OT- dental choices

[sjbraun]

i have a seriously cracked tooth. We tried a crown, but the crack has extended.
So now I have two options: extraction and a bridge or extraction and an implant.
Anyone here faced this choice? Implants are a lot more expensive, but seem like a one time fix, whereas a bridge won't last forever.

Your thoughts are welcome.

[eddief]

If yes, you may consider the UCSF Dental School. Price is way less expensive, but you have to balance that with who will be doing the work.

I was the guinea pig for a local Endodontist who was going to start doing implants in his practice. I was his first one and he said he'd do the implant at no cost to me. My dentist said go for it. I went for it and he did not do a good job. Implant came out in my hand after 3 hours. He said he'd pay for someone else to do it and referred me to someone who does 300 or more per year. That guy was wham bam thank you mam. Knew his sh*t and the implant process took about 20 minutes. Still in my head no issues.

[merlinmurph]

I'm in the middle of the implant process right now. Tooth was extracted, stuff put in there to promote bone growth. Next step next week is to actually install the implant, then a crown gets put on that a few months later. Yup, it's pricey and insurance coverage for the process is spotty. Sorry I can't tell you more.

[2LeftCleats]

Wife has had several implants over the years to replace failed bridges. She's pleased with results, but really expensive, and mostly out of pocket.

[makoti]

I had an implant. Worked fine, no problems. Didn't want a bridge. After as long as I waited between extraction and implant, I was tempted to just skip it entirely. It was way in the back, so not noticeable to anyone but me.

[yngpunk]

i have a seriously cracked tooth. We tried a crown, but the crack has extended.
So now I have two options: extraction and a bridge or extraction and an implant.
Anyone here faced this choice? Implants are a lot more expensive, but seem like a one time fix, whereas a bridge won't last forever.

Your thoughts are welcome.

You could always extract it and leave it empty. Note that implant will take almost a year to have done. Extraction and bone graft. Wait four-six months for bone to re-grow. Then insert anchor into new bone. Wait another four-six months for anchor to settle into bone. Then you get the tooth.

[2LeftCleats]

Apparently, bone graft isn't always needed with current technology. Wife waited 6-12 mos between graft and post placement the first time, but a couple of years ago, she said the technique was different and she got a post immediately.

[unterhausen]

I lost a tooth to a failed root canal, and I haven't replaced it. Dentist wanted to do the implant herself, but that wasn't going to happen given her track record. At least she did a bone graft, so I think I'm good on that score. Never got a referral downtown, so I'm just living with it the way it is. It doesn't really bother me.

My sister had a tooth replaced with a bridge. Then the bridge failed. So instead of having one implant, now she's having 3.

[bikingshearer]

For my edification, how much is "pricey" when one is talking implants? No foreseeable need, but one never knows . . . .

[Don49]

I lost a tooth to a failed root canal, and I haven't replaced it. Same here, failed root canal after 40 years, on a lower front tooth. I'm going with an implant, may have to do both lower fronts to get enough bone. Runs about $2-3k/tooth from the best local dental surgeons, no insurance.

[Tickdoc]

I'm a dentist who places and restores implants. Implant always better if you know for sure a root canal won't work.

You'll spend more for an implant than other replacement options (at least replacement options you would want) but it is the most conservative way to "get your tooth back".

Sometimes you need a bone graft, soetimes you don't.

Sometimes you can extract and place implant same day, sometimes you can't.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info, and/or possibly a referral source.

The dental school suggestion is a great one if you have the time. If you ar ein the bay area, I know of a good implant surgeon and he will know of a good dentist or you could use your own possibly without complication.

Second opinions are very useful to both price check and exerience a range of service differences between Dr's.

Best of luck!

[malcolm]

unless you are old go for the implant.

I've spent more time in a dental chair than any one human being should. I was ultimately diagnosed as a clencher as in I clinch my teeth and that's why most dental work would not stay in my mouth.

Scenario was filling as a kid would ultimately come out be refilled eventually a crown which would be replaced multiple times and so on.

I had two implants done over 10 years ago and they have been trouble free. I'm currently getting another one done now for the same reason as you cracked tooth not amenable to crown.

If you can afford it I think most dentists would tell you it's a no brainer, better less maintenance solution.

[Ken Robb]

I'm in the middle of the implant process right now. Tooth was extracted, stuff put in there to promote bone growth. Next step next week is to actually install the implant, then a crown gets put on that a few months later. Yup, it's pricey and insurance coverage for the process is spotty. Sorry I can't tell you more.

My wife had a similar experience and it took several months from extraction to the final treatment/polishing. There is a practice (Permadontics) that runs LOTS of TV ads promising implants in one day but they probably can't do that for every patient.

[torquer]

Not entirely OT, in my case.
In 2001, I was hit by a car while riding, and, among other injuries, broke two teeth.
My dentist put in two crowns: one has held just fine since day one, but the other (second top incisor) needed to be redone, eventually with a threaded TI post. That worked for a while, but late last year the root showed evidence of a crack, and I scheduled an extraction and implant last month.
Surgery took two hours on a Saturday, recovery consisted of ice packs and one Percocet (and more TV than I've watched in a year) over the weekend. Back at work (and on the trainer) on Monday, but really needed two weeks until I felt fully comfortable. (Mouth full of stitches and diet of soft food didn't help.)
I only saw an image of the implant in an x-ray a week later. (Spoiler alert!)
Looked like a masonry anchor! My dentist showed me an animation showing all the plastic inserts and plugs that go in and out.
I'm expecting the permanent new crown four months after the implant.
$2-3K, as I recall, with insurance having reduced that several hundred. I didn't need those new carbon wheels that much, anyway.

[paredown]

Like other stories, I had a front that was broken as a kid, and went the whole route from cap to crown etc, and it finally cracked and failed a few years ago.

Implant there, and a second on an equally farked back molar. Had the bone grafts and both have been great for over 5 years.

Pricey--makes your head spin, but hey, it's titanium. The doc that did mine was a really good dude too.

[carpediemracing]

Hm. I'm having an extraction tomorrow morning. Cracked root, decayed root/tooth (loose to the touch), jaw bone around tooth deteriorated visibly (I can see it, just opening my mouth and looking in the mirror, the area around the base of the tooth affected looks visibly deflated).

I think in my case it's a bone graft first, then later, if I want to proceed, an implant.