I’m hoping you can advise me. My dentist has done quite a few dental implant procedures over the years, so I felt pretty safe going to him. When he went in for the first surgery, he decided there wasn’t enough bone there. He suggested I have bone grafting done. So we waited for some healing to take place then did the bone grafting. After that healing time, we went in for a third surgery. He got some implants in and again decided that the bone was still too thin. We’re going to regroup and figure out what to do. Is something weird going on here? Should I switch dentists or is this normal? He hasn’t charged me for any failed procedures so I don’t feel cheated. I just want to get my teeth.
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
Implant Overdentures
I wouldn’t say this is normal. I don’t want to be too hard on your dentist. He is absolutely trying to do his best for you and he obviously has integrity. Either time he placed the dental implants, he could have easily just completed the surgery instead of recommending further treatment.
He’d have gotten his money and a few years down the line, your implants would have failed, with no definitive reason to hold him accountable. Instead, he is losing money trying to make sure you get the right treatment.
While he may have a lot of experience placing dental implants, it doesn’t sound like he’s had much experience with the bone grafting procedure. He may be new at that. Every dentist is new to a procedure at some point and it is admirable that he is furthering his skill base.
Your Options for Implant Overdentures at this Point
There are a few ways you can handle this. First, you can continue to give this dentist another chance to do both the grafting and the implant procedure.
You could see someone more experienced for your bone grafting and then return to him to do your implants, which he has more experience doing.
Finally, you could go to someone who can do both procedures, There’s no right or wrong answer here. It’s all in what risks you are willing to take until you get the result you want.
There is no shame, especially after three failed procedures, for you to go to someone with more expertise and just be ready to get this finished and finally have your implant overdentures.
This blog is brought to you by La Crescenta Implant Dentist Dr. Robert Thein.