The Truth about a Dental Bridge vs. a Dental Implant

I think sometimes a dental bridge is a more appropriate treatment option than a dental implant...yes, I just said what you think I just said.  As a specialist who places implants almost as frequent as treating periodontal disease, there are instances when a bridge may be the better option.  If you're 75 or 80 years old, I have a hard time recommending a dental implant, especially if there are other compounding factors ie. medical history, medications, invasiveness of the procedure, at hand.  Case in point, your upper first molar has to come out, the surrounding bone is broken down and the sinus is encapsulating the roots and there is a very high chance of a sinus opening during the procedure.  You have minor health issues popping up on a routine basis, you are a borderline controlled/at times poorly controlled diabetic, you take about 12-18 different medications which you don't even recall the names of, your blood pressure runs high from time to time, and you form sweat droplets on the brim of your eyebrows just thinking about the inconvenience of dental procedures.  To close off the sinus after tooth extraction and then rebuild the bone in this area may not be in the best interests of certain patients and a bridge may be a more attractive option.  Not everyone wants to go through the motions of dealing with surgery and the possible complications that may arise from the procedures we do.  Lets say a tooth is failing due to periodontal disease and its on its way out...placing a dental implant in a mouth with periodontal issues doesn't always seem like a great fit.  What's to say that the implant will not experience the same problems caused by the same bacteria inside of your mouth.  Sure a dental implant cannot decay but they are not impervious to bone loss.  Sometimes we are just trading one set of problems for another. And despite what I just said, we accommodate the patients preference when we know deep down inside that there is a possibility that the dental implant may not be the impermanent restoration that we believe them to be.  You're missing a tooth for the last 10 years and the bone is non-existent for implant placement.  I am perfectly fine with a patient picking a dental bridge over trying to reconstruct the bone for a future implant.  At the end of the day, a dental chair represents stress and inconvenience for our patients...and no matter how hard we try as a periodontal office to create the best environment for our patients and despite getting good to great surgical results with minimal post-op complications and downtime for the patient, the thought of surgery may seem like the least appetizing option...even though dental implants may be the better long-term option over a dental bridge, I understand if the patient chooses the latter...

Center for Periodontics & Implant Dentistry
www.cpi-dent.com   (847) 818-9950