I returned to the surgeon's office a couple of days ago for a checkup and xrays. She examined the permanent crown and gave her approval. She wants to check me every 3 months for a year, then afterwards once a year.
Thanks for coming back and letting us know. I, too, go and have my implants checked, but I have continued to go for a cleaning every three months or so. I love mine, too.
I had an implant 12 yrs. ago. I don't remember any pain really. Maybe a little from the shot, but you feel that same feeling when you have a cavity filled. It is time consuming, but that didn't bother me because I wasn't working at the time. Most of the visits to the dentist are only about 10 minutes so it's no big deal. I love my implant, I haven't had any problems with it. I was told at the time it was a chance for me to get it, I'm glad I took the chance. I think I only paid $1800.00. I hear they are about $3,000.00 now. They should have gotten cheaper not more expensive; this concerns me. I'm checking into having another implant done, but this time I have extensive bone loss so it's a whole different ball game now.
WOW, it's that much now?? Why would it cost sooo much more now than when I got it 12 yrs. ago. How much was the bone grafting, I bet that must be what made it cost that much. Holy cow, I wish I had not let the dentist talk me into having him pull my tooth. I feel he did it to sell me a bridge. Now he is telling me to still talk to someone about bone grafting even if I do a bridge. The whole thing has turned into a nightmare. I wish I could try having the root canal, it may have worked. It's unfair how some dentist can be, they don't care if they save teeth or not.
I already had the tooth crowned first. The tooth abcessed under the crown, so I needed a root canal. Then, a year ago Thanksgiving, the tooth was extracted. Those costs are plus the implant!
Seems like alot of cash. What about destination dentistry...going to Mexico, Costa Rico, or Panama or Poland? Seems like it could pay off to go out of the country
I opted to go to Mexico for my dental work, including implants. I live in So CA so it isn't that hard for me, and my dentist trained at USC. So far I'm happy with it, but my implants are still healing and I won't get my permanent crowns for several more weeks.
I'm not concerned with the quality, it's been great, my concern would be complications. I'm only 90 minutes away to go for checks if I have issues, but jumping on a plane would be difficult. And since this is my first time with implants I dud go back for reassurance that it was all healing correctly.
Is there anyway you can refer the dentist, I'm about 2 hours from Mexico. I'm kind of scared to go into Mexico with all the problems I hear going on there. I would feel better to at least be able to get in the car and drive a couple of hours over flying to another country.
I went to Denticenter in Tijuana-they have a web page you can check out. If you go to that location, the founder does the dental implants (at least he did in my case). The other locations have different dentists doing them-but all trained. The founder, Dr Eng, trained at USC. There is more than one Denticenter location, but they are all near the border. They have the same US sterlization standards. They also will bill your insurance if you have a PPO, and they accept payments as well. They are HMO providers for Aetna and Delta. They are also open on Saturdays and US holidays, which is nice. I found the office because they were featured on CNN. My implant and crown is $1250 total for it all, paid as I go. Since I am getting cosmetic crowns, they are $100 more ($1350 total)-it is my front teeth so I am getting all porcelain crowns. All the dentists either speak English, of the assistant speaks English and translates.
I was scared to death to go to Mexico-for the same reason you are, the stories of violence. I went by myself, parked on the US side of the border, walked across (they are 150 yards from the border), had the work done, and walked back accross the border and drove home. I am as white as you get (literally lightest color foundation. LOL), and I don't speak Spanish. the border wait is LONG if you drive-but you can get a medical pass for 6 bucks, and it is way faster. I did drive in on my last visit, and it wasn't that bad. The wait to walk accross is long too, but I just kept reminding myself that it was 1/3 the cost. I have been 4 times now, but haven't seen anything to make my uncomfortable.
Where are you located? I am not sure if there is a way to exchange contact info, but I am happy to speak with you more at length if you want. Like I said this was the right decision for me, but it may not be for everyone. I am comfortable getting my work done there, and actually liked them so much I will likely keep going back there over the US dentists I have been to-they are very compassionate, and I don't feel like they just want money.
I know my reply is rather late, but I wanted to thank you for your referral and advise. I was finally able to get in with the dentist who did my other implant 14 yrs. ago. I was shocked when he said he could do another implant. I'd been told by several dentist I had a lot of bone loss so I most likely wouldn't be able to as I posted about. I was even more shocked when he said he didn't believe in bone grafting and to wait about 3 months because the bone will grow back. I've read just the opposite, but I've decided to just go with what he's saying since the implant from before has worked out fine. I don't know if I had bone loss around that particular one or not. He will be charging me $2250.00 for everything.
From what I'm reading this is a very good price. I paid $1800 14 yrs. ago. I think the price of implants should go down not up, but it's not that much more. I've heard of some people paying $6,000 for one implant. That's insane. I was going to go to the place you referred me to until I heard the good news. I can't wait to get started on it, but I have to wait until July.
That's great! In So CA the average for implant and crown seems to be around 3500, so tha is a great price-and you get to work with a dentist you already know. Also, he is right bone grafts do have a higher failure rate so if you can do the implant with out a graft it's the better option.
And you can totally wait until July, it's a small amount of time to wait if it means getting what you need!
I've never heard of bone growing back, have you? I've decided not to doubt him, I feel he knows what he's doing. He said he didn't think it was good to put a foreign substance in. I hadn't heard that the bone grafting caused more to be rejected, you'd almost think the opposite if it wasn't needed. Oh well, thanks for replying back. Here's to our happiness with implants. What a wonderful option for people to have over bridges, dentures and partials. I hope they make them less expensive all around so more people can get them. My dentist said insurance companies are starting to pay out for them. You know they would never do that if they weren't a proven success.
Trust him, it sounds like he did a good job last time. I wonder if it's because if you needed a bone graft there were more issues to start with?
My insuance company will pay provided it is one tooth and and there are no other teeth missing in the arch. So pretty much in my case of the surgeon knocking my teeth and breaking them, I was out of luck.
I agree, it is too bad they are not more cost effective. Which explains me going to Mexico because I needed 3....
Don't mean to bother you again, but did you have all three done at the same time? How many trips did you have to take down there? My other one has been 14 yrs. like I said, but It seemed like I must have had to go at least 7 times. Well worth it though. Maybe it's gotten easier & less trips now hopefully. How much were each implant there, did you get a better deal because you had to get three? I get on this other dental board so I am going to refer this place to someone who lives fairly close by there.
The cost was 1250 an implant, and that included the abutment and crown. It's an additional 100 for metal free, which if it is a front tooth you want. I had my 2 front teeth pulled and both implants placed at that time. Last year, I had I had a different tooth pulled but no implant placed at that time, that was the 3rd implant they placed-and when they did the other 2. The first 2 implants hurt a bit, but that was because the extraction. Dr. Eng was beyond careful to make sure the tooth came out right so they could place those implants then. I did get a deal for the 3rd, but that was more related to my crying and refusing to allow him to pull the second front tooth and do the implant, so he said he'd give me a deal since I was numb there already, and he was concerned about leaving that tooth there with a crack in it.
I went back for one follow up, but that is because I'm paranoid and wanted to make sure everything was right. I could have waited the full 3 months before going back. I went back 10 days ago, to get the abutments and impressions done. However my root canals were really brutal (I have lupus so my inflammation is always high and everything hurts more), so I had to wait another week.
Assuming everything heals normally, it would take 3 appointment. Placement of the implants, abutments/impressions, and then permanent crowns. If there are issues, then it would take more. I had told them i didn't want to come back between and that was fine with them. They called to check on me once, and said to call if there were any issues.
Is there a way to get you my contact info without posting it? I'm fine with you sharing it it's them, as long as its private and not posted online. I was scared about going, and wish I had known someone that had gone. I did all the research and made the decision with no personal feedback. Also, I worked with Antonio there to set things up-he's very helpful, and made me feel way less nervous about going. In fact he met me at the border the first time and walked me to their office. You can also tell her to check out the article about them on CNN. Just google it.
Let me know if you have more questions, I'm happy to help. Basically, I'm getting ALL my dental work done for the cost it would have been for a few implants-root canals, crowns, etc. I've honestly felt better cared for there than with US dentists. When i was crying and the dentist said "you've spent hundreds of hours in a dental chair, and had dozens of hands in your mouth, no wonder you're upset". No other dentist has understood that.
