I’m a little concerned about some things. I was several months into my “healing period” from my dental implant being placed when the dentist removed it. He said it wasn’t integrating with the bone and the implant perforated my sinus by a few millimeters. He gave me flonase and instructions not to blow my nose, etc. Then we’ll try again after a while. Is this okay or will the same thing happen again?
Miranda
Dear Miranda,
I’m a little concerned by some things I’m hearing. While it may seem a matter of semantics, the dental implant didn’t perforate your sinus cavity, your dentist did. Plus, he did it by several millimeters which by dental standards is quite a bit.
When your dentist was doing the diagnostics for this procedure, did he take any three-dimentional x-rays, such as a CT scan? This is a necessary step to prevent sinus perforation.
Additionally, the implant didn’t integrate with the bone. This is a nother cause of concern. Yes, it should have been removed, but before you go forward, I’d like to know what your current dentist will do to prevent this from happening again before moving forward.
When a Dental Implant Fails
In order to move forward, you are going to need to make sure the sinus cavity is properly healed. After that, you’ll need some bone grafting done. Without that, there is not enough bone there to inegrate with your implant.
I’d like you to get a second opinion on this situation to see what another implant dentist says.
From there, you can either go with the other dentist to replace this or you can get assurances from the second dentist with specifics as to how he’ll take steps to prevent another perforation.
If he was planning on replacing the implant without any bone grafting, I suggest you find another dentist completely. Make sure the new dentist has specific training in dental implants. Dental school isn’t enough. It needs to be post-doctoral work.
Cosmetic Consideration with Dental Implants
Whatever color the implant crown is made will be permanent. If you are happy with the color of your smile, then you are good to go. However, if you have contemplated whitening your teeth, you’ll want to get the teeth whitening done before having the porcelain crown made.
This will save you money while allowing your smile to match from the beginning. The other option is to whiten your teeth later, but then you will have to redo the crown to match the newer, white color of your teeth.
This blog is brought to you by New Orleans Dentist Dr. Duane Delaune.