Hi Emily,
Thank you for the kind words.
Could you please clarify this statement for me?
<<We went to the dentist, who said that because my mom's upper four teeth were capped years ago, the best option is to have an endodontist do a root canal on that tooth -- then begin the implant procedure. >>
Why root canal the tooth, then extract it and then do the implant? If I am understanding that correctly, that makes absolutely no sense. So I would definitely not go that route.
It sounds to me like your mom's other top front teeth and the surrounding bone may be compromised, meaning not real healthy since they won't hold a bridge. She does not have to have symptoms with her teeth for there to be a problem. If the bone is not real good in the area of the broken tooth, meaning it's not healthy and/or she has bone loss, then it won't hold an implant. So if that is the case, then her replacement options for this tooth may be very limited.
The one thing that concerns me is doing the implant on a woman of her age. Does she have any chronic health conditions... related to her heart, high blood pressure, artery problems, kidneys, lungs or have diabetes or history of heart attack or stroke... any heart surgeries?? Does she take medications... blood thinners or other?
Without xrays I can only assume what her dental status is based on your description. If you could post xrays here that might be helpful. Her least invasive option would be to remove the root tip and have a partial denture made. This may not be the ideal replacement option and she may not be able to leave it in when she eats as it would be mainly used for esthetic reasons and to prevent the adjacent teeth from shifting towards the open space. The advantage to the partial is that as she looses her other upper front teeth, which is possible given the age of those crowns and any one of them could break off like this one did, she could have teeth added to the partial as they were removed.
Your thoughts on this??
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emily303
Hi Bryanna: thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge. You've been a huge help the last few years...
My mother, who is 83, recently bit into pie crust and the tooth next to her right front tooth broke off at the gum line. She visits her dentist yearly, and is in good health. We went to the dentist, who said that because my mom's upper four teeth were capped years ago, the best option is to have an endodontist do a root canal on that tooth -- then begin the implant procedure. I know why root canals are a huge NO, but the dentist (who disagrees about rc's - so what else is new) said the other alternative -- a bridge -- isn't feasible, because the surrounding capped teeth won't hold a bridge. I asked why the remaining tooth/root can't be pulled and she said to just trust her.
Bryanna, could you explain 1) why the rest of the tooth can't just be pulled, all healed, then implant done? I know i'm not understanding a step... 2) do you know any other alternative to an implant?
While a front tooth is affected and there's a very visible gap at the moment,
this seems like a lot of dental work and a lot of dollars. Most imp, I'm not comfortable with the root canal step. Thanks for any light you can shed. - Emily
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