I have wanted dental implants for a long time, but I knew they were out of my price range. I started researching affordable dental implants and found out about the all-on-4 procedure. It wasn’t implants all-around, but it was better than I had, so I picked a dentist and went in for a consultation. I thought it would be a simple thing. They assured me they’d done it countless times before and I didn’t realize there were risks involved. One of the “affordable” dental implants failed, and the whole thing is shot. Now I’m told I need bone grafting and a whole bunch of other stuff so I can try again, and it’s all at my expense- as if I caused it to somehow fail. I really can’t afford to go through it again, let alone have the other procedures done. I’m halfway through the affordable dental implants process and it looks like I’m just stuck in limbo. I can’t move forward with treatment and I’m stuck with a half-finished (unusable) job. How can I fix this?
-Phil
Dear Phil,
Many people turn to the All-on-4 procedure in an effort to find affordable dental implants, but it does come with some risks. Implants, in general, have a very high success rate, but a lot of this is dependent on the skill of the dentist. The chances of a failure also increase if you smoke of have certain medical conditions, but sometimes, they fail for seemingly no reason at all. When your entire denture is dependent on having the set and one fails, you get stuck, just like you are now.
There are other affordable dental implant procedures, such as mini implants, and there are ways to make the process fit into your budget better with financing or payment plans through the office, and the latter choices could still help you now. The problem is, the implant was likely placed at an angle, and so the integrity of the bone was compromised, and a new one cannot be placed until that area is repaired and heals.
It’s a shame that office isn’t doing more to help you out, but this isn’t a procedure that you can change up partway through. Your best bet is to go through the additional procedures, so you can make use of the work you’ve already done that’s holding strong. However, before you have any more work done, especially if you’re paying for it out-of-pocket, you should have a consultation with another dentist, just to confirm how the other ones are holding up, and to see if someone can help you get financing for the rest.
This blog is brought to you by Dr. Ryan Perry.