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Dental implants


mint
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Thank you for the extra info, Laurier.  And so encouraging..........at least I am still a few years short of 75! [:D]

And I am keeping my fingers crossed that my jaw bone will be strong enough to accept the 2 implants that I need.

Might just pluck up the courage to go and make that initial assessment visit very soon.

PS:  from the leaflet that was given to me, I read about the titanium; I suppose because it is light but very strong.

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After 6 months of debating I finally went ahead with my implant treatment in December 2012. I discussed the time scale with my dentist (he's German but has a practice near me in the UK). The initial appointment to fit the implant posts (titanium) took nearly 2 hours. I felt really ill afterwards but this soon went. I then had to wait three months for them to fuse and bed in before they were uncovered and the remainder of the work carried out. This is when the problems arose. All the impressions had to be sent to Germany where the new denture was being made. I needed everything to be finished by mid May, which came and went. My treatment was finally finished in October.  During the waiting, I had to endure a NHSdenture which kept brteaking. I had it repaired in France at a cost of 180euros - the same repair in the UK £18. At first the new smaller denture was unconfortable but I've now got used to it. It's a joy to be able to eat an apple and chew meat.The total cost should have been £5000 for 3 implants, 1 crown and a horse shoe shaped denture. However, I lost the crown and a new one had to be made - hence the additional cost of £650.  I disputed this because if he'd kept to schedule everything would have been finished in May.

I know of some one who went to Hungary for treatment which was cheaper - however I'm not sure about the after treatment.

As some one has already posted - if it was Vet's bills or a a new car, they'd been no question of spending the money.

 

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  • 1 year later...
OK, this seems to have died a death, but are there any updates, or should that be implants, to report??

I had 6 putin a couple of years back, but one had to be removed due to a long standing minor infection in the bone under it. It was uncomfortable for the god ones and dammed painful for the one that was removed. Our dentist is bang up to date and she is very good with it. Even although she had done all the work up to inserting the screw post  holder and then had to remove it and make god afterwards she didn't charge for that at all, so not the money grabber some have had.

everal years back I had a bridge done for the top teeth, ALL 12 and it goes from one side to the other!! Ijust couldn't put up with the plate I had before. My mouth used to foam up and it was most uncomfortable. I just couldn't get on with it. Much better now.. And if anyone askes me if my teeth are my own my answer is of course, they cost enough so they should be!!

Mint wrote "So......instead of a new car, I'll have 2 dental implants; that is if I

am considered a suitable candidate for them.  It does depend on the

state of your jaw bones and I already "suffer" from osteopenia (or

whatever it's called) which is sort of pre-osteoporosis.  We'll wait and

see..."

I'm not sure that I could wander around with a mouth full of either new or second hand car[:-))] How are you getting on now ?

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Jonz, I am so pleased you have asked about this. 

I am just plucking up courage to go and see about it.  I know of a practice that does implants and they are just over an hour away, so perfectly doable.

This is my newest New Year resolution!

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Just had two done. The pegs were implanted Dec 9th so am waiting now for them to knit in before the crowns are put in. The procedure was a bit uncomfortable, took about an hour. The next couple of weeks not too bad, better than extraction. Xmass dinner and celebs were no problem as long as approached with caution. This week i am having a little discomfort, but thats probably due to over confidence on my part.

Word of advice. Make sure the dentist you choose has invested in a clean room specifically for these operations. If nothing else it means he/she does a lot of them. Practice makes perfect.

JFB

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Our dentist has as eperate clean room for doing them and you get totally togged up in disposible everything from head to shoe covers..

She's also had a new toy a few months back. A machine for making her own porcelain crowns. Starts with a special camera in yer gob and a small piace of porcelain is put in the machine and milled to the correct shape in an hour or so. Magic to watch!! All round xray jobbie too!

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JohnFB:  Practice makes perfect.  Indeed, except I'd rather they didn't practise on me!

Thank you for everybody's encouragement. 

Jonz, when I ring up for the appointment, I'll ask whether they have a separate "clean" room.  My French friend who recommended this place told me that a chap came once a month from up north and did nothing but implants for the whole day he was there.

Lindal, I was wondering how you got on so it's good to know that it's taking its course.

I have screwed up enough courage now, I think!  Just before Christmas, I had a crown (at my local place) and that took FOUR visits so I thought I'd "re-group" (as sports people like to say, even if it's an individual sport!) before embarking on the next intervention (don't you just love that word that covers everything?)[:D]

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One of the things that fascinated me was that when she was putting the post in to fit the crown she used a torque wrench to tighten it [:-))]

Just as well it wasn't the same size as the tyre fitters use when they torque up yer wheel knuts [6]

Nowt to worry about Mint. It is a tiny likkle spanner that makes sure the post is screwed in correctly, not too tight and not too loose.

Good 'ere init [:D] [kiss]

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Mint, I worked myself up into a total state before the procedure! The tooth extraction took 5 mins, the bone graft another 10. I did not feel a thing but did spend some time walking between surgeries as the bone graft was done in a sterile room. A little bit of discomfort as the anaesthetic wore off but nothing much. Following day less painful than before as the infection was going! The chap I went to was in Marmande and I would recommend him, Feel free to pm me if you want details.
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Jonz and Lindal, thank you so much.

Marmande is a good way from me, Lindal, and I think I'll see these guys first and assess whether I feel confident that I am in good hands.

After your description, I reckon I could go through with it OK.  Just hope I don't get an infection.  I will line up an antiseptic mouthwash just in case

BTW, I won't need an extraction as the two teeth are already out.

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I got given a prescription for a whole load of things beforehand. I started a course of antibiotics two days before and I had mouthwash and spray for afterwards. Good idea to assess the chap first. I was a bit put off when I saw the outside of the surgery, in a rather grotty street. However the dentist was really knowledgeable and the surgery very well equipped, including a special scanner that takes 3d images of your jaw. They used synthetic bone for the graft and added a blood product (taken from me that morning), to aid healing. My partner had a long chat with the dentist about the torque wrenches they use for tightening the implant and said he had a good knowledge of mechanics.!
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Just to dispel worries: the torque wrench is NOT used to put the implant into the bone, it is to fix the superstructure to the integrated implant. Because the threads are so small and exact, they are easily stripped if over-torqued.

Incidentally, although many implants have a threaded appearance, they are not ''screwed-in'' to the bone. They are placed in a prepared hole and the threading is to increase the surface area for osseo-integration.
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How kind you are to have explained all that, JSKS.

My own local man doesn't do implants and didn't want to answer questions about implants.  He gave me a devis for a bridge (which he CAN do) and a leaflet on implants.

And yes, the pictures which are meant to inform looked terrifying to my uninformed eyes!

Clearly, he had no interest in talking through the pros and cons of both procedures with me and I sensed that he didn't want to bother to discuss implants which would have earned him zilch.

That was my original reason for coming onto the forum to ask about implants.  I googled and read extensively, of course, but there is nothing like having someone tell you about their experience or someone like you who can give you the facts.

So, many thanks to everyone once more.

Straight after our visitors go home, I am on that phone for a rdv[:)]

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Mint,

While implant retained prostheses (carrying one or more ''false'' tooth) are excellent in the correct circumstance, there are still times when more conventional methods can produce equal or better long-term result with less risk or lower cost.

This is where you need a proper consultation with a dentist skilled in implant techniques but whom you can trust to assess the more holistic need of the dentition and yourself as a whole. It is for this reason alone that I condemn the sort of medical tourism where the patient decides what they need done then jets off somewhere unregulated to get what might be wholly inappropriate, never mind inadequate, treatment.

There are a few contra-indications to implants (medical, anatomical, financial and so forth) so I wouls stress again: Get a proper consult with a respected clinician.
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YES, JSKS, your advice accords well with my own thinking.

I have said, right from the start of the thread, that I just initially want to have a discussion, have alternatives presented to me.

I talked it through with my OH but, of course, neither of us have full possession of the facts and the complexities.

Now that I know that implants are relatively straightforward, I no longer fear having an assessment.

If it is thought that implants are inappropriate, of course I would have to look at other treatment.  That is what I really want, a proper assessment and a discussion of what is best.

You have got to the heart of my fears insofar as I wasn't just frightened of the pain or the cost, although those factors are worrying in themselves, but I am afraid that someone will put implants into my mouth that would give me problems because I shouldn't have them for any number of reasons!

Incidentally, they are molars so are not readily apparent and I am not a vain woman generally speaking, just don't want to look like a toothless old hag before I absolutely must!

Thank you again for taking the trouble to post[:)]

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Mint, my 5, shuld have been 6, implants are also molars. The back 3 of each side. Although the left side now has 2 with a small bridge over where the third from the back should have been. I am quite happy, because I now have something I can chew on where I used to have a huge space both sides. Now that gum doesn't get cut to bits and sore when I have my favorite crunchy, chrispy baguette knobby ends!!

I also have to admit that I wouldn't recommend the bridge that I have for the top teeth. 12 from extream left to right is too much and I wish I had had different. I don't know how it could have been done differently, but ??

Have you checked with your doctor to see if he/she knows of a good dentst that does implants as well as bridges, footpaths (sorry, getting a bit carried away there?) general dentistry?

Our dentist in Bristol, before we moved over, meant a drive from Stroud to Bristol to see him. He was/is very good and the very first thing he would do before he touched your teeth is to make sure that your pelvis is square and straight. He works on the principle that your complete body sits on the pelvis. If that isn't in ballance the body tries to pull it straight and puts strain on the muscles of the back, stomatch, sides, neck, etc, and it pulls the jaw muscles too. that pulls your teeth out of true and therefore what ever he does will not be correct. Once he has got your pelvis in true then anything done to your teeth will be true also. Total logic in my mind. The only problem with him was tht he used to tell me jokes while I had a gob full of dentist [:-))]  f it were feasible to go back for treatment then we would have been doing just that..

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Jonz, mine are 2 bottom molars so I hope that would be relatively straightforward.

I hope that, once I meet the implanteur (what else would you call him?), I'd be able to suss out fairly quickly if he is professional and impartial with his advice.

So I plan to get the whetstone out and sharpen all my faculties before the rdv.............thanks for the advice and trying to help [kiss]

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Well mint I am glad to hear that you are finally taking the plunge and pursuing the possibility of having implants fitted, after all is has only been just over two years[:D].

I really need to get something sorted out in my mouth, but for obvious reasons at the moment I have more pressing matters to attend to. I know that if I were to lose any more of my top teeth then it would definitely be an implant, I just would not wear a  plate. I have lost one of my top teeth but had a bridge fitted which has worked really well. Not sure my dentist has a clean room, although his surgery is very clean and modern, I have found out that he is one of the most expensive dentist in Bressuire, so not sure whether to shop around a bit when I finally pluck up courage to have the holes blasted into my gums[:-))].

So come on mint no 'bottling it' now the whole world has read of your intentions to have implants fitted, so I feel you must do the honourable thing and see it through.

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Grecian,  THERE you are!  How are you?  How was Christmas?  Is your treatment going to plan and are you en forme, as the French might say?

Yes, I am going to "go for it", as long as the expert tells me it's the right thing for me[:D]

But, nevermind me, TELL us about YOU!!!

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I also was concerned about getting wrong advice. I had two teeth causing problems. One was in a bad state, (a tooth that had been causing problems for years and one I repeatedly told my dentist about in UK who just kept saying there was nothing wrong. Eventually after three years the pain stopped so I believed him!). The second tooth was/is just uncomfortable, but has already had a root canal and crowned. The 3D x-ray confirmed a widespread infection in the first tooth and a localised infection on the second. I actually expected the dentist to suggest two implants but his suggestion was to go ahead with the first one (no choice really) and then when it is settled down he is going to do a treatment through the gum to try and clear up the infection of the other tooth and thus enable me to keep it a bit longer. I do have some contraindications for implants which is I think one reason why we are taking the slow approach.

I hope your implant guy is good, although so far I have been very impressed with the professionalism of all the dentists I have seen here. I have heard there is someone good in Perigeaux as well.
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I don't often contribute to the forum these days having been shot down too many times, but having recently been through the dental "wringer" I thought I should add some comment here.

We have an excellent dentist and he also speaks good English which is a tremendous help when you get down to important detail.

I've had two problems on opposite sides of my mouth. I asked about implants and he said that whilst he could refer me to a specialist, he thought that there were ways of dealing with my problems by use crowns, bridges or small palettes. In the end I went for a bridge, effectively crowing two teeth and filling the gap between them. This has restored my "bite" and my mouth feels so much better and of course I can now chew properly.

On the other side I had a continual problem caused by an infection at the tip of the root. He advised a minor surgical procedure (résection apicale - removal of the tip of the root and general cleaning up) in order to save the tooth. I've had this done (not at the dental surgery but at a clinic, I think because, like the implants, it's a specialist job and needs to be done under sterile conditions) and I will have a bridge on this side once it's all settled down.

I must point out that I'm a dental "wuss" and was dreading all of this, but in fact it all went off very easily.

One of the main considerations for me was not wanting "false teeth" in the old-fashioned sense; I recall my mother and father telling me that they had ALL their teeth removed in their early twenties; apparently it was quite common back then (c1935)! Horrific!

The cost of all this is another factor. You should ask how long an implant is likely to last. A bridge should be good for 10 years at least, and I have two crowns which were fitted in the 1970's, so I know they can last well.

The French health system doesn't reimburse very much for bridge work and neither does our mutuelle (but that's our choice of plan v premium) so it's a hefty investment.

Good luck!
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