Dr. Lee Sheldon
When I placed my first implant in 1986, I had to educate patients on why a dental implant may be a good thing. Now, 34 years later, everyone has heard of dental implants. Moreover, with all of the marketing for dental implants, we often have an inflated view of what dental implants can do.
So let’s go over a few observations that I have:
Dental implants are too often chosen when saving a tooth may be a more predictable approach. Here are some reasons for extraction that you might hear:
- You have periodontal disease.
- The tooth has an abscess.
- A crown keeps falling off of a tooth.
In many of these three examples, the tooth can be saved. However, It may take a referral to a specialist. The two specialties trained to save teeth are the periodontist (gum specialist) and the endodontist (root canal specialist).
Let’s look at periodontal disease in a little more detail. If some or all of your teeth are not loose, your teeth can often be treated and the periodontal disease stopped. In fact, there are many times when bone will regrow around teeth once the bacteria creating the periodontal disease is removed. The same can occur if a tooth is abscessed and needs a root canal. I have seen many patients who were told that their teeth needed to be extracted and thirty years later, they still have their teeth. If you have periodontal disease and your dentist has failed at controlling that disease, a periodontist has many more tools at his or her disposal to help you. Get a referral to a periodontist or visit one yourself.
When you reach the critical point of deciding on an extraction, take advantage of the additional knowledge and skill that a specialist can provide.