Implant Update

It's been a while since I have posted anything here, it's a busy time of year and that is why.

Today I got a titanium screw in my lower jaw and the okay to get a fake tooth screwed on the said titanium screw. I also am allowed to chew on my left side. I will be nice to have a tooth again, it's been about a year since the tooth was pulled and about 3 years since I could chew on the left side of my mouth comfortably.

I am also really glad I opted for a tooth implant instead of a bridge. They cost about he same initially but a bridge can break (my mother broke several) and even if it does not break it has to be replaced every 7 to 15 years. A bridge is also pretty invasive in that the teeth on either side have to be ground down to take the bridge. So you end up with a missing tooth and 2 compromised teeth. And I hear the procedure is pretty painful.

An implant is not nearly as invasive. You get a hole drilled in your jawbone and a screw put into the hole and after 3 to 12 months of healing (I healed up in under 2 months) a veneer (aka fake tooth) is screwed in place and should last a lifetime. And having an implant keeps the jaw bone from deteriorating which it will do with a bridge or dentures. And the procedure is not very painful. I had some pain the first couple of days which ibuprofen took care of and after that hardly any pain at all. Granted, you do have to have fairly dense bone in your jaw for this to work. I happen to have bone about as dense as oak so I was a very, very good candidate.

Yay, no osteoporosis.