Dental story online

[A true story.]

The oral surgeon in New York promised to give a patient a set of perfect teeth. All he needed to do was get 10 dental implants on his upper jaw, and 10 dental implants on his lower jaw. The patient, who never had implants before, agreed. He wanted a beautiful set of teeth. It had been many years since he had good healthy natural teeth, and when he arrived in the oral surgeon's office for that first consultation, he had only seven decaying teeth remaining in his mouth.

WHAT IS A DENTAL IMPLANT?

It is usually a titanium screw that gets screwed into the jaw. It creates the foundation upon which a permanent bridge or crown will sit. Once the implant is screwed into the jaw, it takes months to heal. After the healing period, a healing collar is placed around the implant, and then a post is placed on top of the implant. Once a post is put on, a fixed bridge or cap (also known as a crown) can be attached to the post.

THE COST TO PLACE IMPLANTS

My client had been to a few different implant dentists and was told that for six implants it would cost anywhere from $35,000 to $50,000. Since this man did not have the money to pay for these implants, he held off, and continued to use his ill-fitting denture that would fall out at the most inopportune times.

One day, while at work, my client saw an ad by this oral surgeon promising inexpensive dental implants and great results. The ad was intoxicating and held the promise of a great set of teeth for only a fraction of the cost that most other dentists were charging.

"IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE...IT IS"

This patient was quoted a price of $22,500 to put in 10 implants on his upper jaw, and 10 implants on his lower jaw. Twenty implants total. All for the low, low price of $22,500. That price also included the restoration for full porcelain fixed bridges on both upper and lower jaws. What a bargain.

What the patient got instead was botched dental treatment. To begin with, the oral surgeon failed to properly evaluate whether this patient had sufficient bone for all these implants. He failed to identify where the nerves were in relation to where he was going to insert the implants. Unfortunately for the patient, the implants were put in too close together; they were improperly angled; there were too many implants; he put an implant into the patient's sinus and never realized it; he created a hole in the sinus and despite trying to fix it twice, failed.

THE RECORDS DON'T LIE

The doctor's dental records were worse than scribbles. They had no useful information. The notes reflecting the doctor's comments after the dental implant surgery simply said "Observe." That's it. No notes about patient complaints, what type of examination he performed on that visit or any other visit for that matter. No notes about what his treatment plan was. Incredibly, while the patient was having the implants inserted the doctor claimed that he would take one to two intra-operative x-rays to determine if the implants were in the correct place. Once he decided they were in the right place, he would then inexplicably throw away the x-rays he had taken. The doctor attempted to explain that he had no use for the intra-operative x-rays once the implants were embedded into the jaw.

The fact that the x-rays were technically the patient's property had no impact on this oral surgeon.

A DENTIST ABANDONS HIS PATIENTS

Months after the patient had his implants placed into his jaw, he received a letter from this New York dentist announcing that he could no longer continue to provide dental services, giving various excuses. Incredibly, the dentist failed to refer this patient, or any other patient, to another oral surgeon to continue their dental implant care. As a result, this dental victim remained without any teeth in his mouth for two full years.

Calls and letters to this oral surgeon requesting a refund of cash that had been paid went unanswered. All efforts to recoup money for the improper work and unfinished work were ignored.

THE PATIENT FILES A LAWSUIT

This dental malpractice victim sued this New York dentist for failing to properly insert his dental implants. A dental implant expert was prepared to explain to the jury how this New York dentist's planning, execution and post-operative care deviated from good and accepted dental standards here in the State of New York. As a result of those departures from good care, this patient suffered significant dental injury, requiring extensive sinus surgery to correct the hole, and the implant lodged in the sinus. He will require most of the implants to be removed, and will have to start over again. All at an astronomical price. Removing the implants may also cause damage and injury to the jaw and nerves running through his upper and lower jaw.

This patient agreed to settle his case on the day jury selection was scheduled. The successful settlement will now allow this traumatized man the chance to surgically correct the botched dental treatment he received from this oral surgeon. Hopefully in the near future, after all of his dental treatment has been completed, he'll be able to look in the mirror, and for the first time in many years, smile and say "Good morning," without feeling self-conscious and worried what someone will think of a man without teeth.

The Dental Implant Vs Bridge question gets asked quite often in the dental forums. People would like to know which is the better option for them. If you are looking at it from a purely financial angle in the short then dental bridges are a much cheaper option.

But over long term this dental implant vs bridge solution breaks down. The reason is simple bridges are supported on the surrounding good teeth. Over time the load on the these perfectly good teeth causes them to erode. Or you might have to shave down the other teeth in order to get the "bridge" done right. This is the worst aspect of the bridge. It weakens your other teeth while trying to keep your tooth in question. Now, ten years down the line you will be looking at fixing two more teeth. So, it seems like in the dental implant vs bridge question the dental implants are a better option.

But dental implants are not the holy grail too. In the wrong hands your dental implants treatment process can become a nightmare. There are so many things that can wrong - implants might not integrate with your bone, you might lack sufficient bone, your bone grafts may not be accepted by body, your dentist might screw up the whole process, you might eat something hard that can break or loosen your implants.

If you ask a person who has been through such problems about the whole dental implant vs bridge question he might without any hesitation recommend dental bridges as the thing to go for. But in the hands of a good dentist dental implants are in fact a better option as they are long term, save your good teeth and restores the functionality of your old tooth.

In the whole dental implant vs bridge question one more crucial thing to keep in mind is dental insurance. Dental insurance pays for dental bridges as these the more cheaper option. If you go for dental implants then you can't claim for dental insurance money as they are considered merely cosmetic procedure.