Archive for March, 2009

Can you put more than one tooth on an implant?

Friday, March 6th, 2009

Can more than one tooth be anchored by one implant?

I have three back, lower teeth on one side that need to be replaced, two on the other. The rest of my lower teeth are healthy. What would the cost be?

Thank you,
Cathy from Ohio

Cathy,
It’s common to replace up to two teeth with one implant, when the rest of the teeth are healthy. Putting three teeth on one implant may strain the implant too much. So for your case where you have three missing teeth on one side and two on the other, you could probably have all five teeth replaced using three implants.

As far as the cost, we’d hesitate to say because there can be so many complicating factors. The actual implants can cost from $1000 to $2000 per implant, depending on complexity and the area of the country, but there could be other procedures required. What we do in our office when people have questions about cost is that we offer a free consultation so that we can give an intelligent answer.

Chicago implant dentist Dr. William J. Cohen

Related links:
Affordable dental implants Chicago
Read about the options for replacing missing teeth on our implant vs bridge page.

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Are implants the only option?

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

I know you can’t give specific advice on individual cases, but I am wondering if I should seek a second opinion. I had two broken decaying teeth that I had neglected and I recently went to a dentist who insisted that they both had to be pulled. He also seems to think that implants are the only treatment. My Grandfather was a dentist and I was raised to hang onto all my teeth if possible! The second tooth has a great deal of the tooth still left. Why not a root canal and crown? I had one before several years ago on a bottom left molar and he says xrays show it is fine.

Please help,
Cynthia in Virginia

Dear Cynthia,
I’m suspicious when patients are given only one option for involved treatment. There are often two or three options for dealing with dental problems. It’s not clear to me why your dentist is so intent on extracting and doing dental implants.

If a tooth is broken and decayed, it can almost always be saved with a root canal treatment and a dental crown. I would encourage you to get a second opinion on your situation.

There are some cases where a tooth is unrestorable. If the decay goes all the way through the tooth to the underside, it is often unrestorable and has to be extracted. But even if the tooth has to be extracted, in most cases you could still have a dental bridge. It doesn’t have to have an implant. You may want to read our page about a dental implant vs bridge.

A dental implant is a nice alternative. Implants have become predictable, and, unlike a bridge, they don’t require having the adjacent teeth prepared for crowns. But I tend to encourage saving teeth where possible rather than having them extracted and placing an implant.

Chicago implant dentist

Posted in Tooth Extractions | No Comments »