gum recession, tooth loss and mini implants

[amulet]

gum recession and tooth loss

Hello. After years of fearfully watching my gum recede around my lower front teeth, finally loose tooth (24) fell out, and I was forced to face my phobia and go and see a dentist. She was very reassuring and her plan is to remove adjacent unstable teeth (25,26) and fit an immediate partial denture. After reading so many stories of extreme discomfort and facial muscles collapsing around reabsorbed bones , my question is whether you think I would be a candidate for mini implants for a retained denture? I have a lot of general recession, but the other teeth are potentially safe from coming loose.

Thank you for any advice

 

[comfortdentist]

In general first treat and control your gum disease prior to considering implants.

 

[Corky]

Hello. After years of fearfully watching my gum recede around my lower front teeth, finally loose tooth (24) fell out, and I was forced to face my phobia and go and see a dentist. She was very reassuring and her plan is to remove adjacent unstable teeth (25,26) and fit an immediate partial denture. After reading so many stories of extreme discomfort and facial muscles collapsing around reabsorbed bones , my question is whether you think I would be a candidate for mini implants for a retained denture? I have a lot of general recession, but the other teeth are potentially safe from coming loose.

Thank you for any advice

That's the teeth I lost too. One fell out, one was knocked out by my dopey dog's paw and the other two extracted nearly 3 weeks ago. Don't panic about a partial denture to fill the gap. Mine is brilliant and you can't tell the difference between my natural adjacent teeth and the denture teeth. Can't advise for implant types but something I may look at for my upper denture in the future. I also have bone loss as I haven't had molars top and bottom for years but the bone loss hasn't made much difference to my facial features.

 

[amulet]

That's the teeth I lost too. One fell out, one was knocked out by my dopey dog's paw and the other two extracted nearly 3 weeks ago. Don't panic about a partial denture to fill the gap. Mine is brilliant and you can't tell the difference between my natural adjacent teeth and the denture teeth. Can't advise for implant types but something I may look at for my upper denture in the future. I also have bone loss as I haven't had molars top and bottom for years but the bone loss hasn't made much difference to my facial features.

Thank you Corky, I was considering "postponing" my appointment tomorrow, my little son said "don't go"! But I have to face up to this, and have tried many facial expressions in the mirror, predicting the inevitable..... not good, and I guess the years will tell on us . I have read that mini implants can be implanted in mouths with extreme bone loss, but have yet to find a dentist who will confirm this, it seems like the best solution in the long term.

 

[comfortdentist]

Actually long term best solution might be regular implants as they can resist mechanical forces much better than the mini implants. Mini implants are mainly used in the elderly population.
Remember in genberal never take shortcuts in implants.

 

[amulet]

Actually long term best solution might be regular implants as they can resist mechanical forces much better than the mini implants. Mini implants are mainly used in the elderly population.
Remember in general never take shortcuts in implants.

Thanks comfortdentist. I had the inevitable work done a couple of hours ago, and for others facing this particular circumstance I would like to offer complete reassurance (in total agreement with Corky) that overall it was a painless and quick experience. I now have an immediate partial denture in place and it fits snug as a bug (at least for now). There is some tenderness and soreness from the extractions, which I am dealing with, with a couple of glasses of wine and some Nurofen (kids away for the day!), but I genuinely feel that my mouth and body has welcomed a return to some integrity in the form of it's original physiological structure. Also I would like to add, importantly, that my speech really has not been affected one iota.

On the subject of regular implants ... I had understood that with severe gum recession and the likelihood of substantial bone loss, regular implants would not be an option, which was why I was so interested in mini implants. I have read that they are a possible option and I am hoping for some feedback regarding mini implant retained dentures. It's all a learning curve and a bit of an information labyrinth out there!

Again Thank you for your words of advice. with a little

 

[comfortdentist]

Today if you don't have bone for an implant we can graft and build bone so be careful when you are told you can't have an implant because there is no bone.

 

[amulet]

Today if you don't have bone for an implant we can graft and build bone so be careful when you are told you can't have an implant because there is no bone.

I suspect that bone grafting would be financially prohibitive I am afraid, but thank you for your words of wisdom.
For any readers that are fearing this inevitable consequence of tooth loss, I would like to add words of comfort and support, and say that now, day 2, things are still good and comfortable. I didn't like sleeping without the partial denture, or looking at myself in the mirror, but today I ate in the company of others and went swimming in the sea with my children ... with the denture in place. I have a modicum of vanity, and am conscious of the appliance, but nobody that I haven't informed about my dental tragedy has noticed a thing.

I hope this helps others

 

[RP]

I have had several bone grafts before implant done with extraction- I was surprised that it was cost effective. It took about 4 months to heal though before the implant itself could be placed -my surgeon said one miracle at a time. You are better to leave your options open. I opted to have the grafiting done (socket preservation)before more bone was lost and ultimately replaced the teeth.

 

[amulet]

Today if you don't have bone for an implant we can graft and build bone so be careful when you are told you can't have an implant because there is no bone.

Actually, my mistake comfordentist. . . the bone graft seems relatively inexpensive from the research I have done. Definitely something I will look into once the immediate situation has stabilised. Thank you.

 

[comfortdentist]

In general bone grafts to preserve the bone volume at time of extraction is low in cost and many dentists can do this for you while building width of bone later is more difficult and less dentists are competent at this and finally building height and width is the most difficult and therefore the most expensive and only a relatively small percent of dentists are able to do this.

 

[amulet]

In general bone grafts to preserve the bone volume at time of extraction is low in cost and many dentists can do this for you while building width of bone later is more difficult and less dentists are competent at this and finally building height and width is the most difficult and therefore the most expensive and only a relatively small percent of dentists are able to do this.

With that in mind, comfortdentist, would it be practical to explore bone grafting for adjacent teeth, where there is substantial gum loss, with the objective of eventually installing implant retained partial dentures (currently the partial denture is replacing teeth 24 and 25)? I am not certain that the adjacent teeth are stable enough to support a permanent denture or bridge, although well maintained enough to not be at risk of loss at this point. Thank you for all your words of advice.

 

[comfortdentist]

Short answer: In general it is much more predictable to graft bone where there are no teeth. When trying to graft around roots of teeth the roots must be very clean( most difficult) and very little mobility of teeth. Sometimes when the two lower incisors are lost it makes sense to remove the two adjacent incisors and use just two implants to replace four missing teeth. It really depends on several details.

 

[Corky]

Thank you Corky, I was considering "postponing" my appointment tomorrow, my little son said "don't go"! But I have to face up to this, and have tried many facial expressions in the mirror, predicting the inevitable..... not good, and I guess the years will tell on us . I have read that mini implants can be implanted in mouths with extreme bone loss, but have yet to find a dentist who will confirm this, it seems like the best solution in the long term.

I met up with my friend the other week (she lives 300 miles away but was visiting her parents). She took one look at me and said, and I quote "Oh, my God! You look 10 years younger!!!"

She's a lady who tells it like it is. I'm now at the stage where I don't like not having my dentures in - my mouth feels "naked" without them - and I've only had mine 4 weeks tomorrow.

I am so glad I found the courage to get the work done (and found a truly delightful dentist who knows what he's doing and is so kind and gentle). Thanks to him I am no longer dental phobic.

Another plus is, because I didn't have many teeth anyway, I've found I can eat anything I like - including Brazil nuts. I've found that because I can chew properly my food tastes so much better now. I can even take normal bites out of toast, bread etc.

Feels just wonderful