didn’t want to cut down my teeth on each side for a bridge. So back to town I went, only to discover that I couldn’t have an implant because the bone wasn’t wide enough! I left the dental office disappointed but I had read about bone being put in so there was enough – so I went across town and found another dentist that told me I could get a graft of bone from my chin. He said a specialist could take a piece of bone from my chin and put it in the spot beside my front tooth where the bone was missing. Is this the only way this can be done? I’m determined to have a tooth and I don’t want a bridge.
A: There are several other bone grafting techniques. It is now possible for dentists to buy bone in block form that adds width predictably. Initially these were not as reliable as one’s own bone but now there are several years of experience with this type of bone, showing results equal to one’s own.
Another technique is to add bone around the uncovered part of the implant at the time the implant is placed. This requires special bone mesh guards that attach to the implant and hold the bone in place while it’s healing.
One can also graft granular bone to the site, wait for four to six months, then go in and place the implant to the widened area.At the Victoria Implant Centre we treat all types of patients. It may be that we must get you on a healthy periodontal care program to ensure our implant procedures have the best foundation for success
If we can help, we’d like to.
Call 778-410-2080 for a consultation. Based on actual patient cases ©Calvin Ross Crapo
Victoria Implant Centre
778-410-2080
VictoriaImplantCentre.com
