Hi Shelley!

I'm embarrassed to say this........... but all of this time I thought you were a man!! I got confused with the picture of "Rod" in your posts.... thinking that was you for some reason........ but I guess that is your husband?? I'm not very involved in other forums on this site but I saw one that made me realize you were a woman! Anyway..............sorry for the confusion!!

Ok, so it sounds like there is a mutual agreement to remove teeth # 2 and 4 since neither of them are real healthy and they could jeopardize the life span of any implants placed in that quadrant. That makes ALOT of sense. My only question with this is....... do you really need to place an implant in the #2 site? Is there a tooth on the lower right that will be biting against it? If not, then there may be no reason to replace tooth #2 with anything.

If you are missing a tooth or two in your lower left, then it may be a viable option to at least temporarily fill in those gaps with a removable partial or nesbitt especially if you are unsure of having the bone grafting done there.

To answer your questions........

1) My office does ALOT of implants and we always allow the implant to integrate with the bone for 4-6 months before we put the implant crown on ..... actually closer to the 6 month point. The reason being is that the longer you can allow the dental implant to heal without any chewing or pressure on it the better. Once the crown is placed, then it will be used to chew on and that puts alot of stress on the implant if it has not completely integrated with the bone.

2)I'm not so sure your night guard is the problem with the irritation that you are feeling on the lip and cheeks. It could be that you have developed a fungal or lesion type irritation in your mouth and that would cause the symptoms you are describing. However, irrelevant of what it is, it would be a good idea to have your dentist take a look at those areas and give you a diagnosis before it gets worse and also adjust the nightguard if necessary. Sometimes people get different types of oral lesions for different reasons and they seem to pop up out of nowhere. Sometimes, the cleaning solution that is used to clean the appliance irritates the tissue and this can occur at the onset or later on day the road sometime. It's a good idea to brush your appliance with a hard toothbrush before and after you soak it in anything. It should always go into your mouth clean and any solution should be brushed off as much as possible.

3)With regard to a temporary bridge in the upper right after the implants are placed....... there will no teeth to anchor a temporary on. The dental implants will be covered by gum tissue during the initial healing phase. Then after several months there will be a second "quick" surgery to uncover the tip of the implants at the gum. A small, flat metal healing cap will be placed on the tip of the implant allowing the gum tissue to grow around it. The third stage is when the healing cap is removed and the crown is fitted onto the implant.


It sounds like you are moving right along!!! Good for you! Please keep us informed on how things are going........ ~'.'~

Bryanna