Dr. Cohen’s Implant Dentistry Blog

My teenage son was a victim of a assault and abduction resulting in him losing his 3 upper front teeth. He immediately had to have his gums repaired and bone grafts done. It has been 16 months, he is now 17 (almost 18) and we would like to look at implants in hopes he will have teeth for his senior year in highschool. His original oral surgeon says he is not old enough and needs to wait until he is 19 or 20 to make sure his facial bones are fully grown.

I am in the process of seeking other opinions and am looking for guidance on what to look for, what information can you give me on the age or bone structure for possible implants? thank you for your time and input.
- Susan from Ohio

Susan,
You will probably be able to find a dentist who will be willing to rush this process of getting the dental implants, but I would advise against that. Even if your son’s bone were matured enough now that he could get the implants, he would have to wear temporary teeth while the implants healed.

Maybe he has temporary teeth now. If not, that’s what I would advise doing for him. Done well by an excellent cosmetic dentist, the temporary teeth can look very realistic and natural, and people won’t know that they’re not real.

What happens if the teeth are placed before his growth has stopped is that the natural teeth may continue to grow while the implants stay in the same place, leaving the front teeth mis-matched in height in a couple of years.

Realize that the oral surgeon is advising you out of integrity. His or her financial interests would be in doing the work now and getting paid for it. By the time you realized that this was a mistake, you would be long gone and would never see the surgeon again. It is concern for the long-term welfare of your son that is causing him or her to advise that you wait.

And my advice would be to have input from an excellent cosmetic dentist in this process. I doubt that you would have any excellent cosmetic dentists in Ashland, as these dentists are uncommon in smaller cities. There are some excellent ones in the Cleveland area and in Columbus. Getting direction about where the surgeon should place the implants, exactly, and then getting the teeth perfectly matched when they are placed is a very specialized skill that few general dentists will have.

I hope this is helpful.

Links: Read our page: Are you a dental implant candidate?
Read about the choice between a dental implant and a bridge.

I was wondering if I would be a candidate for dental implants. I am 33 yrs. old and a cancer survivor. My teeth decayed from the gums up and I had dentures but my bottom set will not stay in. My gums are getting thin. I am healthy, but I am borderline diabetic, and have high blood pressure that is controlled with medicine.
- Eileen from Texas

Dear Eileen,
You could very well be a candidate for dental implants. You do have some health problems that would have to be considered, so your implant dentist would need to get your whole health history and possibly confer with your physician, but I imagine you would qualify.

I hope other people who are having all their teeth extracted see your story, because it’s important for them to know how your jaw shrinks and makes it impossible to hold a denture after not too many years. What you’re experiencing is called facial collapse, and it happens to everyone who has all their teeth extracted, after a number of years. The only good way to get your bottom teeth to stay put is to get implants. At least two to hold in each denture, up to eight implants for each jaw, depending on what you can afford.

You also need to prepare yourself to be needing some bone grafting. When your jawbone shrinks as yours has so that there is practically nothing left, you need to have that bone built up in order to support dental implants. There may be some implant dentists who tell you they can’t do anything for you, but it can be done if you find the right dentist.

Check our Chicago dentures page for more information.