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I am 47 years old & was born with a hereditary condition which resulted in a large number of my adult teeth being impacted. As a consequence, by the age of 19, my mouth was full of bridges built either on stints, baby teeth (blue) or my few adult teeth. I often suffered with Abscesses & broken bridges for which the treatments & repairs were costly. To add insult to injury, I am immune to Local Anaesthetic which means I had to have any dentistry, like Root Cannel, done under General Anaesthetic or Sedation. In recent years, I had lost quite a few teeth and my Dentist had encouraged me to have Implants which scared me silly but when I had five gaps in my mouth I decided to take the plunge and see a Maxilla Facial Surgeon. The Surgeon gave me a choice, I could either have the Implants with more Bridges or I could remove more teeth & have fewer Implants with one big Bridge. I went away with one thought, more Bridges meant more infections and Abscesses. I did a lot of research and had numerous discussions with both my Dentist and Surgeon and in the end I decided to remove all my "teeth" and I insisted on 24 implants (12 top & 12 bottom) with the option of the 4 additional implants if there was space. I also opted to do both the extractions and implants in a single sitting (4.5 hours), under Sedation, which means the entire procedure was done in the Surgeons consulting rooms in August 2012. Exactly three months later, I sported my brand new teeth. From the time my remaining teeth were extracted and the Implants inserted, I have not had a single Implant failure, infection, Abscess or any other complication inclusive of pain, swelling or receding gums. In fact, a full dental X-ray on my first anniversary showed that the holes in the bone left by the extractions had filled and that the bone density was optimal throughout the entire area. For your information and perusal, I have attached that X-ray.
What I did is EXTREME and on some points, we made Dental History but I would like to share my experience with you in case you find it helpful ...
Firstly, knowledge really is power and although not everything on the internet is true or accurate, doing your research here does give you plenty of good questions to ask the experts like your Dentist and/or Surgeon. Ask, ask, ask!!!
Secondly, what I did was only possible with sacrifice. The first of which was my vanity as I choose not to have either Dentures or temporary Crowns and the second was weight which I could afford to loose.
What I learnt and how we did it is really simple. Please note that I am neither qualified nor have knowledge of Medical terms or procedures, so I have not given you these why's.
Research told me that pressure is an implant(s) greatest enemy and that wearing Dentures or temporary Crowns increased the chances of failure because with these I would be tempted to eat normal food (CHEW). Without these, I was able to eat anything a Toddler can with just my gums ;-) The weight loss occurs in the first week when your gums are wounded.
Research & logic also dictated that keeping my mouth clean would not only aid the healing but keep away any infection & to this end I brush, aqua-floss & use mouth wash. After the procedure, I did this EVERY time I ate or drank anything and after the Crowns were fitted, I did/do this 3 times a day. Be pedantic, its worth it! I also now use a toothpaste made especially for gums as I must protect them & keep them healthy. This is very important not just because of gum desease but because exposed implants due to receding gums looks awful :-(
I also chose healing caps that were exposed above the gum which meant no more cutting was necessary to expose the implants. It is necessary to access the implants for both the torque tests and fittings.
I also have quarterly check-ups because not every problem has a bad smell and I no longer have any nerves to tell me when I have a problem. PS! I chewed the inside of my cheeks & tongue something awful in the beginning for the same reason but that did not last long at all ;-)
What was the worst part? Believe it or not, it was the fittings for the crowns which amounted to six sessions of twenty-four screw out, screw in, take upper / lower mould - don't gag - screw out and screw in again lasting four or five hours each ... BUT it has all been worth it!!! I attach photos ...
I would be happy to answer any questions in this regard so do ask ...
Thank you for posting this. I found it most informative and answered some questions I had about the possibility of doing full arch dental implants. Do you have an email address? X
I admire your courage and wisdom. The only question I have is this- generally, implants are placed on 4-6 for both arches. Why was it necessary to have 12 on each arch? That seems like some serious overkill to me unless there was a medical reason. Just curious.
This member made one post in 2014, you may not get an answer.
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