Dental appointment today and we start, from this point I can go with implants which I'm not to crazy about or Bridge and Crown. I don't know many people with implants but I do have a problem with removing good teeth. Anybody have implants Good/Bad?

My wife has several Single Implants. Going on 10+ years on some of them with no problems. We both have Crowns. I lost one Crown due to a dentist doing a root canal thru the crown and not sealing the hole he drilled properly. That was many years ago.
I will say my wife was in way more pain with the implants than on any of her crowns.

I had ab implant last year. Would.t do it again. Took too many trips.

I have to get a tooth pulled this morning.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

Had a friend who had implants done, around $30,000 but he loves them.

Go with the implants.

I had a complete upper done a year ago. They put in 7 implants. My complete upper snaps in and out easily. I went to 5 different oral surgeons including A&M dental school at Baylor in Dallas. I had Dr Steve Brown in Ft Worth do the work. He does small implants with less invasive procedures. Complete upper drive out $14k.

I feel the same way. Doc took x-rays and said I have 4 teeth that need to be implanted. Problem is they seem perfectly fine. He told me that the more bone you lose, the harder it is for the implants to "take". Not sure if this helps. Good luck, HWY MAN.

Seems as if some, including me are a little fuzzy on definitions. I have a buddy named Doc Horton who will be by to clear it up.

I do not like going to the Dentist.

if the teeth are healthy, why not go with veneers? My upper was extremely worn from grinding my teeth at night and had worn most of the enamel off, after 3 consultations, I went with total upper veneer replacements on healthy teeth. 3 visits (inspection, preparation/molds, and install) over a 2 week time frame, each visit was about 3-4 hours, minimal pain using sedation dentistry. Almost 3 years without any issues.

I've heard very mixed results from implants is why I shied away ...

What I would do if I had to do it over.

Veneers serve a different purpose....they are more of a cosmetic procedure with some functional benefits vs. implant which is more of a complete functional tooth replacement.

This is true. Implants require a certain amount of healthy bone to be stabilized. A good analogy is an implant is like a fence post and the bone is the concrete. If you don't have enough "concrete" the fence will fall over.

There are several things to consider when deciding implant vs. bridge....if the adjacent teeth are healthy, bone level to support the implant, esthetics, cost, longevity, ease of cleaning, etc.

Implants--cost more, but typically last longer, total process takes several months.

Bridges--less expensive, quicker process, typically do not last as long.

If the adjacent teeth are compromised in any way, or would not serve as good anchor teeth for a bridge, then an implant is the way to go. If a bridge fails you can lose multiple teeth vs. an implant is just one tooth.

Personally I would try to hang onto a tooth as long as possible because once it's gone, it's gone. Replacing teeth is normally more expensive than fixing them, and nothing will function like a healthy natural tooth.

I have a couple of single implants for years now. No problems. They were expensive even after insurance. Had to use cadaver bone. Kinda yucky thinking about it. I have problems with my teeth because my saliva glands are almost dry from my previous radiation. But I'm lucky because some folks with head/neck cancer diagnoses required all their teeth be removed prior to treatment. That scared the heck out of me. I do not look forward to my twice yearly cleanings knowing what will eventually come. Full mouth implants would be crazy expensive and painful.

I have heard more negative about implants than positive. Was considering them a couple of years ago. No way I would do it now. The breaking point for me was a post from a man whose daughter-in-law was a dental hygienist. She told him that cases of oral cancer are significantly higher in people who have dental implants. That was enough for me.

See? You can take it to the bank when I quote DocHorton.

Implants are stupid expensive. That is the downside. The upside is that you will never have to worry about them again. With a Bridge and crown, the tooth underneath can still rot/break. That won't happen with an implant. I had two teeth pulled and implants put in when I was 35. That was 11 years ago.

Thanks DOC, rest of my teeth are good to go. two bridges upper and two lower, the rest will be crowned. They're solid but worn down and need to be brought back to correct the bite. I knew this wasn't going to be cheap but did get a little sticker shock and a surprise. We're talking 16,000 for the uppers, hasn't quoted the lower but I expect it to be around the same. The surprise was finding out it cost more to pay cash than using insurance which my Blue Cross Blue Shield doesn't offer. Fixing to get a second opinion from another local dentist, he owns his practice.

My one was $4,000. I have dental insurance with a $1,000 limit. I got it started in December and finished the following year, thus having to pay $2,000.

Yes Sir, good luck on the process. Unfortunately dental work is expensive. Never a bad idea to get a second look, especially with a big procedure.