I had six dental implants placed just a week ago. They are supposed to support dentures after everything has had time to heal. However, I have already had half of them fall out and have a few questions. Do you think I am entitled to a refund on those? Should I worry about the others? Can I get them replaced?
Margie
Dear Margie,
dental implant overdentures
Your first question is the easiest. Yes, you should get a refund for the ones that have fallen out. In fact, I think you should ask for a total refund, which leads me to your second question. Yes, you should be concerned about the others. I do not have much confidence they are going to last given what has already happened with the rest of them. Most dentists experienced at placing dental implants have a failure rate of less than 5%. Your dentist has a 50% failure rate in under a week. That is incomprehensible. So what happened?
There are quite a few reasons for dental implant failure. Which one has impacted your case can be determined by an expert implant dentist. While there is not a recognized implant specialty, there are some dentists who have more training than others. My suggestion is you look for a dentist who is a fellow with the International Congress of Oral Implantologists.
Reasons for Dental Implant Failure
- Incorrect placement of dental implants on the part of the dentist
- Premature loading of the dental crowns or dentures on the implants
- Infection, often the result of poorly fitting dentures
- Inadequate diagnostics to determine if you had enough bone support.
So, where do you go from here?
It will be possible for you to get the implant overdentures you want. However, it will take an additional procedure. Before going forward with implants again, you will need to have a bone grafting procedure done. This will build up the bone in your jaw enough to ensure you have enough support for the new implants.
Once that procedure is done, you will need a period of healing, then you will be ready to start again.
I’m sorry you had to go through this. Make sure your next dentist has the skills. It also would not hurt to check out their smile gallery first to make certain they can create beautiful as well as functional results.
This blog is brought to you by Sugar Land Dentist Dr. Siny Thomas.