Technologically advanced, beautiful, long-lasting dentistry

Dental Implants After 10 Years

I wanted to get dental implants from the very beginning but did not have the money. I decided to just get the regular dentures and save up. Unfortunately, I had several setbacks including a car wreck that left me hospitalized and without income for a couple of months. I’ve finally got enough money to get the dental implants, but it has taken me a little over ten years! Am I too late? I hope not because I REALLY hate these dentures.

Maggie

Dear Maggie,

I am so terribly sorry about the accident you were in as well as all the hardship that has resulted from the accident. It says a lot about your perseverance and character that you were still able to save up for dental implants after that. Honestly, I’m impressed.

Here is some good news for you. You are not too late. Technically, you can get dental implants at any point after getting dentures with two caveats. First, you must be in good general health to be a candidate. Second, depending on how long you have been in completely removable dentures, you will need to have bone grafting done in order to have a successful outcome.

When your teeth were removed, your body began resorbing the minerals in your jawbone in an effort to be as efficient as possible with your its resources. Unfortunately, this has the side effect of shrinking your jawbone. That jawbone in needed in order to retain the dental implants. In dental circles, we call this facial collapse.

In your place, I recommend seeing an experienced implant dentist, one who has post-doctoral training in the procedure. Have him or her do some great diagnostics, including a CT scan to see where you are bone-wise. That will determine how much bone grafting you need. Once that is done and you’ve had some time to heal, you will have the go-ahead for dental implants.

The great thing is, now that you’ve been living with dentures for the last ten years, your quality of life is going to go up dramatically after your dental implant procedure is completed. You’ll feel like a new woman!

This blog is brought to you by Douglas, AZ Dentist Dr. Gilberto Tostado.