Dental Implants

It's coming up on year since Eric had the first of his dental implant surgeries. It all started when he discovered that one of his molars had cracked. Thankfully for him, our dentist was able to see him right away. That was the good part. The bad part was that it was cracked all the down and needed to be extracted. Not really what he wanted to hear.

No one really wants a missing tooth. My first thought was, at least it's a back tooth. It's not as noticeable as a missing front tooth. Apparently, just leaving it alone isn't a great idea. Something about the remaining tooth not having pressure on it from the missing tooth and getting all gnarly and out of control. Eric definitely didn't want that.

Another option was for him to get a Bridge. This involved a lot of work, including getting the surrounding teeth, capped. Since the other teeth were fine, he really saw no reason to go through all that.

That left the last option which was getting an Implant. Our insurance wouldn't cover it, but it ended up being about the same cost as the bridge would've been.

If you aren't familiar with Dental Implants, basically they implant a small metal rod or rods into the jawbone, and then later they go in and attach a crown to that. It's a lot simpler than having to get bridgework done.

Eric went for several visits with the Implant Specialist. The crown was put on by our Family Dentist.

People often ask him what his experience was like. Was it painful, does it feel odd, etc? He is quick to tell them that it was completely worth it, and he'd definitely have it done again. Overall it was great, and it certainly hurt a lot less than a root canal! They gave him some sedatives to take, and he really doesn't remember much about it. Heck, he doesn't even remember my hitting a deer on our way home from the surgery, but that's a whole other story! LOL